Solve a "Flash" Problem ? .43 Spanish Lyman Mold.

[DoctorBill]

I will inform you now, in case you don't want to go all the way thru this and
find out later....I returned this Old Mouldy Mold to e-bay. Hopeless.
DocotrBill 6-6-2021
.
I have an old used 4391186 LYMAN mold that is giving me a Flash Problem....

I Lightly rubbed the inner surfaces with a fiber dish scrubber and cleaned out
the Aligning Holes with a Q-Tip - and it STILL gives me Boolits like this !



Can anyone "Educate" me as to HOW to stop this problem ? Squeezed the handles hard while
pouring in the WW Alloy.

DoctorBill

[Sasquatch-1]

a picture of the mold both open and closed might help.

[ABJ]

Have you de-handled the mold block and held it up to a bright light to make sure the halves are mated. It looks to me like the nose end of the block are being held apart. I use a single edge razor blade to scrape off the face of the block, and also make sure the vent lines are not clogged as this will cause some venting in strange places. I use the corner of the same razor blade to trace the vent lines.
If not any of the above, then the alignment pins may be holding it apart, you should be able to see that when it is backlit.
Tony

[Ben]

You may reslove your problem by ladle casting and NOT putting the ladle on the sprue plate. Rather , let the alloy " free fall " from about 3/4 inch above the plate into the sprue plate hole.

Alloy ( and / or the mould itself ) that is TOO HOT will also contribute to this.

Ben

[DoctorBill]

Here is the mold taken with my new "Close-Up" lenses from ebay.

This Mold was recently purchased on ebay from an Estate Sale. No idea how old it is.
Says 439186 (941) on the side of the single cavity mold.







Does this reveal anything ?

I cannot see ANY light getting thru from any side when backlit with a powerful
spot LED Flashlight.

DoctorBill

[Dusty Bannister]

Clean the faces of the mold blocks. It looks like someone spray painted the blocks with mold release and that is holding the blocks apart and leaving the edge of the cavity angled to allow the melt to flow freely into the remaining gap. Not sure that you are not overheating the alloy and the mold blocks. The frosty surface indicates a bit on the warm side, but sometimes it needs to be hot to get a good fill out. DO NOT USE A wire brush to clean off the surfaces as you will further wipe off the sharp edge of the mold cavity.

[ABJ]

Pics are great, and correct me if I am seeing something that isn't there. On the 2nd open mold picture it looks like in the past there may have been some rust pitting on the face. Some of the pitt's are right on the nose and I think these are acting like a vent. Just to the right of center there is one pitt that almost makes it to the factory vent line.
Now if that is the case, use Ben's and Dusty's advise, cool down the alloy a little and don't pressure cast.
Tony

[ABJ]

One more mold fix comes to mind, take a small smooth sharping stone and lightly and I mean lightly lay flat on the face and move back and forth a little. If there is a high surface the stone will brighten it up. Pay close attention to the edges of the block. Do not use sandpaper, even 600 grit is too course. The most important thing is keep the stone flat on the block all the way across. It takes very very little pressure to reveal the high spots.
By the way the vent lines look good. The only ones I see that could be a problem is on the female block near the top, but as long as the bases fill out nice I wouldn't worry about it.
Tony

[DoctorBill]

.
.
Aha ! Maybe found the problem......
I use "Franklin Armory" Mold release Spray (Very Fine Carbon Soot) which works wonderfully, BTW.
[DO NOT breath it in ! - Some forms of 'Soot' are carcinogenic - BuckyBalls and Carbon Fibers]

I wiped and sprayed - and molded a few more Boolits, with the mold - got the same Flash.

Let it cool and decided to take the Mold halves off the handle. THEN - when the light was just
right, saw the problem ! Take a gander at the two mold faces with the light just right !
The Carbon coating shows the "hi spots" on the face where they make contact...



Ya, I need to "Hone The High Areas" down, methinks....

I'd like to remove the pins though. Is THAT difficult or dangerous ?

I'm not sure I have a decent "Stone" ! How about Car Polish on a good flat plate ?
I have a sheet of 1500 grit Wet/Dry emery paper.....

DoctorBill

[shooter bob]

Last photo I see lead stuck to the mold both half’s. Look at the one on the right 2nd vent line down is a big chunk.the left has a piece at the 2nd vent line and around the boolit edge. That’s what it looks like from the photo. Good luck. Bob

[shooter bob]

Sorry 1st vent line

[Dusty Bannister]

DO NOT FILE ON ANYTHING until you have used a good solvent to dissolve the sludge you are spraying in and on the mold. Then clean out the cavities with a soft bristle tooth brush and get it to almost clean metal.

Then you will be able to preheat the mold and try casting at about 725 degrees and see if there is still a problem that needs to be fixed.

[imashooter2]

The cavity edges don’t look sharp to me at all. The close up of the pin side looks particularly bad.

[GONRA]

GONRA sez - back in the Olde Days - we didn't have new fangled "MOULD SPRAY's"
and all these wierd issues.....

