I've done messed up BAD!

[Atakawow]

My new Lee mold arrived today from Midwayusa. I'm fairly new to casting so I was excited as a schoolgirl at a boy band concert. Right away I started up the pot, blah, blah, blah.

When everything was ready, before I could even make the first pour, I accidentally dropped the new mold into the pot while trying to preheat the damn thing. What's worse, I decided to submerge the whole block into the pot hoping it would melt off the lead. NOPE, made it much worst. The longer I leave the mold in the pot, the more lead cling onto it. :crying:

What was going to be a nice uninterrupted afternoon of casting quickly turned into an afternoon full of frustrations involving the use of every profanity words known to man.

After sometime scrubbing the mold down, I managed to get most of it off. There's still a bit of lead in the more hard to reach places, causing the two blocks to not be able to close completely shut. There's still quite a bit of lead inside the cavity grooves. Tomorrow, I think I will try again to melt off the left over lead, didn't want to scrub too hard and damage the cavities.

Any other suggestions to safely clean off all the lead inside the cavities?

[Bwana]

Time to buy a new mold. Some lessons are cheaper than others.

[dmize]

Fire up your smelting pot and get it really hot and dunk it for a while,get the aluminum hot enough the lead lets go. You really have nothing to loose.

[WILCO]

Fire up your smelting pot and get it really hot and dunk it for a while,get the aluminum hot enough the lead lets go. You really have nothing to loose.

Best answer. Get the pot hot, dunk it and the lead will flow out. It was made worse earlier because the mold wasn't up to temp and the alloy was cold too.
No big deal really.

[WILCO]

Time to buy a new mold. Some lessons are cheaper than others.

[dragonrider]

What they said, you just did not let it get hot enough.

[adrians]

don't buy a new mold ,just do what wilco said and thy lead be gone = fixed,,

[MilSurpFan]

Propane torch maybe? Just enough heat to melt the lead. Too much and it may warp, etc.

[Hamish]

If you don't have one, go buy a ten dollar propane torch and you are going to make yourself vomit when you see the PB run off like water off a ducks back. Congratulations! You officially have your big goof-up out of the way and it's all fun from here!

[mooman76]

What they said. After you get it hot and most the lead off tap it with something to help the lead get out of the little nooks and cranied. Not something hard like a hammer but something that won't damage the mould like a wood piece of broom handle. After that you can get out the little stuff left fairly easy. Live and learn, no big deal.

[longbow]

Absolutely, heat it gently with a torch until the lead just starts to melt then most of the lead will drip off. What doesn't drip off can be wiped off with a rag or paper towel. If there are stubborn bits where the mould blocks are held onto the handles or in nooks and crannies then a toothpick or sliver of wood will scrape it out. Just don't use anything harder than wood ~ no metal edges like screwdrivers!

Make sure the mould faces are lead free by heating then thoroughly wiping.

The lead will not stick to the aluminum once the lead is melted. It may tin to the steel sprue plate some though being new the bluing should prevent that but again ~ enough heat to just melt then wipe off.

Take it easy and you will be okay.

Longbow

[geargnasher]

+1 Longow and others. No need to buy a new mould. I've never managed to warp a Lee mould, and I've even dropped a hot six-banger in the quench bucket when both handles slid off the tangs at once. I've quenched two-bangers, too, and taken off the sprue plates for "de-smearing" with a propane torch, they do tin in some instances, but a lot of heat and a dry rag takes care of it.

Gear

[white eagle]

I would try the torch idea
and get your self a hot plate to pre-heat the mold

[462]

The situation looks worse than what it is, and there is no need to buy another.

Do not use synthetic material, to wipe the mould, as it will melt. Use something like an all cotton towel or T-shirt.

If you haven't already done so, throw the Lee instructions away, read the Leementing sticky and Leement the mould.

Post some pictures of your clean and looking like new mould.

[randyrat]

Yep, as stated earlier. You have to realize the mold and handles act like a heat sink, so get everything real HOT. I did it twice, had lead everywhere,took me a week to recover emotionally and a week to figure it out.
I emptied the pot and put pure lead in it, then got it super HOT,dipped the mold for a good 10 minutes, it sucked all the lead right off the mold.

[casterofboolits]

Heat is the answer as others hve said. I had almost the exact same accident you had with a two cavity Lee 452-228-1R 45-230-RN.

A propane torch, heavy duty automotive paper towel, a sharpened bamboo chopstick and a bit of elbow grease took care of the problem. It will probably take you a couple hours, or at least it did me.

Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of casting!

[mdi]

I have some "mini-torches" laying around, the type that use butane lighter gas. I used them for light soldering and heat shrink tube melting in the field. I have used them to remove smaller spots of lead and in a situation like yours I'd use a home shop type propane torch along with an old towel.

[390ish]

Holy smokes!! We need to hang out because I am the clumsiest guy I know and I have yet to do that. Hit it with a torch and you will be fine. Good luck.

[looseprojectile]

propane torch and about five minutes.

Don't use a nylon toothbrush on a hot mould like I did.

Life is good

[Atakawow]

Okay, here is a little update:

Dipping the mold into the hot lead didn't work for me. I had the pot at max setting (4-20 pot) for 30 minutes, then submerged the mold for 10 minutes. Didn't work. Same result as before, the lead would turn to liquid, but as soon as I pull out the mold, the lead quickly cool and cling onto the mold blocks. I think part of the reason is due to the cool, rainy weather around here, causing the lead to cool too quickly before dripping off. However, it still did do some good.

Although the lead would not melt from the mold, it was in a thick liquid stage and was hot enough to be somewhat wiped away with a towel, so that I did. I was able to wiped off a good chunk of it before the lead become solidify.

The next step involved the use of a heavy duty pot scrubber (not metal) and hot dish soap water. Off to town I went.

Here is the result:





What is that brownish stuff inside the right cavity?