lyman mold

[skimmerhead]

i have a lyman 358-156 swc-gc the mold cast nice shiny boolits with ww and a little tin 13bhn. the problem is one cavity half won't drop the boolit, i have to beat to let go and sometimes i have to pry it out with my knife point on center of the base. it's allways the same cav. on the same half. i tryed waiting to drop but mold gets cold, tryed hotter mold via laser thermo, went to 900% on lead. i found the sweet spot for mold and pot temp so i stuck with that. casted bout 75 and stopped don't like to beat on a mold. now i had a few ideas on what to try but decided to ask you guys because ya'll are smarter than me!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i don't know bout better looking tho. thanks for any help. p.s. sure do like that bullplate


skimmerhead:arrow::veryconfu

[stephen perry]

Midway sells a graphite spray that should help you stubborn bullet cavity.

Stephen Perry
Angeles BR

[Dale53]

Basically, you probably have a slight burr in that cavity. Here is a suggestion that is meant for Lee moulds but will work with iron moulds, also:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=654

Dale53

[GP100man]

Skimmer

Cast some boolits then drill & tap (I dril & use a cabinet screw )some cast thru a nut sittin over the hole & use the nut to turn the boolit .

Anyways get ya some fine lappin compound & put a dab on the boolit (evenly ) & snugly hold the mold to it & turn it .

Don`t go bananas on it ya can round corners , but it`d take a good bit on steel molds .

This should help if the cavity is`nt off centered.

If ya use drop out use it lightly, ya can spray enuff to shrink the cast boolit .

:castmine:

[HeavyMetal]

Yep somewhere you got a burr or "tight" spot in that cavity side of the mold.

If you can't see it, lap it! go easy you gon't want a 365 cavity and a 357 cavity!

[skimmerhead]

thanks guys, i just come in from the barn i sprayed it with kroil in and out, will clean it and check it under the magnifien glass tomorrow. had a lee 44mag 6 cav was doing same thing but it was the 2 centerboolits. so i lee mented em and they drop now. i didn't want to do any of those things without some advice since i am more used to aluminum molds, i casted with 3 different molds yesterday 2 lyman 1 rcbs 357-44-45 and found they were a pleasure to cast with except the beating part lol , had a set of kal tec handles on and after casting bout a dozen 44's the ferrules came loose handles started sliding off, very dissapointing. ok guys will try to find the problem, thank's for your advise.

skimmerhead :smile:

[Dale53]

skimmerhead;
Don't be upset with your kal tech handles coming loose. I have one or more examples of about every commercial mould handle out there. They ALL will come loose. The real problem is if you continue to use them while loose they WILL break (the wood).

The solution is easy. Now, when I get a new pair of handles (I must have a couple dozen handles) before I even use them, I drill right through the middle of the ferrules and the underlying steel clear to the other side. Your drill size will depend on how you elect to anchor them. I have mostly used #5 machine screws with a nut on the bottom side. Do not over tighten as you will crush the wood under the ferrule - not a good idea. Rather, just snug the nut up then rest the screw head on a vise and gently rivet the part of the screw extending past the nut. Now, that will NEVER come loose and the handles are fixed for the duration. Some prefer to use a roll pin. Naturally, you will need to size the drill called for by the size of the pin. With a roll pin you can grind it flush with the ferrule.

Dale53

[skimmerhead]

i got that dale, i expect that of lee handles but i could have bought 3 set of lee's for what i paid for that pair. fixing them not the problem, can fix em but for that amount of money i think they would have lasted longer than a dozen cast.

skimmerhead:(