Tried out a "new" old mold

[Pistolero]

I think this is another Modern Bond mold. Two cavity, the mold attach screws enter from the top, and double as sprue plate
pivot and stop bolts, too. Side setscrews to lock them. This is a 158 gr RN .38 cal mold. It has narrow slots so won't fit
Lee 6 cav or RCBS, or SAECO handles. I put the two cav blocks on Lyman four cav nutcracker type handles, just because they
are thin enough. The mold wasn't closing reliably....sometimes. I think the crummy mounting screws are such a mess as to
be holding the mold halves too stiffly on the handles, not floating freely to pivot a little.

I need to make some correct mounting screws with a long smooth, small diameter snout, turned down in the lathe,
should work.
I cast up about 50 and will see how they do. Some were finned from not closing properly, due to handle and handle mounting
issues. I may have to mill a Lee 6 can set down to fit it. I suppose I could open up the slots a bit with the mill, too.

Bill

 

[462]

Bill,
Leave your grinder and files somewhere in plain sight, so your Munchkins can find them, and they will modify the Lee handles to fit.

 

[Intheshop]

Funny how seemingly little things,can make a big difference?

The other day got lucky,sort of cause,I did think before jumping...... the big lathe was,oh how you say? leaving something on the table WRT finish. So I felt like a new set of belts was in order(gear drive,but belt primary).... let's see,how to get a matched set of belts and not really have to specify or explain the situation? In a perfect world,you walk in to Baltimore Belting and no explanation needed,they hand you a matched set..... and I know the place very well,brick building about a block off Harford rd in E. Bmore. But I'm sitting in central Va? Off to O'Reilly and ordered two belts..... they had one in stock but,that wasn't matched. I told the kid to keep that one,and order two just like it..... sure enough,the new belts came in and they were matched according to the numbers. And was in fact the problem with the lathe. As the belts,admittedly wore out.....aged,they were slapping around at a not,constant rate. New quality matched set,voila.... back in business.

 

[fiver]

quite often a mold will 'fit' on some handles but the angles are all wrong to allow them to close properly.
I went through this with some custom molds until I figured out what fit what then things smoothed up considerably.

 

[Pistolero]

Yes, the mold is fine, a previous owner lost the proper screws, put in some badly ground down hardware store screws and sorta filed one to clear the the sprue plate. I'll take care of it after some honey dos.

And you didn't have to drive 4 hours, and take your life in your hands going into Balmer to get the matched belts. Heck of a deal.

 

[358156 hp]

Need pics of one for reference? Modern Bond started out wayyy ahead of the competition, and finished wayyy behind them. Sad...

 

[Pistolero]

Yep, looks a lot like that. Will post a pic tomorrow. Taller blocks because of RN, but screw placement, locking
screws and sprue plate all look the same. Mine has crummy hardware store screws. I'll be fixing that.

Maybe cutting down some Lee handles will be the easiest way. A few minutes on the mill. I have no handles
that look even remotely like that.

See how the sprue plate stop screw is turned down and mostly the head is there to hold down on the
sprue plate when closed? Mine has a flat filed on the screw....not as good. Possibly part of the closing
issues.

Bill

 

[Bret4207]

Modern Bond made some real nice moulds.

 

[Pistolero]

It seems to cast fine, and if I can get the screws and handles sorted out I think it will be another
good casting old mold. It did pretty well in a poor handle situation already.