lee aluminum die question

Xwrench3 · June 9, 2009, 09:03 PM

i just ordered up a couple of lee six cavity aluminum bullet mold dies. i have read in the lee reloading manual thay i am supposed to "smoke" the die cavities before casting a bullet. is this something i need to do for every time i fill the mold cavities? or once per casting session? or just once in the life of the dies? anybody know from experience? i do not want to ruin a new set of dies!

CrustyFN · June 9, 2009, 09:22 PM

Smoke the mold when you start to cast and then when the bullets start sticking.
Rusty

snuffy · June 10, 2009, 02:03 AM

I don't smoke any of my lee molds. I have little to no trouble with boolits sticking, failing to fall clear. Nor do I use a mold release. They're not dies, though I guess you could call a mold a die.

Cloudpeak · June 10, 2009, 09:28 AM

I've had several Lee 6 cavity molds. If I had a problem with bullets dropping out, smoking never seemed to work very well for me.

To solve the problem, I cast six cavities, left the bullets in the mold, drilled a hole in the center of the base and screwed in some sharp pointed screws with the head cut off. Don't drill too far or your drill bit will go through the bullet and drill into the mold making it a 5 cavity mold. I then removed the bullets, coated the cavities with very fine grinding compound, chucked the bullet "stems" in a drill and spun 'em up. This did a good job of polishing the cavities and the bullets dropped much better. (I think a tap works a bit better than a cut off screw, btw.)

This will also work to enlarge the cavities if you get a mold that drops small bullets.

GP100man · June 10, 2009, 11:53 AM

go here www.castboolits.gunloads.com/

GP100man

farmall · June 10, 2009, 12:03 PM

I have found "smoking" the mold to be helpful on some stubborn molds, in order to get good fill out. Use some spray graphite on the bottom of the sprue plate to prevent galling the top of the mold.
I've used Rem-Clean bore cleaner on a bullet to polish cavities for better release.

Andy

snuffy · June 10, 2009, 01:41 PM

Quote:

I've had several Lee 6 cavity molds. If I had a problem with bullets dropping out, smoking never seemed to work very well for me.

To solve the problem, I cast six cavities, left the bullets in the mold, drilled a hole in the center of the base and screwed in some sharp pointed screws with the head cut off. Don't drill too far or your drill bit will go through the bullet and drill into the mold making it a 5 cavity mold. I then removed the bullets, coated the cavities with very fine grinding compound, chucked the bullet "stems" in a drill and spun 'em up. This did a good job of polishing the cavities and the bullets dropped much better. (I think a tap works a bit better than a cut off screw, btw.)

This will also work to enlarge the cavities if you get a mold that drops small bullets.

This procedure is called lee-menting over on cast boolits .com.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...ght=leementing

Just be darn sure you use a very fine MILD abrasive. Powdered kitchen cleanser, like comet, and bon-ami both work well. Also teethe paste,(ya I know it's commonly called TOOTH paste, but I have more than one TOOTH.)

mikld · June 10, 2009, 03:47 PM

Get a Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. All the info you'll need to start casting. I'd suggest a lot of practice casting, temp. adjusting, alloys, etc. before you modify your mold.

kraigwy · June 10, 2009, 07:41 PM

You can smoke them or preheat the mold, either works

June 9, 2009, 09:03 PM	#1
Xwrench3 Member Join Date: April 24, 2009 Posts: 90	lee aluminum die question i just ordered up a couple of lee six cavity aluminum bullet mold dies. i have read in the lee reloading manual thay i am supposed to "smoke" the die cavities before casting a bullet. is this something i need to do for every time i fill the mold cavities? or once per casting session? or just once in the life of the dies? anybody know from experience? i do not want to ruin a new set of dies!

June 10, 2009, 11:53 AM	#5
GP100man Senior Member Join Date: August 2, 2007 Location: Tabor City , NC. Posts: 1,969	mold care & useage go here www.castboolits.gunloads.com/ GP100man

June 9, 2009, 09:22 PM	#2
CrustyFN Senior Member Join Date: June 4, 2006 Location: West Virginia Posts: 2,258	Smoke the mold when you start to cast and then when the bullets start sticking. Rusty

June 10, 2009, 02:03 AM	#3
snuffy Senior Member Join Date: May 21, 2001 Location: Oshkosh wi. Posts: 3,055	I don't smoke any of my lee molds. I have little to no trouble with boolits sticking, failing to fall clear. Nor do I use a mold release. They're not dies, though I guess you could call a mold a die.

June 10, 2009, 09:28 AM	#4
Cloudpeak Senior Member Join Date: March 25, 2005 Location: Wyoming Posts: 288	I've had several Lee 6 cavity molds. If I had a problem with bullets dropping out, smoking never seemed to work very well for me. To solve the problem, I cast six cavities, left the bullets in the mold, drilled a hole in the center of the base and screwed in some sharp pointed screws with the head cut off. Don't drill too far or your drill bit will go through the bullet and drill into the mold making it a 5 cavity mold. I then removed the bullets, coated the cavities with very fine grinding compound, chucked the bullet "stems" in a drill and spun 'em up. This did a good job of polishing the cavities and the bullets dropped much better. (I think a tap works a bit better than a cut off screw, btw.) This will also work to enlarge the cavities if you get a mold that drops small bullets.

June 10, 2009, 12:03 PM	#6
farmall Senior Member Join Date: December 7, 2004 Location: Beatrice Nebraska Posts: 613	I have found "smoking" the mold to be helpful on some stubborn molds, in order to get good fill out. Use some spray graphite on the bottom of the sprue plate to prevent galling the top of the mold. I've used Rem-Clean bore cleaner on a bullet to polish cavities for better release. Andy

June 10, 2009, 03:47 PM	#8
mikld Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 2009 Location: Southern Oregon! Posts: 2,891	Get a Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. All the info you'll need to start casting. I'd suggest a lot of practice casting, temp. adjusting, alloys, etc. before you modify your mold.

June 10, 2009, 07:41 PM	#9
kraigwy Senior Member Join Date: June 16, 2008 Location: Wyoming Posts: 11,060	You can smoke them or preheat the mold, either works