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Old February 11, 2009, 10:32 PM   #1
Tex S
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Surface rust on Lee dies

These dies are two weeks old and I have ran about 1000 rds of 45 auto through them. They are the first Lee set I have ever owned. Anybody else have this problem? Its not really bad rust, but my Forster dies dont rust at all.
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Old February 11, 2009, 10:39 PM   #2
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My RCBS dies will show surface rust If I don't wipe them down with oil after I've handled them. I guess it's the same line for firearms, the salts and oils in your touch/glands are mildly corrosive. I just wire brush them and oil them back up.

Check the inside of the dies that are surface rusting. Mine never had any on the inside, just the outside. And primarily around the top where I did most of the touching.
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Old February 12, 2009, 06:21 AM   #3
cgaengineer
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If you want to remove the rust Bar Keepers Friend and a toothbrush will do it. I also hear molasses is good for delicate rust removal.
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Old February 12, 2009, 08:21 AM   #4
Gazzmann
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I have had a similar problem with my dies. It doesn't effect the die performance unless the inide rusts up. I just lightly brush them and add a LIGHT coat of oil. To clean / oil inside with a flattened Q-tip. This seems to work. Have not worn out a set yet.
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Old February 12, 2009, 08:38 AM   #5
Don P
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Just curious, Lee does make two sets of dies. One is steel and the other is carbide. Which did you buy? Like stated oil and sweat from the hands could be the cause of surface rust
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Old February 12, 2009, 09:08 AM   #6
Shane Tuttle
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I have a Lee carbide 3n1 die. I really haven't had a problem with rust on it. I switched to using Eezox and I've had great results. It doesn't interfere with the operation of the dies.
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Old February 12, 2009, 09:18 AM   #7
ZeSpectre
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I have to wipe my RCBS dies down every once in a while, but only where I touch them. (Then again my "rusting" body chemistry is well documented in many of my chemical reviews here and over at the high road).
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Old February 12, 2009, 09:36 AM   #8
Tom2
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Mine do it too, but if you handle any kind of bare steel it will get some rust like that. I would wipe them off with four ought steel wool(don't get any inside!) and then wipe them down with some thin coating of oil or Eezox or something not too messy. I don't know why they don't seem to come from the factory with any type of coating or oil. The carbide part is an insert in the steel dies, I think, and not a factor. You should save the red plastic factory holders to store them in.
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Old February 12, 2009, 01:22 PM   #9
AlaskaMike
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The vast majority of my dies are RCBS, although I have some Redding, and one set of Lee dies. The Lee die set is the only one that's had any rust on it, although for the price of them I can't complain.

I took all my dies apart, hosed them down with WD-40 and wiped them off, and the Lee's haven't had any rust since. I'm not crazy about WD-40 as a lubricant, but it works wonderful as a rust preventative.

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Old February 12, 2009, 02:40 PM   #10
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You could make it a habit (when you are cleaning your weapons) to simply wipe the dies down with the same cloth you are using to remove any excess oil/lube.
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Old February 12, 2009, 09:12 PM   #11
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http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm...&prodID=RGR103

I put that stuff on just about anything metal. A thin coat will keep them rust free for a very long time.
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Old February 13, 2009, 11:19 PM   #12
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yeah my lee dies rust too, i can understand from the humidity in my garage, but like has been said already its only the lees, my hornady and dillons dont rust. must be the cheaper steel, but for $18 for a set who cares, wd40 is cheap
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Old February 14, 2009, 11:20 AM   #13
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"Lee does make two sets of dies. One is steel and the other is carbide."

Not really. Both are steel. The only difference, for any "carbide" dies, is that they put a carbide ring at the mouth of the case, it's usually only about 1/4" thick, to do the sizing.

Lee's dies are low carbon steel. While that's fine for the purpose, they do rust more easily than others. ALL dies will rust but who cares, just spritz them with a spray of sime cheap oil before storing them.
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Old February 14, 2009, 01:58 PM   #14
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I think all the die makers use a relatively low carbon steel. They need the machinability and cost advantage; nobody wants to pay for tool steel. They nitride to harden the surface after the dies are made. The Lee's rusting more easily is probably a question of surface finsih (or rather, lack thereof). Lee doesn't put a lot of effort into surface finish and polish, like, say, Redding does, but then they don't charge you for it, either.

If you want to prevent the rust there are several things you could do. Disassemble and degrease the dies with solvent when they are new. Wear plastic gloves while you do this to prevent finger contamination. Then soak them in Sprinco Plate+ Silver (the dark bottle) for 72 hours. That product is a NASA patent lubricant that penetrates the surface and bonds to the metal. It is very thin, so you can wipe all excess off with clean cotton rags until it seems dry, but microscopically, the lube, which includes a colloidal suspension of micronized acid-neutralized moly, is still there. It slicks up die operation and in sizing dies it acts as insurance against an unlubricated case getting in and sticking. It is intended to be permanent, though I suppose wiping some on once a year to refresh rubbed areas won't hurt. It only works on ferrous metals, so soaking aluminum in it has no benefit.

Japanese swords depend primarily on polish to prevent rust. Also an oil that is made from cloves. I won't suggest trying to chase the oil down, but you can get a cheap cloth buffing wheel with an arbor for a hand drill. Use it with Dico's stainless steel grade buffing compound on the external steel. It works perfectly on a nitrided surface. Harbor Freight has both. Ace Hardware's catalog has both, too.
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Old February 14, 2009, 02:08 PM   #15
Peter M. Eick
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I had some surface rust on my dies after my first rotation through houston and loading in the garage. Not fun in 90F and 99% humidity!

My second rotation (now) through houston and I figured I would have to address the problem. No rust in the last 9 years.

My technique is to toss the oily patches after I wipe down my guns into the boxes with the dies. Most boxes have 6 to 8 patches and are quite wet with oil. I also hose down the dies with tri-flow before I put them away. Between the patches wicking up the oil onto the dies and tri-flow. No rust.
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Old February 14, 2009, 07:28 PM   #16
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I learned long ago to clean the innards and wipe down all my dies after each and every use with a silicone cloth after use, even my Forsters. It works just fine. I have some dies that are older than my adult children and they are still in fine shape.
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