To say I am discouraged is an understatement

[armoredman]

I had the pot going, everything dialed in, and I knew that a 5 cavity mould would take a bit of heating. So, into the top ofthe Lee 10 pound production pot it went. I knew that wouldn't get all the cavities, but would be a start. Yeah, right.
When the lead fell off, I started, and for the first 50-100, not a single boolit was complete, partials and tails. OK, warm up time. I started speeding it up, trying to warm up the mould, and soon, complete and what looked to be good boolits were dropping. I kept the speed up, and was happy.
Until it came to to inspect them. Now remember, I am a low volume caster, so this was a lot of boolits for me. Out of about 200-300 cast, not ONE was good, all with incomplete fill out and severe wrinkles. All right, I dialed up the pot to 8, (whatever that is, no lead thermometer, I just make sure the lead isn't steaming, don't want to breathe lead vapors, bad for the health plan), and dump everything back in the pot. Wait for it all to melt and get up to temp, dip the mould again, and start over. Now the mould started off warm, so it was only a few casts before boolits were towel dropping again, and from where I could see, they looked good. Onward and upwards!
Yeah, right. Out of that 200-300 casts, I ended up with 11 usable, not good, mind you, but usable boolits. Same story, incomplete fill out in the lube grooves/driving bands, and wrinkles on the sides.
I haven't had this issue with my cheapie Lee 2 cavity moulds, what can I do? Do I need to jack the temp up even higher on the pot? I cast with two ways, one was raise and lower the spout on each cavity, the other to let it run as I moved the mould underneath it. No difference. Lead poured straight in, or swirled off the side of the funnel in the sprue plate, no difference.
Ideas? This was, for me at this time, a big monetary investment, and I would love to get it working right.

[Ben]

I didn't notice where you described how you cleaned the mold ? The cleaning is SUPER impt. If there is a spec. of oil or grease in the cavities, you'll just continue with your problems.

If the mold is clean, the alloy isn't contaminated, and the alloy is hot enough, that mold will throw good bullets.

[armoredman]

No, I didn't clean it, any suggestions? Hadn't had to do that before.

[excess650]

I use dishwashing liquid and hot water. Scrubbing with an old toothbrush doesn't hurt.

I suspect that you still didn't have enough heat. A casting thermometer isn't all that expensive and will give you a good idea as to where your various molds like to be working.

I can generaly cast really good bullets at 720*, but my Lee 6 cavity 30cal wants 800* or more!

[finishman2000]

i gave up on lee and all aluminum molds years ago. the six cavity would never give me six good heads. The 20 year H&G used 8 cavity that replaced the lee gave me 8 good heads every time.

[44man]

I just plain stay away from those huge molds. I use two cavity and would rather cast with two at the same time as fight with mold heat.
I am not a frantic caster and don't want to be one.

[mpmarty]

I use a thermometer and don't even try to cast at below 750* F. With some of my six cavity molds I go to 800* before they start working right. Nearly all my molds are LEE my only iron molds are an RCBS 45/70 single cavity that works but is too slow to be worth messing with.

[Artful]

Clean mold (nail polish remover, alcohol, Mineral spirits, lighter fluid) then use detergent and hot water, smoke the cavities or mold prep them, hot plate to warm mold on before casting, not sure what temp your Lee pot is set too but if it wouldn't frost a normal 2 cavity your probably not hot enough, and I tend to cast faster with Aluminum gang molds. I tend to not to have to push with iron gang molds but the Aluminum seem to want to be done faster -

Lee Mold manuel (tri fold)

If you're an experience bullet caster, forget most of what was true...Aluminum mold blocks conduct heat fast, the metal must be extra hot for good bullets.

Oh and watch out for the sprue handle start off just casting in the front two then front 4 then all of the caviities.

[wiljen]

I spray my molds with Brakleen to clean them out then rinse them in hot water.

[armoredman]

Well, to get what i wanted, I went with what was available, and the 5 cavity was what there was. I haven't had any issues with aluminum moulds, have gotten great boolits from the Lees I have.
I wasn't bad mouthing the mould, I knew it was something I was doing/not doing. Since it's cooling off, I can try again later.
Dagnabbit, wife threw out all the old toothbrushes. I think I heard something about pencil erasers?

[cbrick]

Clean the mold and when you think it's clean start over and clean it again. New molds can be a real PITA. I use denatured alcohol and a brass tooth brush to cut the oil.

Pre-heat the mold on a hot plate or carefully use a propane torch, don't over do it with the torch. Pot temp of 700-750 degrees is all you should need if the mold is properly pre-heated.

