Jeff H
08-02-2010, 09:32 PM
Alignment pins in a new LEE 6-cavity playing peek-a-boo.:veryconfu
I have been casting for a good forty years and for at least twenty with LEE molds. I have cast with them with little trouble while others berated them, but ran into a new (to me) problem today.
My first 6-cavity mould (yes I have handles, thank you) is a RDO 359195 and I fired up the pot tonight and ran about twenty pounds of tiny ingots, because they're not suitable for souvenirs let alone boolits. So, I gave it up to give it some thought and dug out my second 6-cavity - an RDO 22550 and noticed something immediately. The pins in the 359 mold are set way back into the mold so that none of the shank of the pins is protruding past the face of the blocks. All that shows is the "dome" of the pin and it slops around in the chamfer on the mating bushings like a marble in a wash basin.
The big question is - can I drift those pins out to where they will do some good, or is this strictly a LEE warranty job? I am not a complete idiot when it comes to such things, but I have $71 in a mold t hat I may never be able to get again, and if they did something crazy, like freeze the pins, heat the blocks and drive them in with X tons of force, I can see it becoming a mess quickly. I am not above D/Ting for set screws if the pins decide they want to work back after I have drifted them forward but that may offset them. I have a number of 2-cavity LEEs sporting a set screw on the sprue plate screw, so I am not too faint-hearted about working on them.
By the way, if you D/T aluminum - vegetable shortening is a superior lube for both drill and tap. No galling and it captures the chips so they don't drag and mess things up.
Anyone had to drift the pins in a 6-cavity LEE before?
Thanks.
Jeff H
I have been casting for a good forty years and for at least twenty with LEE molds. I have cast with them with little trouble while others berated them, but ran into a new (to me) problem today.
My first 6-cavity mould (yes I have handles, thank you) is a RDO 359195 and I fired up the pot tonight and ran about twenty pounds of tiny ingots, because they're not suitable for souvenirs let alone boolits. So, I gave it up to give it some thought and dug out my second 6-cavity - an RDO 22550 and noticed something immediately. The pins in the 359 mold are set way back into the mold so that none of the shank of the pins is protruding past the face of the blocks. All that shows is the "dome" of the pin and it slops around in the chamfer on the mating bushings like a marble in a wash basin.
The big question is - can I drift those pins out to where they will do some good, or is this strictly a LEE warranty job? I am not a complete idiot when it comes to such things, but I have $71 in a mold t hat I may never be able to get again, and if they did something crazy, like freeze the pins, heat the blocks and drive them in with X tons of force, I can see it becoming a mess quickly. I am not above D/Ting for set screws if the pins decide they want to work back after I have drifted them forward but that may offset them. I have a number of 2-cavity LEEs sporting a set screw on the sprue plate screw, so I am not too faint-hearted about working on them.
By the way, if you D/T aluminum - vegetable shortening is a superior lube for both drill and tap. No galling and it captures the chips so they don't drag and mess things up.
Anyone had to drift the pins in a 6-cavity LEE before?
Thanks.
Jeff H