Mold storage

[Mitty38]

Ok Brad feel free to wipe this out and direct me to the proper place of this has been discussed before.

Now that I am actually casting good bullets and have several molds.
Also am constantly on search of organization, due to limited space.
I was wondering how you guys go about storing,and Aspecially protecting the Iron ones.
Mainly trying to figure out how I am going to integrate them into my 4x3 ft casting corner. Also if any of you store then in an unheated area. Like in a shed.
For now all my molds are in my living room.
Right now I keep all my iron molds in the boxes they were shipped in wrapped in a cotton kroil soaked rag and a quart zip lock bag.
Me Lee mold I just keep in the original box.

 

[Brad]

Lots of ways to store them.
Iron moulds need to be dry and in a low humidity environment to prevent rust.

I have a feeling many will chime in.

 

[Ian]

I think Rick da Moderator has mould storage down to a science. Me, I just put them on shelves above the casting pot in a climate-controlled room.

 

[JWFilips]

Mitty,
I keep my moulds in my basement and I keep the humidity at about 55% all year ( because my workshop an tools are down their)
Used and colored Iron mould never get rust in the open. I always leave the last cast bullets in the mould. Maybe it is luck I do not know
But I do not coat them with anything ( I leave in NorthEast PA and the summers are humid)

 

[waco]

Mine get put on a shelf in my gun room closet. Six years so far with no issues. Now when I was casting and storing molds out in the shop that was a different story.

 

[Rally]

I wipe all my moulds with the synthetic two cycle oil and store them in the boxes they come in. Same for handles. It's wet here and dramatic change of temps from summer to winter. I often cast a bunch of something I like and works well, so it could be years before I reuse the mould, and I don't mind a good cleaning before each use.

 

[Brad]

Oops, my bad Mitty.
You asked about mold storage. I only know about mould storage.

 

[Matt]

Depends on where you live. When I lived near the rain forest in Washington State I swabbed my molds with Break-Free (Later Ed’s Red) and stored then in ammo cans with desiccant packs. Without oiling them in that environment they rusted. I have a rusted Lyman 31141 single cavity that now produces a frosted bullet to remind me of failing to protect molds back then. I always swabbed them when still hot. A good spray of carb cleaner would remove any trace of lube when I wanted to cast again. I can’t imagine trying to remove oil from a mold any other way. Now that I live in the desert of SE Washington state I use Ed’s Red to store some of the iron molds that get little use. Otherwise I just store them in my mold cabinet in my basement. On my aluminum molds with steel sprue plates I think the 2 stroke oil I use as sprue lube keeps the plates from rusting and I do no storage prep with them.

 

[Rick]

Well, I dunno about science but my molds are stored thus . . .



These containers are food storage boxes with a silicone gasket in the lid. Stacked here by caliber with 2-3 molds in each container and the containers stacks are two and three rows deep. This is a shelf under my casting bench. I use a bicycle inner tube cut into rubber bands to hold the blocks together during storage, They are stored dry with the mold description on top of the container.

 

[Brad]

That sure looks like science

 

[Rick]

They are easy to find, clean, dry and ready to use, not science just logic & convenience.

 

[Glaciers]

Well, I dunno about science but my molds are stored thus . . .

View attachment 14822

These containers are food storage boxes with a silicone gasket in the lid. Stacked here by caliber with 2-3 molds in each container and the containers stacks are two and three rows deep. This is a shelf under my casting bench. I use a bicycle inner tube cut into rubber bands to hold the blocks together during storage, They are stored dry with the mold description on top of the container.

View attachment 14823

Nice!!! You Sure know how to make a guy feel lazy. And yes the shoe fits

 

[Mitty38]

Well, I dunno about science but my molds are stored thus . . .

View attachment 14822

These containers are food storage boxes with a silicone gasket in the lid. Stacked here by caliber with 2-3 molds in each container and the containers stacks are two and three rows deep. This is a shelf under my casting bench. I use a bicycle inner tube cut into rubber bands to hold the blocks together during storage, They are stored dry with the mold description on top of the container.

View attachment 14823

Now I like that. You could probably store them in any environment with a little desiccant.

 

[Mitty38]

@Brad Thought molds and moulds interchange.
Lee calls them molds and Lyman calls them moulds.
So I guess I am refering to mould storage??? Since I am talking about my steel moulds with removable handles. Since my Lee Molds are aluminum.
Lyman and Ideal are steel and call them
moulds.
So I guess if they are Aluminum they are Molds. And if they are steel they are moulds??!?
So confusing, almost like the clip and magazine thing.

 

[Brad]

I call them moulds. Probably should use mold since I am such a fun guy.

 

[Mitty38]

 

[Mitty38]

 

[462]

Not to cause you anymore confusion, Emmett, but steel moulds aren't steel, they are meehenite iron.

Ideal used mould long before Lee mis-spelled the word.

 

[Rally]

Well, I dunno about science but my molds are stored thus . . .

View attachment 14822

These containers are food storage boxes with a silicone gasket in the lid. Stacked here by caliber with 2-3 molds in each container and the containers stacks are two and three rows deep. This is a shelf under my casting bench. I use a bicycle inner tube cut into rubber bands to hold the blocks together during storage, They are stored dry with the mold description on top of the container.

View attachment 14823

Show off!

 

[Mitty38]

So I should be calling them Iron moulds.
Always figured mfg can call it anything they want if they first marketed it.

The first Iron Moulds were called just that, so that is what they should be called.

So mold would be the proper name for an aluminum fix handed mold. Because Lee invented and marketed it.

Of course the difference is in the type of English you use. Mould is the Queens English and Mold is American English.
Both are correct.
PS my emojis just can not be selected on this phone for some reason.
If my emojis would work on this phone. I would give you one or two, to let you know I am not getting upset. But have just been kicking this idea around for fun, and a little food for thought.