I'll bet you are extremely discouraged if you tried to cast with a new mold with no cleaning. You could burn off the machining oil by casting with it but I wouldn't want to find out how long that might take, down right depressing just thinking of it.

Get a thermometer so you can see what's what and why and where to.

I'm not much of a beleiver in smoking molds, the best possible that it can do is cover up a problem. Much better if there is a problem is correcting it, not covering it up.

Rick

[merlin101]

I spray my molds with Brakleen to clean them out then rinse them in hot water.

How often do you do this, just when there new or every time?

[CJR]

Armoredman,

Here's what I recommend;
1. First clean your mold thoroughly with brake cleaner.
2. Then thoroughly clean with dishwasher soap and a toothbrush. Scrub each cavity really well.
3. Let molds dry and then smoke each cavity with safety matches until each cavity is black with soot.
4. When you cast initially, run the pot at a higher temperature so that the bullets are frosted.

The more cleaning/casting you do with the mold will clean-up the mold more. Then you can cut the pot temperature back and get well filled out and shiny booits.

Hope this helps.

Best regards,

CJR

[armoredman]

That's the thing, it isn't new, I bought it used. Not very used, previous owner said he used it once. Should be cooled off, I guess I can trythe lighter fluid thing - no toothbrush, washcloth work for now?

[cbrick]

3. Let molds dry and then smoke each cavity with safety matches until each cavity is black with soot.

CJR

Please explain the purpose/reason for smoking the mold?

Rick

[Recluse]

I just plain stay away from those huge molds. I use two cavity and would rather cast with two at the same time as fight with mold heat.
I am not a frantic caster and don't want to be one.

Same here. I enjoy casting, same as I enjoy reloading. No hurries, no worries.

Armoredman. . .

I'm assuming this is the 130 gr boolit for your 7.62x39 mold we're discussing?

I've got the EH Harris mold from Lee in that boolit and only way I can get nice boolits is to keep the mold HOT and to ladle pour. But it gives me extremely nice boolits. Anything less than high heat and ladle-pouring, and my language gets pretty foul.

Don't know if you have a ladle handy. . .

Also, is your tin content in the alloy high enough? I generally add just a bit to alloy I'm going to be pouring long boolits with.

[armoredman]

I am using wheel weight lead, no alloying metals available. Me loooow tech caster. I do have a ladle, but it's a bottom pour Lee pt, don't know how well that would work with the valve stem going across the pot. Edit to add, this boolit is shorter than the Lee 160 grainer, no issues with that one. Didn't know Lee ever made a mould in this flavor, would LOVE to see Lee make a 2 cavity tumble lube 130 grain boolit at .313.
No hot plate, any reccomendations on that,how hot does it have to be able to go to?
I guess I was just extremely lucky with me previous moulds never needing this treatment.
I also agree, I am not casting frantically, just trying to be fast enough not to lose any heat. I also feel casting and loading are an enjoyable hobby- if it stops being fun, I'll stop doing it.

[CJR]

Rick,

Smoking aluminum/cast iron molds is an old trick to get new molds to fill-out properly. I suspect the heat from the match tends to vaporize and burn off oil vapors from the pores of the metal. I believe at one time Lee advocated smoking their molds. Some have even talked about the insulating effect the soot has to slow down the heat loss. Whatever the proper reason, super cleaning and smoking new molds has aways worked for me.

Best regards,

CJR

[armoredman]

Ok, here's what I did. I found an old gun cleaning toothbrush, hang on, I never use it, but cleaned it as best I could first! I dribbled lighter fluid into the cavities, and scrubbed. I then used hot dish soapy water and scrubbed again. Then I rinsed with plain water, and carefully dired with a soft towel. Now the two halves are sitting, becoming thoroughly dry, and I figure in an hour or so I'll give it another go. I used my Zippo to smoke it last time, as I have always smoked molds. I do have some wooden matches I can try next.
Does that sound about right?

[cbrick]

CJR,

Not trying to belittle you, just trying to pass on a little info. Smoking molds is an old wives tale still being passed on and on and on. Lee still suggests using beeswax to lube molds, another old wives tale that causes all sorts of grief.

If the mold is clean to begin with, the blocks align and there are no burs etc. smoking can accomplish nothing but messing up the clean molds. Try not smoking them then cast with a clean mold and see what you think.

If you feel that smoking a mold has helped you cast better bullets it's only because it's covering up a problem. Figure out what the problem is and correct it, then cast with a clean mold.

Rick