Improved Sprue Plates... Any Interest?

[happy7]

Jim,

I will do some measureing of my plates. I have a pretty busy day today, but hopefully can do it in the next couple days.

[GLL]

Just for the record here is the Ballisti-Cast/H&G style 4-cavity!
These are great casting moulds and the very heavy spru plate swings freely !

Jerry

[JIMinPHX]

That Ballisti-Cast/H&G 4-cav plate looks like it had the trough cut with a milling cutter, rather than with a ball mill. It was probably done on a horizontal machine.

Thanks for posting. That was educational.

[happy7]

Jim, I have 23 of the Lyman 4 cav molds. There are a couple that are only a couple years old. Most are a good bit older. All but two are Lyman, with the other two being Ideal. The Ideals are right on the norm. The width of the molds ranges in size from 1.398-1.409, whith over half being about 1.403 +- .001. The sprue plates themselves are narrower. Most are about 1.373, but some as narrow as 1.350 and some as wide as 1.389. I think myself I would prefer the sprue plate the same width as the mold. Most of the rest of your dimensions look pretty close except the one you labeled 1.483. It should be about 1.380.

Because of the nutcracker hanldes in common use, the bend in the sprue plate kind of helpful. I don't know if you were planning to do that or even have the equipment to.

[JIMinPHX]

Happy7, thanks for all the good feedback. I'll assume that the bad dimension you were talking about was the start point for the clearance slot. The 2.483" was a maximum dimension that I calculated based on the swing of the plate & the diameter of the stop pin. I should have labeled it as "max", but I missed that detail when I drew it up quickly. 2.38" sounds like a good rule of thumb dimension for that one.

The sprue plate on the one that I measured was a little narrower than the blocks. I thought that it just looked wrong, so I drew it up as the same width as the blocks. Those 4-cav blocks look to actually be symmetrical in about every way possible. It's a nice set up in my opinion.

I'm not so fond of the nut cracker handles yet though. I may have to give those some thought. Or they may just grow on me. You never know.

[scb]

Here's one I wish someone made.

[Doby45]

DANG, that single cav is N.I.C.E!!!! I would like a sprue plate like that on a newer single cav rifle mold..

[Catshooter]

scb,

What the hell is that!?! Leaving us hangning with no data is child abuse you know.


Cat

[scb]

I believe it's a mould from a "best quality" set of dueling pistols. What interested me was the plate shears the sprue just by opening the mould.

[JIMinPHX]

That's a presentation grade mold that goes with a gun of similar detailing. Back in the days before standardized barrel dimensions, it was common for a mold to be included with a rifle. Of course, the level of detail shown above was not common. That must have been owned by a member of royalty.

[Doby45]

Jim can you make a sprue cutter like that? I am tellin ya, THAT would be cool..

[JIMinPHX]

Jim can you make a sprue cutter like that? I am tellin ya, THAT would be cool..

Not for $25 I can't!

[Doby45]

I was thinkin.... $15 Dangnabit....

[JIMinPHX]

I was thinkin.... $15 Dangnabit....

You must be related to my old boss.

[JIMinPHX]

I'm game for one or more of the Lee 6 cavity type plates in steel and with conventional sprue holes vs the trough. My smallest are 30cal, so whatever is standard will work for me. I would prefer to turn the mold around so that it operates like a conventionally worked sprue plate vs Lee's cam operated design.

I'm sure these would be beneficial for pistol bullets, but I have several rifle molds that I'm not getting along with, and I'm sure a replacement sprue cutter of conventional design will solve the problem.

Is something like this what you had in mind???

[JIMinPHX]

This is what I have so far for a 4-cav sprue plate. This one is 1/4" thick, which might cause a few issues. You might need some longer screws to hold it on. Other than that, it should be OK. This one is 1.5" wide. I can cut it down to 1.4 if someone really wants me to, but I don't see a functional advantage to it & it adds an operation that I would need to charge for.

I don't have an oxy-acetylene torch here, so I'm a bit shy about trying to bend it. I'm willing to throw it in a vice & hit it with a hammer if somebody wants to pay for it regardless of how it comes out, but I'd rather not. I'd feel more comfortable just making one with a longer handle to give better access to a place to hit it.

[JIMinPHX]

I also have a few more of the trough type 6-cav plates finished & semi-finished. If someone wants one, please drop me a PM.

Thanks,
Jim

[Tmaloy]

Wow I plan to PM you for one of those with the trough and extension.

[buck1]

pm sent.

[Doby45]

PM also sent..