Lee mold - how to get rid of lead stuck on flat surface between molds?

john777

john777

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I'm not really sure how. I was scraping it off with a box knife while the mold is hot. That was not a smart idea as I could or may have scratched the surface. Now the mold is cold, it's impossible to remove any kind of lead.

Due to the lead, I was smacking the two molds pretty hard to make a good seal and I pushed one of the pins in so badly, I had to knock it back into place. :(

Any good methods to get the lead off the surface once and for all?

I ran into some major hiccups. I couldn't even make 1k of 44 mag during the whole day. I could have made 6k of 9mm in that amount of time. lol

Thanks!
 
Heat the mould up until the lead becomes more malleable and use a wooden implement to remove it would be my guess but I would take this question over to Cast Boolits for an expert answer.

BTW did you leement the mould or try some anti-seize on the pins before casting?
 
I smoked the mold with match sticks and darkened the entire surface. I then lubricated the pins/joints with candle wax whenever it felt a little hard to close/open.

I casted over 5k with my 9mm lee mold with no issues. I treat 44 mag the same way and it's giving me pain.
 
john777 said:
I smoked the mold with match sticks and darkened the entire surface. I then lubricated the pins/joints with candle wax whenever it felt a little hard to close/open.

I casted over 5k with my 9mm lee mold with no issues. I treat 44 mag the same way and it's giving me pain.
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Anti-seize in the sprue plate and pins helps, the leementing process makes everything painless. Cast a couple of rounds with the sprue plate off and a bolt over the cavity, then when cooled spin then in the cavity with some polishing compound on it.
 
tenexx said:
Anti-seize in the sprue plate and pins helps, the leementing process makes everything painless. Cast a couple of rounds with the sprue plate off and a bolt over the cavity, then when cooled spin then in the cavity with some polishing compound on it.
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What kind of anti-seize should I use for the pins and sprue plate? I have some hi-temp anti seize that looks like silver/metallic paste.

That's a great idea (sticking screw in while lead is cooling in cavity)! After I clean off every bit of lead from the flat surface, I think I will try leementing.

What kind of rubbing compound would you recommend?

Thanks!
 
john777 said:
What kind of anti-seize should I use for the pins and sprue plate? I have some hi-temp anti seize that looks like silver/metallic paste.

That's a great idea (sticking screw in while lead is cooling in cavity)! After I clean off every bit of lead from the flat surface, I think I will try leementing.

What kind of rubbing compound would you recommend?

Thanks!
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The hi temp anti seize I bought from CanTire, I would have to go out to the garage to check the name but it sounds like yours. There are detailed stickies on cast boolits on lementing, I guarantee you will be kicking yourself that you did not try this earlier.
 
To get rid of lead streaks Heat up the mold, once its hot and you drop boolits that don’t have any wrinkles than take a copper scrubbing pad, like the ones in the kitchen and rub the lead streaks off the mold.
Don’t forget to destroy the evidence and buy your wife a new scrubbing pad before she realizes what you did.

BTW
im glad your putting that lead to good use, ill try giving you a call on wed or thursday
 
The best product is called Bull Plate Lube, it is the one lube/anti seize that will not cause problems if it gets into your mold cavities, anything else will have you cursing until you clean the mold cavities again. In addition there are a number of "fixes" to help make a Lee mold work better, whatever you do, when you reassemble the mold components use a good anti seize such as "Bull Plate Lube". Again, don't use too much of anything else or it will migrate to the cavities when it gets real hot.
 
phishroy said:
yes, the bull plate spru lube is no Bull.. it works like a charm, very nice stuff.
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Hey, thx for the tips... Do you sell that stuff? If not, spare a little for me when I give you your share of lead, please. Thx! Oh yeah... Pretty much 1/2 gone. I need more lead!

I dropped my mold. Dented one of the corners of the cavity and outside mold corner.

Base of bullet now might come out a little off and here's the lead I'm dealing with. Blah, I think i butchered this mold and it's my fault. Note the unintentional scrape marks. I'm going to order another one. At least I can keep the other stuff for parts. I'm going to smoke my 9mm mold blacker than night when I get around to using it.

Also, looking at my own pic, it probably explains why one of the cavities doesn't drop too well unless really up to temp b/c it looks like I didn't smoke it enough. The others drop fine when up to temp.

Thanks for the tips everyone!

m1.jpg


m2.jpg
 
Smoking may help but it may not solve all your problems.
Smoking the mold will create a fine coating making the release easier from the mold but i find the lee molds need a bit of TLC when working with them.
Check all the edges and corners and carefully sand off any burs with a high grit sand paper, something like 400 and then a 600 grit.
I find that many lee molds have slight burs on them which will make the bullet “stick” in the mold.
See which particular cavity “sticks” and when the mold is nice and cold inspect the details of the cavity with a magnifying glass carefully.

Ps.
Ill have to check and see for more lead
 
ben hunchak said:
The best product is called Bull Plate Lube, it is the one lube/anti seize that will not cause problems if it gets into your mold cavities, anything else will have you cursing until you clean the mold cavities again. In addition there are a number of "fixes" to help make a Lee mold work better, whatever you do, when you reassemble the mold components use a good anti seize such as "Bull Plate Lube". Again, don't use too much of anything else or it will migrate to the cavities when it gets real hot.
Click to expand...

Ben, where do you get your Bull Plate lube?
 
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