Home Die Polish For Scratched Boolits

[enfieldphile]

Right! So I decided to move the lead plugs on a .452 die that Chris made me for the new-in-box Magma/Star I got last month.

After moving the plugs, I found I had minute scratches on my boolits!

I clamped a new .45 caliber brass brush in my drill press and tried that. it helped a little, but I wanted the scratches gone.

Two .50 cal. GI patches were soaked in Meguiars Scratch X polish http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotiv...cratchxreg-20/

The patches were wrapped tightly around the brush. The die was slid up & down the rapidly revolving patch covered brush. The die was washed in spray brake cleaner and put back in the Star.

The first few boolits through the die were pre-lubed in Carnauba Red. NO Scratches!

Amazing what middle-age reprobates can think of!

Meguiars Scratch X polish can be had from WallyWorld or any automotive place.

[lathesmith]

Sometimes plugging/unplugging holes can lead to scratches on your pretty slugs, even though you've done everything properly. This is because there can be a very slight knife-edge-like burr on the lube hole, where it has been polished to a fine finish. This is an unavoidable circumstance, it's not a defect, and sometimes when the lube hole is plugged with lead this burr is pushed *slightly* into the die's bore, causing those scratches. As you discovered, the usual simple fix is to polish the bore with a fine polish or even very fine emery cloth will do. I'm glad you figured out the simple fix, and are back to sizing scratch-free slugs!

lathesmith