Graphite Spray

Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I've read about graphite spray.
For one reason or another, I never tried it.
Looks like that was a mistake.

This morning, I was using a Lee Tumble Lube 148 gr. , 6 cav. mould.
This mould has made well over 7,000 bullets. Just as good today as
30 yrs. ago.

For some reason ? ? , I decided to coat the cavities with a light coat of the graphite spray. WOW, this mould has never cast bullets like this ! Looks like I lost about .0005 " in bullet dia. That is fine, the mould cast at a shade over 359" prior to the graphite spray.


Ben
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Works real well in my MP 360640 HP Mould :
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S

sundog

Active Member
I use Drop Out, only as needed. Works wonders.

BUT! I spray a swap and then wipe the cavities - a lot less build up.
 
S

shuz

Active Member
I use it on moulds that still have bullets cling to the cavities even tho all burrs have been removed. ( Or so I think!)
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I would have recommended against it, but if it helped, then you are one of the 10%. IME 90% of the time it just makes a mess that takes forever to fix. POWDERED graphite applied with a Q-tip is a different thing and doesn't scare me so. The Frankford stuff makes a decent lube for manure spreader rollers but not as good as grease!
 
D

david s

Well-Known Member
Twenty or so years ago I ruined a Lee 310-430-FP mould using Midway graphite spray. When I used it, the spray didn't put out a nice even film but spit little wads of graphite and left a textured surface. Tried cleaning the mould with various different stuff but I never could get it all out. Haven't used it since. Glad you had better luck with your mould but I'm still a little gun shy about the stuff.
 
Rick

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I smoked a mold once, that will never happen again. I'll stick with my conviction that if it helps at all, big if, it's only covering up a problem. To my way of thinking it's far better to find the problem and fix it rather than covering it up. I don't spend all the time I spend getting the mold clean only so the next thing is gunking it up.
 
Bret4207

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
Rick said:
I smoked a mold once, that will never happen again. I'll stick with my conviction that if it helps at all, big if, it's only covering up a problem. To my way of thinking it's far better to find the problem and fix it rather than covering it up. I don't spend all the time I spend getting the mold clean only so the next thing is gunking it up.
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Same here. I've gotten frustrated and applied various "cures" like smoke, sprays, cleaners, etc. Usually all that was required was a run down the "Lee-menting" list (even on iron moulds) and getting the sucker HOT, and especially the sprue plate. On a few occasions I had to do some deburring and I did lap 1 or 2 over the years, but usually it was a case of running them through a few heat cycles and then getting things "frosty" hot and then slowing down a bit and then things ran pretty good if I did my part. I'm sure there are nightmare moulds out there, but I think they are fewer and farther between than some would lead us to believe.
 
Maven

Maven

Well-Known Member
FWIW, NAPA (auto parts) also makes a graphite spray in an alcohol carrier, which can work wonders in a stubborn mould.
 
Tomme boy

Tomme boy

Well-Known Member
I tried it one time. In a Lee 9mm TC mold. It did not work at all at first. I had some very nasty looking bullets the first three times I cast with it. On the 4th casting session the bullets just dropped out without even a shake. It worked like that for several more sessions then went back to sticking again. I tried to coat it again but it never did work after that first try.

Then ol Larry G wanted to try a Accurate mold on mine for his Mosin Nagant. So I sent it to him. It came back completely covered in black graphite. I did not get a chance to look at it for several months after getting it back. So I opened it one day and found it that way. But of course I was banned from the other place and I could not get ahold of him to ask WTH!. I ended up getting ahold of him on the CBA site and he denied it and said that he thought I let someone else use it and that they did it. He was the only person that I let use that mold. I got it off but it took a lot of soaking in MEK and acetone to get it off.

I don't even understand why he did it as all you have to do is shake the mold and the bullets fell out. The only time it sticks was if you had a really soft lead you were using. So you just turn up the heat a little and it went away.

I am glad you got it to work Ben. Having a trouble mold is not fun to work with.

And YES, I use this on all of my pins on my MP molds. It works great with that when they are new. After 5-6 sessions I don't need it anymore
 
Glaciers

Glaciers

Alaska Land of the Midnight Sun
Tomme I bought a used LEE 6 cavity 358-141, the big brother to the LEE 358-105. Anyway I bought it and there was no mention of being totally coated in graphite. A very heavy coating. Might be the same guy.
I finally got it out by soaking it in mineral spirits overnight. Brushed with a nylon brush and had to soak it one more night and it worked out, came out good.
I use a liquid graphite from time to time that I bought years ago from Walt a NEI.
 
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fiver

fiver

Well-Known Member
most all the used Walt molds i have have a bit of his spray in them.
the stuff has it's uses but i avoid it till it's the ultimate final last resort.
works good on top of a mold though.
 
Ian

Ian

Notorious member
So does a pencil.

My FIL had a can of that stuff, and some marvacrap. I tried them both. Marvacrap promptly went to the brazing/soldering cabinet and later to the trash when it proved worthless as brazing flux, the FA spray seemed to work as advertised on an oversized mould but I had a hard time getting the coat even and bullets were wongo. Can lost its fizz and I pitched it. I will run a light haze of soot on a new brass mould just to help reduce tinning until it develops a natural oxide patina, but that's about it and it wipes right off when I want it to. I can see a use for the FA stuff but have lived happily without it.
 
358156 hp

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
Legend has it that Walt Melanders stuff was actually Neolube. I still see a boatload of used NEI and LBT used moulds that are still carrying their initial application.
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