Mold Problem and Midway Service

[greg1]

Got a Lee .45, 200 gr. SWC double cavity bullet mold from Midway. The forward driving band would not cast well from one cavity. I cleaned the molds with brake parts cleaner and tried smoking, Khrol oil, and Frankford Arsenal Mold Release. I re-cleaned the molds after each try. Same problem, same cavity. Used wheel weights and also tried reclaimed range lead.

I have 3 other molds of different calibers and have had no problems of this type.

I called Midway and explained the problem and they are sending me a new mold and they are not requiring me to send the old one back. I appreciate their great service.

Greg

[anachronism]

Now, turn up the heat on your pot & see if that fixes it.

[geargnasher]

Some Lees do that. Keep using it, i.e. keep the cycles of bringing it up to casting temp and cooling it down. Each time I cast with a Lee mould it seems to get better until about 6-10 long sessions.

I suspect that there is cutting oil from the machining process still in the pores of that driving band area of the mould that you are having trouble with and you can eventually clean it out by repeated casting and cleaning or just soak it in Kroil for a couple of days (blocks only). The Kroil will "draw out" the oil residue.

If your Lee moulds are PERFECTLY clean of ALL grease, both surface and in the pores, you should never have to smoke them or use any kind of release unless you have microscopic burrs which can easily be removed by "lapping" with a mild abrasive. I finally got most of my Lee moulds working with many hours of tweaking and tinkering, and of course Bullplate Sprue Lube.

+1 on Midway customer service, if you spend a lot of money with them they really take care of you.

Gear

[Shiloh]

I took a scribe and went around the driving band on a LEE .401 Tl mold. Same problem. Had one cavity that just wouldn't cast right. Seemed to help. As stated, molds seem to work better after they have been cycled a few times.

Shiloh

[jack19512]

If your Lee moulds are PERFECTLY clean of ALL grease, both surface and in the pores, you should never have to smoke them or use any kind of release unless you have microscopic burrs which can easily be removed by "lapping" with a mild abrasive.

I agree with this also. I recently received my new mold and have been casting with it for the last two days, it is a Lee 45 cal 200 gr. SWC double cavity mold from Midway also and it is doing great.

For quite a while now I do not smoke or lube my new Lee molds at all. I use an old stiff tooth brush and boiling water with dish detergent to scrub the cavities several times then put the mold into service. This new mold is dropping beautiful boolits. You just about have to use a magnifying glass to see the parting lines on these boolits.

[Lloyd Smale]

see even midway doesnt want those *** lee molds

[HORNET]

Sounds like a venting problem to me. I've seen a lot of 2 cavity Lee's where the vents don't go far enough out on the blocks to actually let air escape and lots where the vents were blocked by burrs rolled out when the cavities were cut. Chase them with an X-acto knife or scribe. It frequently also helps to cut a vent line between the cavities and parallel to them so that the boolit poured in the first cavity doesn't block half of the venting in the other cavity. This also applies to other 2 cavity molds besides Lee's. Part of basic mold tuning.

[Willbird]

I think that there are surfactants from the cutting coolant in a new LEE mold, and I think the "stuff" in there is not removed by solvents. But it CAN be removed with a tooth brush and dawn dish soap, and hot water.

I have had more than 1 mold that I cleaned with brake clean, tried casting....&*^%$#@....then hit with dish soap, tooth brush, and hot water.....and had it work perfect with NO smoking. ONE time I had to clean it twice....and as others have said the heat/cool cycle may drive more "stuff" out.

Bill

[gray wolf]

Something about that dawn detergent --it WORKS--

[mtgrs737]

The first thing I thought of was the same as Hornet's post, a venting problem. Try not gripping the handles too tight when pouring, as the mould surfaces may not be allowing the air to excape that part of the cavity. If you don't want to score a new vent line in the mould faces, then I would send it back to Lee for replacement, I am sure they will treat you well.

[machinisttx]

I think that there are surfactants from the cutting coolant in a new LEE mold, and I think the "stuff" in there is not removed by solvents. But it CAN be removed with a tooth brush and dawn dish soap, and hot water.

I have had more than 1 mold that I cleaned with brake clean, tried casting....&*^%$#@....then hit with dish soap, tooth brush, and hot water.....and had it work perfect with NO smoking. ONE time I had to clean it twice....and as others have said the heat/cool cycle may drive more "stuff" out.

Bill

Denatured alcohol, MPK, acetone, and a few others I have used have never failed to remove coolant OR real cutting oil from anything in my experience.

[RNyogi]

+1 on the Dawn

[greg1]

Thank you for all the replies. I will try the dawn and the other suggestions. I got the new mold today. Probably won't be able to do much with either till this weekend.