New mold tips and tricks?

[mdntranger50]

I just aquired a Lyman 2 cavity .308 mold. I have only used Lee aluminum molds the last 3 years. How much difference will this iron mold be. Any tricks to get started? I'm kind of reluctant to try it out, scared of screwing it up.

[littlejack]

Welcome to the CastBoolits.
Not too many ways you can screw it up, save you beat on it with a steel hammer, or other abusive measures. I use a small rawhide mallet. Some moulds cast good from the start, others may take a little break in period. Clean the moulds with hot water, a toothbrush and dawn soap. Dry thoroughly. I have been coating my moulds with graphite using a pencil. I coat the top of the mould, the bottom and top of the sprue plate and the sprue plate spouts. Use a small drop of 2 cycle oil on the sprue plate hinge pin/screw. Preheat and start casting. The iron moulds will take a little longer to heat up, but will hold the heat better than aluminum.

[Sam Sackett]

You will find that the iron mold will take longer to heat up, but once it’s up to temp it will hold heat better than an aluminum mold. This will allow you to slow your cadence a bit. Can be more relaxing than trying to keep hurrying to maintain heat in aluminum molds.

I have quite a few Lee molds and like them once I initially get them set up the way I like them. I like iron molds a bit better and think they will last a lot longer.

Just my nickel…..

Sam Sackett

[Bazoo]

Howdy, once you get the new iron mould broken in, and working well, you will notice not much difference in the actual casting. The main difference is the quality of construction, rather than material it is made from.

Iron does take longer to heat up and cool. As a result, you will find that you can take slightly longer pause between casts to flux or otherwise do a task that would cause an aluminum mould to cool too much.

Fo all types of moulds, I use a carpenter's pencil to apply graphite to the top of the blocks and the bottom of the sprue cutter. If there is any smearing while casting, then I use the pencil again to scrape it off and reapply the graphite immediately while the mould is still at casting temperature.

The carpenter's pencil is also great for removing specks of lead between the blocks while the mould is still hot.

One difference between iron and aluminum moulds, is you can be more vigorous with your cleaning, using a bronze brush where needed, without damaging the mould. I will use a bronze brush very sparingly on an aluminum mould, but not without reservation and forethought.

[mdntranger50]

Thanks for the replies. I have a little wooden dowel I tap on the handles on my Lee molds when they don't want to drop out. This is mostly when it's getting up to temperature after it gets in the sweet spot they usually just drop right out.

[mdntranger50]

I have seen some guys use a hot plate to preheat their molds and then sit the molds on if they have to take a pause. Thought about doing this but idk, I find more simple is better for me.

[Bazoo]

Nothin' wrong with using a hot plate, nothin' wrong with not using one. I generally don't, but mostly because I am casting off an extension cord and I dont want to overload it.

[littlejack]

I put a circular saw blade on the hot plate/burner. I don't like the idea of setting my aluminum moulds on a red hot element.

[Bazoo]

When I'm using an iron mould like an rcbs or lyman, I preheat the handles. I take my handles, and put them in the lead, positioning the ladle so they don't fall in. I give that a good 5 minutes to come to temperature, then with the blocks still cold, I can carefully attach the handles without getting burnt. Then I preheat the mould as normal. This really helps because the handles suck a lot of heat.

I also use lighter fluid to clean the cavities of the mould once it's hot. I open the sprue plate and fill each cavity with lighter fluid, which boils in the cavities. It really scrubs the oil out of all the nooks and crannies. I put mineral oil on my cavities before storing them.

[Shopdog]

Start keeping notes;

I've always kept pretty durn nice written notes on handloading.... like,really good notes. But never started writing them for individual moulds. Big mistake... 50+ moulds,and that many years pouring lead. Just sayin,write a few lines of notes on a mould,and give that mould one page in a mould journal. Shouldn't take more than a couple minutes. Believe me,cpl decades down the road you will appreciate the time it took.

Good luck with your project.

[Gobeyond]

I cleaned my Lyman thoroughly. Nothing else. Used two stroke oil to lube. Wonderful stuff. The lube groove stuck in one side. Had to click it then it fell out. When I did this I knew it and got in the groove extra time, extra bullets until pot ran out. Lubed again. Next time I’ll know and will work on the cadence.

They are valuable, but casting is no effort when you do the maintenance. That what I thought too. But they are born to cast.

[justindad]

I only use brake cleaner and isopropyl alcohol to clean iron molds. I apply Remoil to my mold as soon as I am done casting, and sometimes only use alcohol to clean it. Kroil help with extraction, but I’ve never needed it with iron.
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Use a sprue plate to rub off any lead deposits on your mold. This would scratch an aluminum or brass mold, but not iron.
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