Lee Mold Problems

[41 mag fan]

Tried casting today...1st time.....Got a couple of questions I hope someone can resolve for me.
I cast about 28 bullets. 300gr 45LC. All wrinkled which I expected. I had 28 cast and noticed I got lead in my pins, preventing the mold to close. I used a pick trying to get it out to no avail. So I laid the moulds on top on the pot like Lee instructions advise, hoping to heat it up. Still didn't work, totally. But after trying to pick it out again, I noticed my moulds are not lining up at all now. Did I happen to mess the moulds up or is there an easy solution to fix? I hope this picture will show up as I took it with my phone.

Also being a cheap a** like I am, is there a place on here that takes you step by step thru the casting process? I've read alot on here and talked to friends who cast but they are too far away to take a days trip to go learn. Thanks to any who can help, I appreciate it.

[462]

The mould won't close/align properly till you remove the lead from the pins. Perhaps judicious application of a propane torch will soften it enough to be wiped off, with a soft cotton rag. Also, make sure the handle pins are not preventing the mould halves from moving freely on the handle.

The wrinkled boolits are the result of a cold mould. Pre-heating on a hotplate will solve that problem.

Any of Lyman's four Cast Bullet Handbooks explain the entire casting process, including safety and equipment...with pictures, too.

[jmsj]

41 mag fan,
I think 462 gave some great advice. I would also make sure the mold is super clean. I put a new mold in boiling water w/ dawn dish soap for a few minutes to make sure all the machining oils are removed.
Check out the "stickies" for Leementing and Lee molds. There are also some videos on Youtube showing people casting. I have found lots of good information on wwwlasc.us also
Good luck, jmsj

[Colorado4wheel]

Getting lead off a Lee Mold is tough. Good luck.

[Bkid]

I would apply heat and it will come off. I would watch some casting videos on youtube. On youtube there is a site member from here that made a video. I think his name is cowboyT on youtube. I see if I can find the videos. Here is this is part 1 and there are like 6 parts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0C31ezD_SUit

[arjacobson]

jmsj nailed it for lee molds. Everyone i buy gets boiled in water right out of the box.. Just use a propane torch to get the lead out of the pins.. I never dip my molds anymore after having the same thing happen to me.. I use a propane torch or hotplate to preheat mine..

[41 mag fan]

Thanks for the replies. Looks like a torch and hotplate will be on my list. As for the cleaning, I did the dawn in boiling water.
I've got just a little piece stuck in the pin. We'll see if I cant get it to melt out.
Thanks to the links to the videos.

[onondaga]

I hesitate to recommend my method because it may be too difficult for many to duplicate and heavy handed individuals will destroy an aluminum Lee mold in short order.

I dip the leaded up mold about 1/3 its length straight down into the pot of molten alloy, mold closed, sprue plate closed . Keep dipped for 1 minute. Pull out and open immediately very gently copper brush the offended areas being superbly careful not to cross brush the mold cavity edges. Cross brushing the cavity edges will damage the cavity. Use a good quality copper or brass brush that is not frayed with wandering bristles.

You may have to re-heat the same way more than once and repeat the brushing with great care.

I use a tool for lead around the guide pins to remove stubborn leading. I fashion the tool out of a bamboo shish-kabob barbeque skewer. These are about 1/8 inch in diameter and I sand the squared end to a sharp short 45 degree angle point. Hold the tool like a pencil.

The bamboo tool is used as a pick and scraper to remove heated lead, You have to dip again to use the bamboo tool and may have to resharpen it frequently. The lead only stays soft enough to pick off with the tool for a short time. Reheating and re-picking will be necessary. It will be harmless to the mold and only pick off heat softened lead in problem spots like the 90 degree angle where the pin protrudes from the mold block.

This works for me, I cannot be responsible for your misuse.

Gary

[Jal5]

"I use a tool for lead around the guide pins to remove stubborn leading. I fashion the tool out of a bamboo shish-kabob barbeque skewer. These are about 1/8 inch in diameter and I sand the squared end to a sharp short 45 degree angle point. Hold the tool like a pencil.

The bamboo tool is used as a pick and scraper to remove heated lead, You have to dip again to use the bamboo tool and may have to resharpen it frequently. The lead only stays soft enough to pick off with the tool for a short time. Reheating and re-picking will be necessary. It will be harmless to the mold and only pick off heat softened lead in problem spots like the 90 degree angle where the pin protrudes from the mold block. "



Gary would you recommend this same procedure on a LYMAN steel mold with lead bits keeping it from closing correctly? Sounds to me like it would work. I would heat up the mold on the hotplate though. Been having this problem with 2 different LYMAN molds.

Joe

[onondaga]

I do use the same method on my Lyman molds. If you try a burner, use care. When you get a steel mold block hot enough on a burner to melt bullet alloy, that process is very similar to sweat joint soldering if your heat source is hot enough. For me it is safer to dip a closed mold block 1/3 into the pot. I've never let my pot temp get hot enough to sweat solder mold blocks but I have seen it done by one of my creative friends.

I got a tip from one of the members here too. When you get the mold as cleaned up as you can and it has cooled , a pencil eraser rubbed hard can get spots of lead off that have flowed like solder onto the mold.

Problem spots that need frequent cleaning are spots that I will put anti-flux. The graphite in a regular pencil is an excellent anti-flux. I scribble with pencil on those spots.

