Lee Commercial Mould Handles

[Ben]

I get tired of taking mould handles off / on w/ my Lee 6 cavity moulds.
As you all know, reloading / casting items are in short supply with a lot of vendors now.
I decided to get a couple of the Lee handles.
Many vendors were out of stock.
Evil Bay wanted $42.00 for a single set of handles.

I found a pair on The Titan Reloading Web site for $13.49 per pair, $26.98 for two. I'm uncertain if they still have them in stock ? ? ? I was able to order two.

Good deals are still out there.
They are simply harder to find right now.

Ben

 

[462]

Good deal, Ben.

Try both pair on all your moulds you intend to use them on. As I've mentioned in another post (or more), I have at least one set of Lee six-cavity handles that wouldn't fit a Lee six-cavity mould, and sintered metal does not file easily. Hopefully, Shirley didn't inspect yours.

 

[Ben]

Shirley and I are having a lot of problems with our friendship.

Ben

 

[RBHarter]

Found a tool to make a tool at Graffs . They promised 16-18 days to pick and pack it was only 8 days to the door . I didn't realize how much they had expanded since I was hunting 32 Rem brass .

 

[Glaciers]

Good deal, Ben.

Try both pair on all your moulds you intend to use them on. As I've mentioned in another post (or more), I have at least one set of Lee six-cavity handles that wouldn't fit a Lee six-cavity mould, and sintered metal does not file easily. Hopefully, Shirley didn't inspect yours.

462 I had a couple of LEE handles that were "fat" on a LEE mold and one I tried on a Lyman I believe. I have a bench top belt sander with a 9" disk as well. The belt is 6" wide and the table surface is 24" for working. Anyway I just lay the handles on the belt and check it to make sure it's getting even contact and seconds later nice even job. No more fit problem. Belt sander in the vise would do the same.

 

[462]

Belt sander in the vise would do the same.

Now, why didn't I think of that?

I did use the bench grinder to fit Lee handles to an RCBS mould, and another set to fit a Lyman four-cavity.

 

[RicinYakima]

Shirley and I are having a lot of problems with our friendship.

Ben

It is "surely" you expect this to be junk, right?

 

[oscarflytyer]

I'm lucky/my estate mold buys have provided a ton of handles. Still have to swap a few. And a couple of the Lee sets have had to be shaved as mentioned above. But I couldn't imagine just one or two sets of handles and swapping them for all my casting...

 

[bruce381]

"Belt sander in the vise would do the same."

Ahh the belt sander the dremel tool for relaoders.

 

[Dimner]

What's the easiest way to mod a pair lee handles where the handles are slipping off the tangs? My plan is to drill through and use a nut and bolt, but that's because I don't have much experience with metal working. Is there and easier way?

 

[Rick H]

Pinning works, but I have just used High Temp JB weld. I rough up the metal, clean it well and gob in some JB and push it home.

 

[Dimner]

JB weld! See I knew there was a smarter way. I have two sets of Lee's that I'll do that tonight with. Thank you!

 

[Ben]

High Temp JB weld

Use this and forget that you ever had a problem.

Ben

 

[Brad]

I used Acraglass because it is what I have on hand. Never an issue afterwards.

 

[CZ93X62]

Pinning works, but I have just used High Temp JB weld. I rough up the metal, clean it well and gob in some JB and push it home.

This is standard procedure at my house when mould handles develop wandering habits.

 

[STIHL]

Midway also has them in stock.

 

[L Ross]

Best rendition of Lee clone handles are the one's made by Dick Dastardly of Big Lube moulds. Die cut stainless steel, brass ferrules, glued on wood handles, chamfered on the butts to prevent chipping. 45 bucks.

 

[david s]

I have a couple of sets of the NOE clone version of Lee handles, there a better quality than Lee with pinned on handles. There a fair bit more $ than Lee though. I picked up a couple of sets of the NOE's when they were on sale. Otherwise it's the Lee handles and JB Weld.

 

[Dimner]

oddly enough, I whammed on my NOE handles enough where the pins fell out. But that was back when I had less experience and was not using proper techniques to get bullets to drop easier out of the mold. Also, was using far too heavy of a mold mallet.

 

[Bliksem]

I checked my purchase history on Midway and Amazon for the Lee commercial mold handles and see that in 2014 they cost $14.99, in 2020 cost $16.99 and today on Midway $24.99. I'm glad I purchased enough bits 'n pieces over the years as my income increase has not kept pace with upwards price creep.

In December 2019 I purchased another Hornady LnL AP kit and it cost $429.99 and today is listed at $680.40

It's all a matter of supply and demand, the less we supply the more we demand.

At this rate I'll soon be a paper millionaire when doing a valuation of my toys and tools...