Rusty Mould

Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
I bought a 2 cav. Lyman 35863 Wadcutter bullet mould. The photos that I looked at BEFORE I decided to buy the mould clearly showed rust in the mould cavities ( and all over the outside of the mould also. . I knew what I was buying. The seller didn't try to hide anything. I felt that I was buying a " Fixer Upper ." I was able to buy the 2 cav. mould for $35.00

I saw some rust remover a few months ago in a hardware store. I bought a bottle just for this kind of job.

Here it is ;



Here is a link to the product :

http://www.amazon.com/KRUD-KUTTER-MR...+must+for+rust

I disassembled the mould and put the mould halves into a glass jar. Covered the halves with gasoline to de-grease the mould halves and allowed them to sit for 15 minutes totally submerged in the gasoline.

Then I removed them and blew them off with an air hose.

Then I submerged the mould blocks in the rust remover ( the green liquid in the glass jar in the photo below ) :



The blocks were allowed to sit in the rust remover for about 20 minutes ( as per the directions with the product )

A bit of rubbing with 0000 steel wool and the mold blocks cleaned up really well. I lost the original Lyman bluing, but at least all the rust is gone now. I suppose that I could cold blue the blocks when they are warm and oil free ?

I think it cleaned up real well.







The mold cast real well :


Here are the bullets as they fall from the mould :

016_zps2dc9fd96.jpg




The mould cast great now ! !

 
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Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Thanks S Mac.

This stuff will take a rusty mould and bring it back to life.
The down side as I've mentioned is you'll loose the factory blueing.

Ben
 
Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
This stuff may be a " cousin " to naval jelly ? ? ?
All the naval jelly that I've seen is a jell like substance.
Obviously this is a liquid.
 
R

RKJ

Active Member
Guys, I was wondering (and remembering) back in Jr high shop class we made a hammer and heated it then dunked it into (I believe oil, don't know if it was new or used but it was black like it was used) and those hammers came out a nice black color. Could a person do this with a mold after casting to get it up to temps, without hurting the mold? Just curious if this would work.
 
Brad

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
You could do that. I got a nice steel mould recently that was whote as a lilly. After a single casting session it is nice and blue from the heat. That is all the color I need to see.
 
3

300BLK

Well-Known Member
Cold blue is usually just copper sulfate, and not what you want on your mold. Dunking a hot mould in oil might cause it to be coated with a scale, so I wouldn't do that either. Bare "white" steel and iron blocks don't cast their best bullets until they've oxidized a bit, and it only takes a casting session to do that. New aluminum cavities are much the same; they don't make their beat bullets until some oxidation has taken place, but don't change color like iron or steel.
 
358156 hp

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
I know Kroil on a hot mould will blue too. If you heat the mould to "straw" color an quench it in oil you will create a light golden finish similar to H&G moulds. My understanding is that this is how H&G mould were "finished" after they were cut and checked for weight and size. This came from a reliable source, but if you choose to do this, you're on your own. I didn't ask if the exact type of oil was known when I received this information.
 
R

RKJ

Active Member
I was just curious. My Lyman has some surface rust on it but it's not causing any problems and I can knock the rust off with a brass brush. So far it still works fine.
 
Ben

Ben

Moderator
Staff member
Rub the outside with a little bit of 0000 steel wool to remove the rust.
After the rust is gone , put a thin film of wax on the outside of the mold, like Johnson's Paste Wax.
 
R

RKJ

Active Member
Ben said:
Rub the outside with a little bit of 0000 steel wool to remove the rust.
After the rust is gone , put a thin film of wax on the outside of the mold, like Johnson's Paste Wax.
Click to expand...

Thank You Ben, I will do that. I had thought about oil but thought I'd probably get some in the cavities and I don't want that. I don't use it much. it's a 30 caliber and a few go a long way right now. Thanks again.
 
oscarflytyer

oscarflytyer

Well-Known Member
Have an RCBS mold with some surface rust. Like Ben, knew what I was getting (and older 2C for a 43 Spanish - not found every day, and included handles!). I have and have used Evapo-Rust. It will DEF remove rust - and bluing. I have not used the Krud Kutter for Rust removal. Has anyone used Evapo-Rust on a mold? Results? And sounds like a mold in the white will soon blue up some. Thanx
 
D

dale2242

Well-Known Member
I have used Evaporust on a mold.
It does a great job removing the rust.
And yes it will remove the bluing....dale
 
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