Ring Around the Base

S

steve4102

New member
I having some issues with my New Lee 6 Cavity 40/10 mold.

One issue is this tag or ring or whatever you call it around the base of the bullet.

It's almost as if the sprue plate is loose. I have checked the bolt that secures the sprue plate and it is a tight as it goes.

Am I doing something wrong here or is it the mold itself. I do not get this my other Lee mold, but they are all 2 cavity.

6cavitytags_zps845a41c3.jpg
 
Did you lube the bottom of the sprue plate?

If not then use some synthetic 2 cycle oil. A small bottle cost less than $3 and will last for many years. Also use it to lube the bolt in the handles, and the allignment pins.
 
Without seeing to mold up close. There are few different things that could cause that type of problem. Warped top plate. Thick lead smear on the bottom side of your Top Plate. Top plate itself is not mounted or adjusted correctly for tightness. That's all I got to offer for a cure. Next time you cast. try smoking your Top plate with a candle or as the previous poster has mentioned.

S/S
 
It's almost as if the sprue plate is loose. I have checked the bolt that secures the sprue plate and it is a tight as it goes.
Click to expand...

While the mold is cold, hold it up with a good light behind it. You should not be able to see any light between the plate and the top of the mold. If the plate is warped you can usually see it.

It isn't hard to remove a little bit using a decent flat bench stone, and it could be as simple as one side or corner is all that is needing attention.

If it's good cold, then warm it up and repeat.

It could be that the screw is actually too tight and might need to be loosened up a tiny bit. Sometimes they will pull the plate up just a hair when they heat up.

It was recommended to me to tighten the screws only to the point that the plate would just barley swing out on it's own weight. This is fine of course, if you have the added set screw to make sure it doesn't keep unscrewing while your pouring bullets. However, you can still back it out just a touch without the set screw and still have a nicely functional swinging plate.
 
OK, held the mold up to the light looking for any kind of a gap, nothing. Tried loosening the nut a tad, no help. Thought maybe the mold was out of whack. Took the sprue plate off and checked the mold out with a straight edge looking for any gaps or bumps, nothing.

Then I did the same with the spue plate. It was messed up. With a straight edge held up to the light I could see that the plate was concave, convex whatever ya call it, I call it cupped.

I set up a piece of emery paper on a flat surface and gave it a little rub down. The brown in the photo is original sprue plate color, the shiny is where it was high. It's still cupped a little but they cast good, so I might leave it as is. Or a may remove some more material from the outside edges.

sprueplate_zps9e84bbe9.jpg
 
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