lee 6 cavity mold sprue plate breaking again!

[growr]

Hi fellow forum reloaders!!

Am I the only one that has several times broken the sprue plate shear handle? This is the third time and they all break in the same spot...just in front of the wood handle.

Has anyone ever made one out of high tensile strength steel? Does anyone make one as a replacement?

Broke the one on my Lee 6 cavity .401 175 grain mold today.....good thing I have other molds to cast with....

Randy

 

[KevMc]

technique needs changed......
mold/alloy not hot enough ...
waiting too long to cut sprue....

 

[mtgianni]

The site cast boolits has a vendor sponser that sells replacements. They last for a long time if you pour one hole, then do it again and add a hole for every two pours until you are pouring all 6.

 

[murph11011680680]

technique needs changed......
mold/alloy not hot enough ...
waiting too long to cut sprue....

I would agree with KevMc. I have never had one break so I would look at changing something that you are doing, possibly cutting sooner while the lead is softer?

 

[gwpercle]

Give us a description of your technique when casting , bottom pour pot or ladle casting etc. how you fill, wait time before opening, how you get the sprue plate opened, and alloy used. Same mould all three times or three different moulds?

 

[fredj338]

Yep, broken a couple, really poor pot metal casting. yes, go slow, heat the mold well, its less likely to break. On my more often used 6cav, I replaced them with machined steel, never break again. Worth the $$ to me.
KAL "Steel" Cam Lever for Lee Moulds

 

[growr]

In answer to your questions...

melted wheelweights as well as pure lead

The lever is simply cammed over to shear the excess lead....not struck with a mallet

cast from a lead pot on a propane burner camp stove using a Lyman pouring ladle...

three different molds...all breaking in the same spot...I have a dozen other molds that are NOT a problem...

The excess is sheared with the sprue plate as soon as it is no longer molten...

If it is my technique then why is it not showing in other molds? Also why is it that there are after market levers being made for the Lee 6 cavity mold if it is not a problem with the material being used.

I can see that the metal is crystalized in the break. I am not that strong to be breaking metal parts..

The mold is well heated as I had cast about 120 bullets before having it break....

I am not new to the world of casting.....probably have cast over 50,000 in the last two years with no problems other than this ....

Randy

 

[fredj338]

Randy you are right. You can't expect much for what lee charges. Its a cheap cast, whatever metal lever, is what it is. Preheat the mold, cast 3-4 caves until the sprue shears easily, then filler up.
One of my lee molds is a Custom 11cav to make cores for swaging 223 bullets from 22lr cases. That is 11 sprues to cut, quite a lot of force. That mold wears a machined steel lever.

 

[Rule3]

I do not cast but like to learn new things so I did a search. Your situation is common. There are several "solutions if it is what I understand it to be. If this is not it then sorry. like I said I do not fully understand why the part is breaking.

If you do a search on the sprue plate breaking on Lee 6 bullet mold there are links to other forums that I can not post here.

http://www.trackofthewolf.com/Categories/PartDetail.aspx/1196/6/LEE-SPRUE-LEVER

Lee Replacement Sprue Plate 6-Cavity Bullet Mold

Knowledgebase - Support Center

 

[littlerocknroller]

LEE molds

Hi,
like FredJ338 says - you get what you pay for. Mie Lee 6 cavity mold for .38WC bullets broke again and again. A friend of mine who had a good supply of tools made this one for me. You do not need a wooden handle, because the grip simply stays cool or better to say, a little warm. No problem to handle. I include a few pictures so that you can see what I'm talking about. I really do not like the Lee molds. I prefer the RCBS, but unfortunately they are not available in 6 cavity. I had a Hensley & Gibb 10 cavity mold for the .38/.357 bullet 158 grains. These molds were simply perfect, but HEAVY. You have to go to the Gym 3 times a week to get the power to handle these molds. I sold it and use the same with 4-cavitys only. It really is a problem to get a 6-cavity mold which is not from LEE. God luck!
Rainer
P.S. I made the pictures just after casting a few hundred WC's. That's why it looks a little dirty - sorry.

 

[Moonman]

Many OVER POUR (as in more than just filling the countersunk holes),
this is to keep the plates temp HOT.

Don't let it cool too long before cutting sprue, ALUMINUM molds the size
of LEES cool fast, so yo must keep casting fast.

 

[KSCowboy]

Heck the last one I just bought a few weeks back broke when I took it out of the box and hadn't even poured a bullet yet. I had never had that happen but it sure as shootin' did!

I took one off of my other 6 holers and used it. I'll have to get me one of them replacements over at the boolits site.

 

[rwsmith]

What are you hitting....??

What are you hitting it with? How hard?

 

[fredj338]

What are you hitting it with? How hard?

No hitting at all. if you pour all 6 in. Mold not up to temp, it's likely to shear the lever. It's random though, the casting quality of the metal is all over the place. Machined steel will never break.

 

[rsrocket1]

Randy,
Were there any times in which you didn't close the sprue plate completely? If that happens, even if the sprue plate stops slightly short of fully closed, you will not have enough leverage for the cam to cut the sprue and you will break the handle before cutting the sprue.

UNLESS you stick a flat blade screwdriver between the cam and the mold block. That will give you enough leverage to cut the sprue.

I also have a really tough time cutting the sprue if I wait way too long to cut it. I've feared breaking the handle off, but have yet to do so (knock on lead).

 

[growr]

sprue plate is always fully closed....I tap it shut with a wood mallet. A tool and die maker friend of mine is going to make a few out of tool steel with his water jet machine...Problem solved forever.

May also have him make a tool steel sprue plate as well.

It appears that I am not the only person to have this problem...so.. poor technique is not the problem. Poor material IS.....

Randy

 

[fredj338]

sprue plate is always fully closed....I tap it shut with a wood mallet. A tool and die maker friend of mine is going to make a few out of tool steel with his water jet machine...Problem solved forever.

May also have him make a tool steel sprue plate as well.

It appears that I am not the only person to have this problem...so.. poor technique is not the problem. Poor material IS.....

Randy

Get your friend to make them & sell them. There is a market.

 

[epj]

I've broken a few, but a call to Lee always produces a new one at NC.

 

[jris211]

your technique is fine

I broke my 45 last week and my 9mm this week well into the casting sessions. I'm talking around 200 bullets cast. I called lee and they had a bad batch of these apparently. They'll send you a new one free of charge; just don't throw out the handle. Put the metal piece in a vise and pull it from the wood handle. And simple push the other one into it. My molds were extremely hot and they still broke. Not to put anyone down, but people realize that sometimes these companies will have a defective product. I hate when people immediately come to the conclusion and post it that it's the person's technique that is the issue.

 

[jris211]

honestly, I prefer lee molds over lyman. My lyman 9mm 4 cavity mold wasn't cutting the sprue. It would literally jam. Lyman "fixed" it and it still does it. They're sending me washers; maybe that'll work. So yeah, I paid 95$ for a piece of heavy junk from lyman that can't even cut a sprue on it. At least lee doesn't make you send it in and pay a load of shipping fees and you have to wait 4 weeks. Anyone have this issue or clue to solve it, let me know