Al told me to sand them a little. It takes more than that on a 4-cavity due to handle slop. Al even gave me a set of his handles to try to see if it would help the issues I was having, but it actually made it worse compared to Lee handles. So close to excellence...but. It's a basic engineering flaw, you cannot operate linear guides on an arc without bind or excess tolerance, it's as simple as that. Just turn a point on some steel rod like everyone else does, what's so difficult or expensive about that? I'd gladly pay an extra few dollars per mould for that. Lee does it now on their two-cavities, PLUS they cut some real vents in the TOP of their blocks and even engrave their logo and designation on them....and include handles....all for STILL $18. Why can't Al do that on the equivalent $79 mould? Make a product that I need and that works and I'll buy it, just ask Tom. Or Forster. Or Toyota Motor Company.
And on the handles, here's the big problem with those, easily remedied by either a trip to the hardware store or by buying two pairs of Lee handles for the same money and fixing them immediately with some Permatex Ultra Copper RTV silicone: The pivot bolt. NOE handles crunch and slop around then opening and closing, which exacerbates the binding problem of the mould pins and the misalignment and wear. Put a shoulder bolt in there so that the tongs aren't bearing on THREADS. Threads eat out the holes quickly and make the already bad problem worse. I fixed the set Al gave me by going to the hardware store and buying some Hillman bronze bushings, drilling the holes out, pressing the bushings in with some bearing mount adhesive, filing them flush, reaming with a chucking reamer and polishing up to bolt size and putting a shoulder bolt in there with a short stack of washers under the nut. Then I gave them to a friend of mine who had just started casting. In Al's defense he does at least pin the handles, so that part doesn't have to be remedied before the first use.
Yes, I'm passionate and opinionated on these things. I WANT AL TO SUCCEED. Tough love, buddy. I know a lot of people who won't say this sort of stuff in public because they're afraid of hurting feelings but grumble about some of the same things I do in private. It isn't just me. Many of the other companies don't care about their customers and won't stand behind their products. You never have that worry with NOE, and for so little the products could be so much greater. C'mon, Al, go that last 2%!