I am about to wear out my beloved mold mallet..I suppose that's the point...it's like a rubber sanding block.... its suppose to wear out ...but out in the dark space of the infinite knowledge of the great casting alchemists...anyone got a decent substitute that won't due any harm to my beloved mold collection :dude:
Mold Mallet Question
- 8.9K Views
- Last Post 31 December 2011
i mostly use a 1 inch round delrin bar 10 in long. never wears, and can be cleaned often so not to pound grit into mold metal surfaces. since i have it in my hand. i can tap the pivot bolt gently to pop the bullets loose in many molds. ask for a scrap piece ( uhmw polyethylene is almost as good ) at your local cadillac or olsons or cope plastics dealer. ken in the sticks
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chasw:
I could sign my name to your post as I have been using the same tools and methods as you since the “60's". As far as I can tell my moulds are still in good shape. My first bullet mould was a Lyman four cavity 358156. As a ,matter of fact I just finished using it this afternoon after it has sat idle for ten years or so. Pretty tough to open the sprue plate with just a hand. Ran about 5-600 of the Kieth style SWC,s and it shelled them out just like it always did.
R. Dupraz
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No one mentioned what I use. A plastic faced hammer. Have used it for thirty years. It is kinda ugly now but the moulds look great. Found the hammer in a bucket of wheel weights. Guess it was just meant to be. ;}
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I open them with my hand to, but i have a mould that is somewhat cranky. Just take from your garden trees when you have to trim them, the 1 to 2 inch “wood” pieces or a old chair, saw of the legs, works just as fine. When its old and dry trow them in the woodstove Then you will getting 3 times some heat out of it 1 sawing 2 using as a mallet and 3 burn it LOL best regards
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I use a 'Fish Billy' that I bought at Blains Farm & Fleet. It is 15 1/2 inches long 1 1/2 diam. with a knob on the handle end, like a base ball bat. I fing the weight is great and easy to handle. I also use a can of spray on graphite dry lube to 'Smoke' my molds. I like to load and shoot paper target. .38 spl, .357, 45ACP, 30-06, 44 cap & ball.
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Veral shows a picture in his book of a sprue plate with an added screw in it to allow using a piece of wood as a lever if you need more leverage to break sprues. He seems to take a dim view of people beating moulds, althouh sometimes the mould seems to beg for it.
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When I started casting years ago, I bought a cheap rubber mallet. It was pretty heavy and worked well to cut the sprue but little bits of rubber would be chewed off during a casting session. Then it was difficult when putting the sprues back in the pot to avoid getting this rubber in there too. I guess it didn't hurt anything except for making a stink and I put up with it for a long time.
I switched for a while to a short section of hickory sledge hammer handle and that worked fine except for getting chewed up bits of wood in the pot that smoked. Since some people say they use sawdust for fluxing, I guess this didn't cause problems except for the stink if I cast in the house. I wrapped the handle in duct tape and that pretty much solve the chipping problem.
I few years ago I bought an H&G ten cavity mold and found that I needed something with more weight than my hammer handle especially when the mold was cold to cut those ten sprues. I found a piece of scrap yellow pine about 12 inches long and 1.5"x1” and drilled a few 1/2 inch holes in one end. These I filled with lead then wrapped that end in duct tape. This gave enough heft to work pretty well with the bigger molds and was very easy to use on the regular molds. I haven't tried opening by hand very often but prefer to give the sprue plate a whack and then if any bullets don't fall out, I can tap the hinge to encourage them to fall w/o picking up another tool. It just seems like I can get a smoother rhythm that way. I've never seen any evidence on my molds even after many year of use that hitting them with soft mallets or hammers has damaged them.
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As a result of having the problems I have had, I am in the process of developing a different style replacement sprue plate that incorporates the Lee 6 cavity sprue system into a Lyman sprue plate. The prototype works, however I have a couple of issues to work through and add corrective modifications to my design.
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Yes it works when its hot. But what really caught my eye was the “K".
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Wow! That alot of bullets, Jeff.
I just had a thought (sometimes that happens, I can't help it). I get better bases by openning by hand, but sometimes it takes alittle more force to cut the sprue. I know some guys modify the sprue cutter to get more leverage. How about if you had two 1/4” lag bolts or screws screwed into the top of your casting bench, about 3/4” apart (just enough to get the sprue cutter between them). Then, when you want to cut the sprue, you slide the sprue cutter between the screws and use the mold handles for your leverage. In other words, instead of holding the mold stationary and moving the sprue cutter, you hold the sprue cutter stationary and move the mold.
Has anyone tried this?
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I make my own mallets, Delrin head, stainless steel shaft, oak handle. Just for the mold that are designed to be wacked. The rest I open by hand. A bit of warning based on a real life experience: Many molds are designed to be opened by hand, ie: LBT, some lymans etc. If you wait to long and the sprue gets overly hard and you still pop it by hand, you could and most likely will end up injuring your hand either by damaging a tendon or ending up with trigger finger. Or you could end up with Repetitive Motion Injury which results in carpal tunnel problems. How do I know this you ask?? Simple I am going through it right now. I had the carpal tunnel release and 2 trigger fingers surgery done on Nov 30th. I still have the stitches in, they come out this coming Friday. Then the rehab starts and in 6-8 weeks I have the left hand done. I cast a lot of bullets, 500K annually is probably a close estimate. I use mainly LBT 4 cavity molds. The 2 places where trigger fingers had to be repaired line up perfectly with the sprue and the bottom corner of the mold. My Point?? Be careful, dint hurt yourself, if you have to wack the first few to get the mold up to temp, that would be better than going through what I am, or at least it will hurt less..
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I love my leather mallets from Saco Me. Charlie
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Dennis Marshall suggested this to me in a letter years back and I wouldn't use anything else for my Lyman's. Brought at a TruValue hardware.
Mike
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I like the Hand method much better as IMHO it causes less wear & tear on the sprue plates and moulds.
;}
32ideal
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Partly true Hunter...
I run the group buys for Veral and I think I am the only other person authorized to sell his molds in such a fashion.
Doesn't Veral require a chamber slug before he'll cut you a mold? I'm amazed he could offer that custom of a mold at group buy prices.
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When my glove wont do it, I use a rawhide mallet.
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Since my first question about a device to jar the casts from the mold & open the sprue plates I have among my casting “tools” a rawhide mallet I bought years ago for my stock making projects. I think it will fill the bill nicely. I still haven't got to the casting stage yet ( too many Dr. bills) but I see light at the end of the tunnel. :coffee
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The little soft wood Tandy leather craft mallet is what I'm currently using. I've used this particular one about a year, and guessing it has about 6 months left in it. I used to open exclusively with gloved hand, but the arthritis in my fingers put a stop to that.
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A 12-14” piece of old shovel handle will last for years. Actually I open my molds by hand too.
Grouch
I've used a 14” piece of sledge hammer handle for going on 30 years, , left handed and to clumbsy for the glove thing, I wraped the whacking end in leather
IMHO Midway will rip you off on their “special handleing charge"
Any piece of “handle” will work, if it feels to light, drill a 1/2 hole and either fill with your alloy, or a hole to stick some bullets into.
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