Lee mold maintenance

[cwlongshot]

I added some needed loc screws to Lee mold blocks.

https://youtu.be/Z5SUpz6vUj8

This is a remake from old videos that was lost when my channel was scrapped couple years back.

CW

[FredBuddy]

Thanks, CW !

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

excellent.

[n9tkf]

Nice video. Well worth watching if you use Lee molds.

[Doublearon77]

Nice video. Thanks

[megasupermagnum]

That's a great way to go about it, probably the best way. I just wanted to point out to anyone looking at this and worrying about tapping a hole (don't, it isn't that hard), but there is an alternative method that isn't talked about much. Ultimately the problem is the Lee method uses a shoulder bolt/screw, and a wave washer. In an ideal world the shoulder bolt/screw bottoms out on the mold and just crushes the wave washer a little. All is well, works like a charm. The problem is often variations in the screw, washer, sprue plate, etc. make it so with the shoulder bolt/screw down tight, the wave washer is nearly or completely flat. You end up with a sprue plate that is way to hard to open or close, often leading to galling of the mold, and also the screw loosening during use as mentioned.

The alternative lazy man fix is to simply file away the sprue plate. I just put the plate in a vice, take a file, and file away in the are the washer rides. A little trial and error, and in 2-3 minutes you have a perfectly functioning mold with no special tools needed. You could use a file, a grinder, or anything else like that. As long as the wave washer is at least under a little tension you are good. Snug the shoulder bolt/screw down good and it will never fail that way. I'm sorry for the poor picture, this is the only picture I could find already uploaded that I had done this to. Note the shiny area under the screw.