[DoctorBill]

"GONRA sez - back in the Olde Days - we didn't have new fangled "MOULD SPRAY's" and all these wierd issues....."
"Mould" ? ! You from the Old Country ? Merry Old England ?
- You mean like automobiles, Smokeless Powder, Copper jacketed Bullets, and Medicine ?
...Penicillin has kept my old butt alive more times than I can count ! I'd be Looong time dead !
.
Anyway.
I scraped the spots you indicated with the ol' fingernail (soft enough?) tool...
then...
I took a toothbrush and Dawn Detergent to it. Scrubbed the Devil out of it. Dried it off
on the heater register. Let you know what happens soon.

After the two halves dried, they look EXACTLY like the previous picture (#9 Post) !
Exactly ! The mold actually feels like it is Teflon Coated ! I could soak it in Citrus-Stripper !
THAT would cut thru ANYTHING.....it's like Orange Mayonnaise ! THICK ! It's in it......now.

DoctorBill

[Mk42gunner]

Moving the alignment pins isn't all that hard if it does prove necessary, with big enough hammer and a solid block to set the mold on (think anvil or similar).

I think once you get the mold clean, your biggest problem will be keeping the small blocks from getting too hot if you cast rapidly. My 439186 is a later version made on the larger double cavity blocks, I haven't noticed any problems with it; but I did have a few overheating issues with the two cavity Rapine mold I have for the .43 Spanish.

Robert

[bruce381]

Pics are great, and correct me if I am seeing something that isn't there. On the 2nd open mold picture it looks like in the past there may have been some rust pitting on the face. Some of the pitt's are right on the nose and I think these are acting like a vent. Just to the right of center there is one pitt that almost makes it to the factory vent line.
Now if that is the case, use Ben's and Dusty's advise, cool down the alloy a little and don't pressure cast.
Tony

looks like thats it the face is NOT "air" tight lead is leaking into the voids on the face.

Mold has been rusted not good.

I have pressed back the alignement pins in the past and did figure 8's on a 2-300 grit sandpaper to clean up the face BUT you have to go slow and not over do it

[Bent Ramrod]

You might also check the pin locating holes for peening around the edges. It doesn’t take much effort to slam a mould shut and bang the hardened pins against the hole edges of the other block.

Usually the holes are some standard size drill diameter. The last one I had to do was 3/16”. Put the drill in a pin vise or a tailstock lathe chuck, slide it into the locating hole from the outside of the block and twist it gently, by hand, as the bit comes out the hole on the inside. If peening is there, the drill will turn freely until the bit comes past the hole edge, and then it will snag. Hold it at that point and twist the chuck by hand until it turns like it did through the rest of the locating hole.

Pinch the blocks together by hand and look for daylight between them. See if they are hard to pull apart without the handles. If so, come in with the drill from the cavity side (careful!) and ream the holes as before.

In extreme cases, I’ve used a fine oval Swiss file around the edge of the hole. You want the locating pins to go in smoothly, bottom out, pull out without sticking and not allow the blocks to move laterally when you press them back and forth.

If that happens, you need a pin punch and a bench block to judiciously tap the pins out a little further, or in, if the blocks show a gap.

Getting a bunged-up mould set up right again can be an exasperating exercise sometimes. But nowheres near as exasperating as casting “Angel” boolits.

[DoctorBill]

.
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Something interesting happened.
The Mold Blocks have been
1. Scrubbed with Dawn Detergent in hot water.
2. Been in CitriStrip two hours.
3. Washed Stripper off in Very Hot Tap Water and then scrubbed with brush.
4. Placed in 91% Rubbing (Isopropanol) Alcohol for about 30 minutes.

Pulled them out of the Alcohol and wiped with Kleenex. GOT SOME DARK RESIDUE
from inside the bullet cavity !

You need to soak these molds in DIFFERENT solvents ! Just one doesn't cut thru the
various BAKED ON organic layers.

Squeezed the halves together (hand held) and could not see any light getting thru from any angle.

I put them back in the Rubbing Alcohol to set a while.

Note - I do know from some Machining Studies that Hydrochloric Acid (HCl) will cut thru and
dissolve Oxide off of Steel without attacking the Steel itself. Steel (Iron) is not a very
active metal. I'm talking maybe a hour or so. I COULD experiment on the back side
of the mold with a Q-Tip dipped in HCl...
....if it works, I could swab those high areas to cut back on the oxide just in those areas....

Be back later.....back !
Wow! After all that cleaning and soaking, look what I'm getting off of this mold just
soaking in Alcohol !

Think I'm going to be here a while at this ! I have some Carb Cleaner and Brake Cleaner, also.....

I got this from an Estate Sale. Lord knows what the departed owner did with it !

DoctorBill

[shooter bob]

I don’t know if it’s the lighting but the inside of the molds appears to have been blasted either sand or bead ? I know during the Obama years folks on eBay were messing up lots of good molds due to blasting