Mold Lube

[d_striker]

I have some Lee six cavity molds on the way. Couple of questions though.

When applying a butane lighter the the mold, do I want to "smoke" the bullet cavities, everything else, or both?

What kind of lube do I use to lube my mold? Would Lee liquid alox work okay?

[putteral]

I just smoke the cavities and use silicone spray to lube.

[Sensai]

DO NOT use liquid Alox to lube your mold! It will bake on harder than a rock, and will not be easy to get off. Don't ask me how I know this. I just use some beeswax, but silicone spray should work just as well.

[CSH]

Look in the swapping and selling forum for Bullshop's Bullplate lube. It will prevent lead smears and galling on the top of the aluminum blocks. I also use it on my steel moulds because it just plain works better than anything else.

[44wcf]

Bullshop's Bullplate lube. This is the best mold lube I have used.

[MtGun44]

Bullplate - the absolute last word.

Go to the bottom of the page and click on "The BullShop"

Buy some, you won't believe how little it takes or how well
it works.

Bill

[xr650]

Broken record here.
Get some BullPlate to lube top of mould, under sprue plate, on alignment pins and hinge points.
I do not smoke any of my moulds. I don't find it necessary.

[mpmarty]

And another testimonial for bull plate lube. I have a huge woodstove that has two screw in dampers on the front doors. The threaded shafts extend into the firebox. They always soot up and become nearly impossible to turn. I put a dab of bullplate on them and haven't had that problem in weeks. The stuff is just amazing. Oh yeah, I use it on all my boolit moulds too.

[d_striker]

Sorry for such a newb question but how do I actually lube the mold?

Do I just rub the dry lube stick on the mold like a crayon or should I melt the lube and then apply it?

[Bad Water Bill]

Bull plate lube is a secret lube brewed in the wilds of Alaska. Dan is the only one that makes it. He is the only person brave enough to gather the Griizley bear milk that is rumored to be the key ingredient. It is a blue liquid that is used on the end of a Q tip. One bottle should last many years if you do not spill it or let your friends in on the secret. Look at the bottom of this page. Under SHOOTING LINKS and click on "The Bull Shop"

[Slow Elk 45/70]

Look no further than Bullplate, One more thing, if you are not used to Lee molds, You will have better luck with them if you soak them in a paint thinner, mineral spirits, over night and then scrub and wash them with liquid soap and HOT water. Then smoke the cavities if you like, you should not have to repeat this unless you lube and store the molds. apply bullplate . Your good to go, most of the time, unless you have a real problem with the molds.

Put the BP on the hing & pins, the top of the mold and the sprute plate, not the cavities!!! Use a Q tip Good Luck

[theperfessor]

+1 for Bullplate lube. Allows for faster casting, which helps a lot when trying to keep an aluminum mold up to temperature when casting small bullets. Nothing else I've ever tried works as well.

[d_striker]

Sorry for such a newb question but how do I actually lube the mold?

Do I just rub the dry lube stick on the mold like a crayon or should I melt the lube and then apply it?

I'm just going to post this again since no one has answered it.

[CSH]

Do I just rub the dry lube stick on the mold like a crayon or should I melt the lube and then apply it?

If you're using regular old bullet lube as a mould lube, get the mould hot by dipping in the melt or setting on a hot plate and touch the lube to the appropriate locations. It will instantly melt. You will need to reapply every 15 casts or so because the lube cooks off very quickly.

Bullshop's lube comes with directions for application. The process with Bullplate is similar but one is supposed to perform an initial cast so boolits will be in the cavities before the lube is applied to the top of the blocks and underside of the cutter. This minimizes the risk of getting the lube in the cavities. Bullplate stays on the metal a lot longer than conventional lube, so reapplication is a lot less frequent.

[MtGun44]

Don't use regular bullet lube on mold hinges and pins, etc. just burns on and
makes a mess. Doesn't last long at all.

Get Bullplate, dip the tip of a q-tip in the liquid, push it against the side of
the bottle neck to squeeze out excess and wipe a very thin film on the
entire bottom of the sprue plate, top of mold, alignment pins. Keep out
of the mold cavity.

Make super sure you have all traces of machining lube out of mold. Hot
water and a toothbrush with Comet and a good scrubbing of each cavity
cleans it and help remove smaller burrs, usually not all, tho.

Bill

[cb4017]

I've been using anti-seize compound for lubing my Lee mold. I just happened to have some in my tool box so I thought I'd try it. Works great. Put a little on a q-tip and apply where needed.

I found my Lee mold works best with no smoke. I just get it as clean as possible with alcohol.

YMMV.

[d_striker]

I know I need to keep the lube out of the actual cavities. Do I need to lube the surface that the arrows are pointing to?

[Nora]

No you shouldn't lube the inside area of the mold. It would serve no purpose, just the sprue plate, alignment pins and hinge points as per the instructions on the bottle. A blast of gun scrubber followed buy a good cleaning with Dawn, a tooth brush, and very hot water is what has worked for me. Lee uses a LOT of oil on their molds for shipping. If you aren't thorough enough in cleaning them they will throw wrinkly bullets until you do. Be persistent till you get good boolit though, once cleaned they are very easy to work with. I'm one who has smoked my molds. I've just had better luck getting them to release. To smoke, or not smoke it's your call. Personally I prefer using wooden kitchen match over a lighter but that is just a preference. What ever you do, DO NOT use a candle to smoke them. There is a good chance you will end up with an oily film in the mold that will make it difficult to cast as good of boolits as you could have. Trust me on that one. I use candles to flux with and thought it would be a good smoking tool. However I was mistaken. Any way....... Yes to lubing where all others have indicated, and no to the inside of the mold where you have the arrows pointing to.

Nora

[Recluse]

Read this. It will help you out and also answer a lot of your questions when your first boolits don't turn out so well.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=654