Routine Mold Maintenance

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  • Last Post 18 August 2023
Wm Cook posted this 18 August 2023

Would you share your approach to routine mold maintenance.  In a casting session yesterday I didn’t notice right away but I picked up some lead spalling that caused me to recycle 50 or so drops.  

When I went to clean up I started to think about soldering irons or maybe Q tips and a bit of hydrogen peroxide/white vinegar etc.  What’s ok to use and what isn’t ok to use.  

Then I started to look at the top mold face and started to fret about permanent long term damage (I lube the top of the mold face about twice for every 100 drops. That caused me to grab two hands full of hair off my head and run around my shop screaming.

The more time I spend on cast accuracy the more I realize how valuable (Irreplaceable?) a mold that fits your bore is.  This is brass but the same question would apply to iron and aluminum.  Thanks, Bill C.

A “Measured Response” is as effective as tongue lashing a stuck door.

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Aaron posted this 18 August 2023

I remove the lead smudges by heating the mold hotter than Hades with a bunch of casts, then scrape them with a WOOD Popsicle stick or similar wooden item. The top of the mold I wipe with a cotton t-shirt when hot as well. I admit to using 0000-steel wool on the top sprue plate and on a few of the tops of my aluminum molds that get crusty after lubing the sprue plate with bullet lube during a casting session. I lightly buff the top of the mold with the 0000 wool.

On the steel molds, I sparingly apply light machine oil after they cool; a very light coat.

I keep ALL of the molds in ammo cans with desiccant bags in there. Have never had a rust issue. Truth be told, I have never ruined a mold through abuse, even the aluminum ones that get hit with steel wool after a while.

Sprue holes need to be sharpened after a while and a counter sink bit does a real good job. I do it by hand and just enough to get a knife edge back on it. Of course, new sprue plates can be had from current manufacturers of a good machine shop can make one for one of the older molds.

Hope that helps.

With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.

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OU812 posted this 18 August 2023

I have used a lead pencil to remove specs of lead from mould face. A brass brush may work just as well. Small amount of 2 cycle oil works great for lube. Inspect mould before and during casting.

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