Bass Ackward
Active Member
Can Lyman blocks be repaired / welded? This single cavity 454424 got a ding at the base. See pic.
Lyman Block Repair
- Thread starter Bass Ackward
- Start date
Bass Ackward
Active Member
Thanks. After reviewing the situation, I’ll just toss it unless somebody wants it. I have no use for it anymore and it ain’t worth shipping 2 ways & repair. Thanks again.
Bass Ackward
Active Member
Some history to that mold. First mold I ever bought myself. Used it to hot rod the 45 Colt back in the early 60s before that was .... cool. Bore was ? Throat was ? And I mean stupid, unsafe type stuff. But I survived.
I’ll PM ya.
Bass Ackward
Active Member
I don’t think so. Check out the alignment holes. Zero abuse except for the ding that I got no idea how it occurred.
F
freebullet
Guest
Used a file & sand paper to smooth a ding down by the alignment pin of a similar mold. I dropped it, they weren't on handles. It's kinda grown a patina, so ya can't really tell it happened.
Bass Ackward
Active Member
Figured without seeing the other pic.
That mold moved with me on 7 moves in the military including two overseas & their returns. I had 2 grandkids that learned to cast, but I didn’t have small handles then. And no marks on the pin if it was dropped. Haven’t had a 45 with big throats since I sold that gun in the early 70s.
Grandma’s big saying, “person never knows.”
Bret4207
At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
A really good guy with a small dovetail cutter of the right size could probably mill and fit a hunka metal to fit that spot and then dress it all out to match. IIRC, Lyman uses not traditional cast iron but a form of ductile iron that is more of a steel. I've machined actual cast iron and it's nothing like what Lyman uses. It's probably more of a steel.
Bass Ackward
Active Member
JB Weld says their epoxy can withstand constant 500 degrees or 600 degrees for 10 minutes. Good enough???
This might sound stupid, but it's something I would be inclined to try (the self deprecation was unintentional) before giving it up - if it were a mould I liked - pour some bullets and see if the sizer will wipe the errant appendage off without leaving flash or straining the sizer too much. It may end up with a preference for nose-first or base-first, but if it doesn't turn out to be too much trouble, it may be worth leaving it as-is.
KeithB
Resident Half Fast Machinist
1. If it's just a ding (and that's what it looks like) then the material is still there. A little careful peening with a small flat faced punch might just move enough material back into place to make the mold useable again. Sizing the bullet could take care of the rest.
2. If that doesn't work then I would see if facing off the top of the mold a little could clean things up. IIRC that bullet design has a fairly thick base.
3. If I had to take off too much to leave a thick enough base band I would try what I saw over on CB years ago. One of the guys faced off a mold and then used two very small flat head screws in the top of each mold half to anchor two small flat plates in place. The plates were then drilled/reamed to be concentric with the existing cavity. Could even make it into a GC design this way if desired.
sorry, from my experience gluing is a non-starter and unless you are a TIG magician that is chancy. Metallizing might work, my experience with that is limited.
2. If that doesn't work then I would see if facing off the top of the mold a little could clean things up. IIRC that bullet design has a fairly thick base.
3. If I had to take off too much to leave a thick enough base band I would try what I saw over on CB years ago. One of the guys faced off a mold and then used two very small flat head screws in the top of each mold half to anchor two small flat plates in place. The plates were then drilled/reamed to be concentric with the existing cavity. Could even make it into a GC design this way if desired.
sorry, from my experience gluing is a non-starter and unless you are a TIG magician that is chancy. Metallizing might work, my experience with that is limited.