Really tight mould handles

[sundog]

Several months ago I was gifted several items that belonged to a friend who had passed away (WWII bomber pilot among other things). Sure changes your outlook on things when that happens. Anyway, Tom was an outstanding person and a very good friend. I am privileged to now be the custodian of several shooting/reloading items he had, net worth of maybe a few bucks. But they were Tom's and when I will use them, I will always remember what a nice person he was. Here's my question. Included in the mix was a set of Lyman mould handles that have been beat on pretty good - no telling who did it, doesn't matter. They are so tight to be unusable in current condition. I cannot imagine my friend, Tom, doing that to them. At any rate, has anyone 'relieved' a set of handles lately? How? He also left a mould that prolly should be mounted in that set of handles IF I can get them freed up a bit. I know that Dr Tom would be proud that his 'stuff' was being used....

[dubber123]

I got carried away tightening up a set of Lyman 4 cav handles recently. I heated the hinge hot, (not glowing) with a propane torch, and worked them back and forth. After a few minutes, they freed up just enough to work freely, but not loosely.

[sundog]

Thanks, Dubber. Anymore ideas?

[Calamity Jake]

A mixture of lapping compound and kroil applied around pivot and between the handles, work back and forth while laffing at CSI on the tube.

[RayinNH]

When I made blacksmithing tongs, I used dubber's method except that I used the forge or acetylene for heating the hinge joint...Ray

[John Guedry]

I like the Kroil idea and work'em by hand.

[Doc Highwall]

One thing I learned was that the mould handles have a top and a bottom and you can tell by looking at the rivet that holds the two handles together. The rivet has a head and the part that gets flared, the head is the top. When you put the handles on upside down and hit the rivet to release the boolit you are flaring the rivet make the handles tighter.

[cabezaverde]

Flip side of this coin - I have a pair of Lyman 4 cavity nutcrackers that need to be tightened. Any tips for this?

[beagle]

Corky.....I use RCBS handles and years ago, Petey (my old shooting partner) showed me a trick.

Take the handles only and place them on the flat surface of a vise. Take a BFH and hit the hinge bolt. One side will loosen the handles and the other side will tighten them up. Should work on Lymans as well. Works on H & Gs and Saecos.

Kind of the GI approach but it works./beagle

[RayinNH]

Beagle's method will indeed work well. However that will depend on the brand. RCBS are steel stampings, Lyman/Ideal and Saeco are castings. The cast ones are more prone to breakage when being hit with a BFH. I'm just saying...Ray

[Echo]

Still, a 2-lb single jack can fix a lot of problems...

[TCFAN]

Sundog

This is from our old friend Floodgate



Look real closely at the pivot pin, and you should be able to see that on one side or the other there is a faint ring about 1/2 of the diameter of the round button where it is riveted together. Lay the handles, this side up, across the jaws of a good vise, opened just enough to clear the button, but fully supporting the handle bosses it runs through. Take a hammer and a good-sized (3/8" or larger) flat-ended punch and give a light whack on the center; try and see if thehinge has loosened up a bit; and repeat until it just works freely (you can re-rivet it a bit on the vise pad if it gets too loose). Lube it with Bull-Plate and get back to casting.

Floodgate 03-08-2008, 11:44 AM



Hope this works for you. It did for me....................Terry

[sundog]

Now, about this BFH. Is my 16 lb sledge enough for this job? :redneck:

Thanks, fellers! Y'all can't imagine how much 'repaired' stuff I have...

[Doc Highwall]

Yes that way you only have to tap it with precision and not a fast swing ware you could miss.

[monadnock#5]

Look real closely at the pivot pin, and you should be able to see that on one side or the other there is a faint ring about 1/2 of the diameter of the round button where it is riveted together. Lay the handles, this side up, across the jaws of a good vise, opened just enough to clear the button, but fully supporting the handle bosses it runs through. Take a hammer and a good-sized (3/8" or larger) flat-ended punch and give a light whack on the center; try and see if thehinge has loosened up a bit; and repeat until it just works freely (you can re-rivet it a bit on the vise pad if it gets too loose). Lube it with Bull-Plate and get back to casting.

Plus 1 for Floodgate's advice. Worked like a charm.



sundog Now, about this BFH. Is my 16 lb sledge enough for this job?

Thanks, fellers! Y'all can't imagine how much 'repaired' stuff I have...

"Perfectly good except for..." My FIL had a huge 3 story chicken house filled to the rafters with stuff like that. I got some of it. Most of it was sold at a profit.