Die care/maintenance

lmcgust · Dec 29, 2009

Hello reloaders,

General discussion about die cleaning and lube. For my steel dies, I wipe the inside on a regular basis with a clean patch and very lightly lube them with gun oil. For the carbide dies, I also wipe the inside with a clean patch but avoid lube since carbide should not need it. Any problems with this method and how do you do it yourself?

BR,
Guy -

blastfact · Dec 29, 2009

I blow out, wipe and lube all dies after every session.

sourdough44 · Dec 29, 2009

I consider this a very important step that can fall by the wayside. After use I either take apart or clean & lube with pipe cleaners & such. I leave a thin coat of on inside & out for storage. When I want to leave the die close to how I had it adjusted I clean & lube as it is with the pipe cleaners & maybe a pistol sized rod with a patch.

enfield · Dec 29, 2009

I spray them inside and out with Remoil and put them away wet. I keep them in my safe next to the Goldenrod.

Skip Sackett · Dec 29, 2009

Well, being involved with tool & die folks over the years, and small machine builders too, there has never been anything any better at keeping steel from rusting than WD-40. It isn't the greatest of lubricants but is a wonderful protection agent. If my dies are going to sit for a while, I spray them with it when I am done, leaving them wet like enfield.

I have had to take them apart from time to time to take the bullet lube out of them. Almost all of mine are Lee and are carbide. I wouldn't use anything else.

While the carbide need no lubing while producing rounds, there have been times when I used Hornady OneShot on a batch of cases just to make things easier. Not needed but it doesn't hurt.

DonD · Dec 29, 2009

smith crazy said:
there has never been anything any better at keeping steel from rusting than WD-40. It isn't the greatest of lubricants but is a wonderful protection agent.

WD-40 has had a lot of detractors. Brownell's did some testing on corrosion resistance and to my great surprise, WD-40 did far better than any of the other products they tested. I spoke with them a while back and they just commented that its only downside in corrosion resistance was that when it dried, it got gummy.

Like Smith Crazy said, it isn't a great lubricant but cheap and effective for rust prevention.

And this thread reminded me that I ought to clean my dies more frequently. Hasn't affected the quality of my reloads except possibly cosmetic appearance. Don

Die care/maintenance

lmcgust

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blastfact

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sourdough44

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enfield

US Veteran

Skip Sackett

US Veteran

DonD

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