Gary

[Jal5]

Gary I tried that method and it still is sticking at the pin holes and creating fins at the boolit nose. I have a magnifier on order and with that I can see close up on this mold especially in the holes. No apparent lead pieces anywhere on the faces or edges of the blocks. This problem didn't happen till I started dipping the mold edge into the pot to heat up so I think some got into the pin holes.
Joe

[Frank V]

A "break in" period for moulds has been discussed a lot, & Years ago I'd suffer through a period of casting flawed bullets too till the mould got broken in. It took several years, but I discovered the break in perion corrisponded directly to the time it took to melt the factory lube out of the mould. Now when I get a new mould, Lyman, Lee, RCBS, or other, the first thing I do is wipe it thoroughly with cotton balls soaked in rubbing alcohol. I wipe it till there is no trace of brown residue on the cotton. Alcohol will dry itself & bingo I've got a seasoned mould that will start casting good bullets as soon as it gets up to temterature.
This has worked for me for the last 10 years. Good casting.
Frank

[45-70 Ranger]

41 mag, I feel your pain. I was a diehard iron mould caster for over 45 years. But then I did have a couple of the early Lee single cavity moulds for conical BP loads. Used then lightly and thus never had a problem. Last year I got a 2 Cavity 45-70 mould by Lee and had all sorts of problems. Pins falling out, crappy alignment, the works. Got the mould thing fixed by Lee ( customer service is top notch) and by then I had learned the little things I needed to know about Lee moulds. (as opposed to all my old iron)

When you get the lead out (sounds like something my dad used to say) and start to cast again, give this additional actions a try:

1. Get a flat piece of iron or a real small anvil and keep it close. When you go to close your moulds, lay it flat atop the plate so the plate guides both blocks together for proper alignment. This really does help with alignment!
2. Once you get going, cast at a fast pace. These moulds cool off fast!
3.And Lube that sprue plate when it starts to bind up.

And by all means, read the other threads that the other fine folks here have stated. I may have years of iron casting under my belt, but the Lee moulds are a different animal. The folks here in this forum have years of time invested with these and many other systems. There will be more than one that will have the answer you seek no matter what.

Good luck with your casting
Wade

[41 mag fan]

Thanks Wade for that piece of info.
I got the lead of the pins, finally taking a propane torch to it. Only thing is now I have lead between handle and mold block thats giving me a bit of a problem. The molds at times don't want to close properly at times, and I have to reopen and give a shake to get closed fully. I'm going to try that piece of metal and see if it works.

But yesterday, I finally got 134 good casts. (I'm hooked now). You can bet I'll be trying again this evening.

[45-70 Ranger]

41 Mag fan,

Glad you got that lead outta way. And any metal plate will do for that closing method I described. You will not have to shake the mould to get it to align and close then. The alignment pins on the Lee moulds are real funny as they run nearly half the way through the mould blocks. This makes it hard to get them closed sometimes. When you lay the open mould on the plate and the base of the mould is flat as well, the blocks will come together tight and quickly too. This will help you keep the pace needed to avoid the "Lee cool down" that happens if you take too much time between pours.

Have funn buddy!!

Wade

[mold maker]

Get youself some bull plate sprue lube, and apply very sparingly (one drop on a q tip will do several molds) to places like the alignment pins and the mold top and sprue plate.
Just don't get it in the cavites. It will stop lead from causing you these problems in the future.
It also works great on all other metal molds.

[41 mag fan]

41 Mag fan,

Glad you got that lead outta way. And any metal plate will do for that closing method I described. You will not have to shake the mould to get it to align and close then. The alignment pins on the Lee moulds are real funny as they run nearly half the way through the mould blocks. This makes it hard to get them closed sometimes. When you lay the open mould on the plate and the base of the mould is flat as well, the blocks will come together tight and quickly too. This will help you keep the pace needed to avoid the "Lee cool down" that happens if you take too much time between pours.

Have funn buddy!!

Wade

That advice worked like a million bucks. It brought the two halves together with out a bit of problems. Made my time getting the halves back together and under the spout quicker.

Get youself some bull plate sprue lube, and apply very sparingly (one drop on a q tip will do several molds) to places like the alignment pins and the mold top and sprue plate.
Just don't get it in the cavites. It will stop lead from causing you these problems in the future.
It also works great on all other metal molds.

I'm needing some, I've been using chain lube. Not working too good, but it gets the job done.

[cajun shooter]

Welcome to the forum. There are certain things that you may do to help you with your new found hobby.
Read all the sticky section, the Glenn Fryxell ones most of all.
Buy a copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook
Buy at least a few bottles of Bullplate lube and apply to the pins and sprue plate.
Bullet casting is not magic but does require more than just buying a mould and some devise to heat a given alloy. I would say that you need to stop and do some serious reading before pouring bullets. Casting good bullets is something that is a great joy and becomes another hobby with in a hobby. It does require that you prepare yourself first. Take Care David PS If you have a problem with the purchase of the bullplate then let me know.

[41 mag fan]

Welcome to the forum. There are certain things that you may do to help you with your new found hobby.
Read all the sticky section, the Glenn Fryxell ones most of all.
Buy a copy of the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook
Buy at least a few bottles of Bullplate lube and apply to the pins and sprue plate.
Bullet casting is not magic but does require more than just buying a mould and some devise to heat a given alloy. I would say that you need to stop and do some serious reading before pouring bullets. Casting good bullets is something that is a great joy and becomes another hobby with in a hobby. It does require that you prepare yourself first. Take Care David PS If you have a problem with the purchase of the bullplate then let me know.

Thanks for your advice. I've got about 500 casts so far. Only get about an hour in the evening. Getting ready to order the bullplate after I get off here. It's been a little trial and error, and I'm just getting geared up and hooked. Luckily I've got some help from off here and friends of mine.