First casting of bullets (tips plz)

I find that my lee moulds are getting gouged from the steel spur cutter, and just generaly getting screwed up where it contacts the top plate, is there anything I can do about this? I use a butane lighter to smoke my moulds, seems to work ok.
 
You need to polish the underside of the sprue plate. Put a sheet of 400 grit wet-or-dry on a glass plate.
You may also have to sand the top of the mould blocks if much damage has been done.
 
Big JD-From the hills said:
I find that my lee moulds are getting gouged from the steel sprue cutter, and just generaly getting screwed up where it contacts the top plate, is there anything I can do about this? I use a butane lighter to smoke my moulds, seems to work ok.
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Try loosening the sprue plate just a tad; it should stay put but be moved with a slight push. BTW, it is NOT steel, it is a hard aluminum alloy.
The way you strike the extension plays a good part: you should strive for a 30 degree downward angle so the sprue plate stays flat against the mold surface but doesn't deform under the impact.
Give the alloy time to solidify; ten seconds more when the sprue is solid is a
good way to avoid smearing the mould's top with molten alloy.
Good luck!
PP.:)
 
Yeah, I have already done that with some of my moulds(polishing, and re surfacing) does not seem to help. Maby its a problem with my aloy seems that its chunks of metal building up on the spurplate. Maby its time to get some all steel moulds.

In reply to pp's post, The spurr cutter is steel, unless im crazy. Maby Im cutting the spurs to soon... I don't knock it with a stick, I just open them by hand(ofcoarse I use gloves). I will try your method one of these days(wait, and then strike with a 30 degree angle.)
 
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Big JD-From the hills said:
In reply to pp's post, The spurr cutter is steel, unless im crazy. Maby Im cutting the spurs to soon... I don't knock it with a stick, I just open them by hand(ofcoarse I use gloves). I will try your method one of these days(wait, and then strike with a 30 degree angle.)
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Just went into my place and stuck a magnet to the sprue plate :redface:
I was misled: the Lee's commercial six holes molds open with a cam and had an alloy sprue plate and I thought it was the same with the single and double molds.
Obviously, Richard Lee didn't think alloy sprue plates weren't stiff enough to resist the pounding from a mallet.
I use a 12" stick resembling those used by fishermen to whack big catches, only smaller. One of my friends made it for me from hard maple and I wound a wet untreated leather rope around its striking surface.
It works like a charm and doesn't deform the sprue plate.
If you want to get rid of the lead stuck under the sprue plate, just heat it slowly with a soldering torch and wipe it on a dry shoprag, then smear anti-seize compound on its surface and rub it thin before remounting on the block.
For a small LEE block, I heat it by holding it just above the molten metal or simply dip a corner into the metal: when alloy doesn't stick to it anymore, it is hot enough.
I also have a small secondary burner on which I have put an old cast iron stove ring and the mold sits there while the other gets filled. I put a small chunk of solder on it and when it melts, i just lower the flame a tad and it is in the right heat range.
Good luck!
PP.
 
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You are either opening too soon or you are damn strong. It takes a pretty good whack from my casting stick to turn the sprue plate. (I use a hammer handle, so it's hickory or ash probably, and like PP's it's about a foot long after I rounded off the jagged bits where the head broke off).
I usually count 3 full seconds after I see the bullet alloy go solid.
I've never tried the nevr-seize trick before, it sounds like a good one.
 
I cut the sprues on both single and double cavity molds by grasping the sprue cut with a rag or pot - holder and manually and slowly twisting it off. This eliminates the lump you get beside your sprue cut. If you have to give it a hard whack with a hammer handle or equivalent, it's because you are running your mold too cold. If you time your casting rate and cut - off right, you can have a perfectly smooth flat sprue cut. If you cut too soon, you'll get a rough appearing cut that often has shrinkage voids in it. Too late and it's hard to cut and you start getting the lump back. I've used this method for around 40 years - it's easy, gives you better bases, and it won't take you long to get a feel for it.
 
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