Help! 5 cav aluminum mold and cratered bases

[Bret4207]

If H+G had used aluminum they would have engineered the moulds so they worked right from the start!

Heat cycling for me never had anything to do with alignment pins. It was just something that SOMETIMES had to occur before the mould would cast right. I don't know where the idea of "heat cycling" being a method or suggested course of action came from. For me "heat cycling" means "casting sessions" where you go from a lot of problems and culls to the session where all the sudden the mould decides to start working with me instead of against me.

 

[Rick]

Where did it come from? Easiest question of the day. Because LEE aluminum molds were/are famous for the pins falling out. Anyone that has ever screwed a head bolt into an aluminum block understands heat cycling. If anti-seize isn't used on the bolt threads neither you nor an act of God will ever get that bolt out again. Same thing with aluminum molds, heat cycle it and the steel pins seize in place solving the issue of loose pins. As for casting better after several heat cycles? I'm sure that if you believe it nothing is going to change your mind. I don't heat cycle any mold except of course casting with it and I've never had the issues complained about. But then I don't use LEE molds either.

 

[fiver]

brass molds also need to be patinad, if you don't you take the risk of tinning the faces.

 

[Ian]

brass molds also need to be patinad, if you don't you take the risk of tinning the faces.

Yeppers, that's why I soot them lightly before the first use.

NOE has thermo-cycling before use detailed in the instructions.

 

[Bret4207]

brass molds also need to be patinad, if you don't you take the risk of tinning the faces.

Now that makes sense.

 

[Bret4207]

Where did it come from? Easiest question of the day. Because LEE aluminum molds were/are famous for the pins falling out. Anyone that has ever screwed a head bolt into an aluminum block understands heat cycling. If anti-seize isn't used on the bolt threads neither you nor an act of God will ever get that bolt out again. Same thing with aluminum molds, heat cycle it and the steel pins seize in place solving the issue of loose pins. As for casting better after several heat cycles? I'm sure that if you believe it nothing is going to change your mind. I don't heat cycle any mold except of course casting with it and I've never had the issues complained about. But then I don't use LEE molds either.

There's another one! I've never had any pins falling out or loose in a Lee, and I own a mess of them. I've had the sprue plate get loose, but that's about it. I've never purposely "heat cycled" anything either, just observed that with some moulds, and not just Lees, it's a thing that seems to occur.

 

[Brad]

I have has Lee mould where the pins moved. The 6 cav are prone to it. The. Again, had the same with a couple brass MP moulds.
Not a difficult fix, just a pain when you suddenly see bullets with fins.

 

[Glaciers]

NOE molds have been a mixed bag, about half are troublesome. The other half I know have been scrubbed and heat cycled and drop good bullets. If I’m honest I’d maybe think that I just forgot to heat cycle the troublesome ones enough. I know they got sprayed down at a minimum. Have 3 or 4 RG hollow point molds and they are a bit of a learning curve. The Arsenal molds all cast good bullets pretty much right away, after being lightly scrubbed with alcohol.
I will admit I have quite a few LEE molds, 6 cavity and a few 2 cavity molds. Little troublesome but the ones that work the best right from the start were 6 cavity molds. I had sold the 2 cavity molds and one the LEE 6 bangers started showing up again at Midsouth I bought 5 or 6, but I put all of them in boiling water with Dawn soap. Dried and used, all pretty much, mostly cast good bullets right away. These LEE’s got boiled for a while and have a nice patina to them. Never have had a loose pin, but I don’t get the mileage on my equipment like most here. I’m a bit jealous about that.

The tip about LEE molds, or just aluminum molds that Ian made makes a lot of since and that will be my next project. Got to get one of those swing arm lights with a magnifying glass built in. That would be helpful for many things.

Ok, I’ve admitted to owning LEE molds and being mostly happy with them. But please just don’t tell Rick.

 

[Rick]

Rick don't care, have at it. Only care about my mold collection and I can only imagine the huge number of problems and issues I've completely avoided by not buying a single LEE mold in over 30 years.

Never in my life have I bought any tool, molds or anything else with the intent of seeing how much time, aggravation and work it will take to make it do what I bought it to do.

 

[Dimner]

Welp.... this 30 hunter mold is dead to me. It will go for a few to 15 minutes of great bullets then puke out crap ones for the next hour.

I've put 70-80lbs of 3/2 alloy through it (or should it be called 2/3? 3sb 2sn) and just nothing but mountains of rejects. I bought it at the end of June, so I'll call AL on Monday and see what he can do for me.

For a bit of therapy.... last night I got out my NOE 2 cav 311-199 big ol FN thumper. Made a mess of very nice bullets very quickly. Then i found that i had bought a lyman 311284 a year or two back that was still in the shipping oils. Washed it up.... started casting and it works great right off the bat. After a few pounds cast, I knew i was gonna keep it for a while. So I gave it some Ben syle loving. Double washer for the sprue screw, chamfered the alignment pin holes, then went back to making 15lbs of very nice bullets.

Finally a very relaxing casting session. Its been a while since that.

 

[Ian]

Yep, I've sent a few to the scrapper, life's too short for the aggravation sometimes.

 

[malar]

I have 10 NOE molds and the only problem I have with them is the the bore riders cast to big, even with soft low antimony alloy. I don't buy bore riders from them anymore.

I have a tip about sticky cavity molds. I rub the edge of the cavity with a Popsicle stick going from the inside out all around the cavity. You don't need to work hard just go easy.

 

[L Ross]

Welcome Marlar. Do you use the clean end or the sticky end of the Popsicle stick?

 

[fiver]

he's from around here... so the popsicle is still in his mouth.

 

[L Ross]

he's from around here... so the popsicle is still in his mouth.

So you share a neighborhood and some vowels and consonants?

 

[Bret4207]

I've yet to run across across a mould of any make that I tossed. They may not beautiful bullets, but they can all make something usable. My worst performers have been those darn "Tumble Lube" style.

 

[Rick H]

I am kind of ashamed to admit that I only have one iron mould. The RCBS nominal 270gr. 45 cal. Swc. I have many more aluminum Lee and NOE. I debur the cavities with said popsicle sticks and use kabob skewers to debur the vent lines. The moulds don't care if you use the sticky end or not.
I picked up on Ben's tip for chamfering the top edge with a file (or stone) but usually reserve that for problem moulds.

 

[Dimner]

I called Al yesterday, He's sending along a new sprue plate. We are hoping that will fix the problem.

 

[malar]

Welcome Marlar. Do you use the clean end or the sticky end of the Popsicle stick?

Now we know who the smarty pants of the neighborhood is.

 

[fiver]

not quite that close, but you gotta be super close to Boise stadium [like within 1-K yds.] to not be claimed as a 'neighbor' out here.