H&G 68 Mould Clean-up

Rob129

New Member
Evening!

I could have sworn I saw a mould clean up thread in here. Can’t seem to find it—been a long week. At any rate, I snagged an H&G 68 off eBay. I just got it yesterday and want to clean it up. Was looking to use dawn dish soap, toothbrush and some patience. Then isopropyl 91% on a q-tip to clean out cavities to finish things up. Is it ok to use light gun lube on the sprue plate screw? Any direction would be helpful. I actually have a few mounds to clean up. Thanks in advance.

 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Gun lube will not last long and will leave some potentially nasty residue. A decent two stroke oil would be a far better choice.
 

Ian

Notorious member
De-gummed castor works OK but being that it wicks toward heat it can get where you don't want it. A better choice would be an ester or PAO full synthetic like Redline, Maxima, Motul, or Amsoil Dominator.
 

CZ93X62

Official forum enigma
It doesn't take very much 2-stroke lube to do the job. Do your best to keep it out of the cavities. I apply it no farther out than the area covered by the sprue plate's bolt head.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I'd run some lead through that before I got too worked up about trying to clean it.
maybe adjust the plate a little when it got hot and bump the top/pins with a smear of lube then cast some more with it.
 

Rob129

New Member
De-gummed castor works OK but being that it wicks toward heat it can get where you don't want it. A better choice would be an ester or PAO full synthetic like Redline, Maxima, Motul, or Amsoil Dominator.
Yessir, Maxima makes 927. Its the only thing I ran in my 500 and 250.

Just wanted to use a smidge on the screws, none in the cavities. Thanks for all the help guys. I really appreciate it.
 

CWLONGSHOT

Well-Known Member
Last couple I did where 98% done with a 24 hr soak in Evapo-Rust. Then warm water and a stiff tooth brush.

I borrowed a beautiful Brass mold from a friend. Looking it over Monday revealed most of its four cavities have lead caught in corners and mold will not 100% close. About 15 minutes with a brass 17 cal case. I scraped about 75% away and the mold ALMOST closes with a good squeeze. Its at least useable now but Is there a trick to completely remove that lead? (Without danger of damaging a beautiful Brass 4 cav mold?

CW
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
CW- 4/0 steel wool, or bronze wool if you can find it, has always done the trick for me. If the mould is hot a wooden stick (pencil sized dowel for example) sharpened at an angle will often scrape it away. There is a "lead soaking" product made to pull solder out of joints, or at least it used to be made, but I've never used it. It looks like steel wool to me in the pictures, probably treated with a tinning agent. The steel wool shouldn't harm even a brass mould at all, but it's got to be the 4/0 fine or extra fine grade.
 

Reloader762

Active Member
Ed Harris told me that Bon Ami powdered cleaner was great for scrubbing old iron molds with. He also told me to use USP Mineral oil to protect my iron molds as it would prevent rust, was non-toxic and would burn off while the mold was heating up leaving no reside on the mold when you begin casting.
 

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
I second the Bon Ami trick. I just received a used mould that looked beautiful in the pics, but when I got it I saw that it had been heavily oiled for the auction pics. I disassembled it and took it over to the sink and drizzled it with Dawn dish soap, then gave it a good dusting with Bon Ami & scrubbed it with a wet tooth brush. It foamed and bubbled but it came completely bare nekkid clean. I rinsed it off good with hot water and it's now ready to go. After it was clean I realized that it needs a new sprue plate, and the dowel pins need adjusting. I have the Lyman "Rebuild" kit coming, and will make all the adjustments at once before using.