NOE 454-452 HP mold frustrations-figured out -I hope

[LenH]

I bought a new mold last week from NOE, it is the 454-424 255 GR HP mold. I received the mold on Wednesday and I cleaned the mold with Dawn Dish soap
and a soft bristle tooth brush. I ran the mold through 4 heat cycles as per the instructions. Saturday I got the alloy up to temp & got the mold off an old worn out
hot plate (old habits are hard to break) and spent the next three hours in fruitless frustration. I never got the first bullet off that mold. Late Saturday night I sent Al
Nelson an e-mail and told him of my frustrations. He replied Sunday afternoon with a few tips. I fired the pot back up and got out the new hot plate my darling wife
got me for my birthday. Got the melt to temp and the same result, I called Al and we talked while the mold was on the hot plate on hi. He assured me to keep
tinkering with the mold. One of the blogs on the NOE site said that the pins need to be hotter than the mold which seemed almost impossible, but during that conversation that mold hit the SWEET spot that Al was talking about and the bullets started dropping off the pins but when the bullets started to frost a bit a couple of the pins began to stick. but I did get a few that are shootable. The ones pictured are sized .452 with Randy Lee's Tac-1 lube.

I hope I finally have this thing figured out, any help from you guys will be greatly appreciated.

Len H.

[Beagle333]

You can take the pins out of the mold and grip the tips between your fingers with some 800-1000 grit paper and spin them until the pin tips shine like a mirror. Then you can shade them with a pencil to get as much graphite powder on them as they will hold (probably not much, if they are really mirror-smooth), and carefully put them back without wiping off the graphite.
Or you can dust them with a Q-tip and powdered graphite after they are installed, if you have any available.
This helps me get em dropping before they get to perfect temp. Once they are hot enough they don't give me a problem.

I also sometimes use a super-light coat of sprue plate lube on the tips of the pins, but it has to be very light or it will migrate to the cavities. It works for me, but it seems every time I recommend it to somebody they use too much and then get the lube-wrinkles for a few casts. Keep that as a reserve option if polishing and graphiting do not work.

[LenH]

Beagle333, I'll give that a shot with the sandpaper and I have plenty of the old style drafting lead I can use to coat the tip. When I use sprue plate lube I have found
if I just barely dip a q-tip in what is on the inside of the cap, that it is more than enough. So much of this stuff on this site is new to me like using wood chips on
top of the melt and the sprue plate lube. I have been casting off an on for 40 years.

By the way Al Nelson is a top notch guy. He answered the phone on Sunday afternoon to help a dummy out and calm him down. Thanks to Al.

[35 shooter]

Thanks for posting this LenH. I've got an rg2 mould ordered from Noe and had read about some of the things discussed here to get em running. All this should come in handy when it gets here. I did expect to go through a bit of a learning curve with it. Can't wait for it!

[LenH]

35shooter, Make sure you get the molds clean, pins and all. Look up the blogs on the NOE site, they are somewhat hade to find but well worth it when you find it.

I almost pulled the trigger on another HP mold from NOE but decided to try and learn on this one first. Be patient and it will all fall into place.

Len H.

[13Echo]

I know my mould isn't yours but my RG NOE moulds, even the ones with narrow pins, don't stick. Like you I wash thoroughly with dawn and rinse with the hottest water I can get and then dry the mould. I preheat on the hot plate with a cover over the plate and mould to let it thoroughly heat soak and smoke the cavities and pins with a barbque lighter. A new mould usually start casting good bullets within 1 to 10 bullets. I think it is important to get all the soap out of the mold If you have hard water it may actually form a soap scum film on the mould if it itsn't rinsed and dried before the water has a chance to evaporate on the mould and leave the minerals and soap behind.

Jerry Liles

[tomme boy]

Keep casting. It will form a oxidation layer after about 10 or so times of using it. The pins themselves have to get the oxidation on them too. Plus make sure to have the pins turned out one turn. If they are tight they will stick.