Deadeye 325 Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 While casting the other day. The center part of my Lee slug mould fell out. Has anyone ever had this happen. What are my options for fixing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted January 21, 2015 Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 Very common actually. I had one that was weak do it. I re peened the rivet portion of the center pin and it was fine. You need to control your temp and if you tap the mold, do it before opening, on the handle part, not the blocks. if you have them deburred and have it the right temp' they will fall out without beating on the mold or shaking. If you are tapping on it with the mold open, the weight of the slug and shock of the tap is transferred into the peened 'rivet' on the bottom of the center pin. I have got it to where I don't need to tap most of the time at all. But if I do, I close the mold before I do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF3RmAdaOe8 oops, wrong video link. He has one about this specific issue, but this one covers some related concerns too Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Deadeye 325 Posted January 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2015 Think I can drill and tap a screw in or a pop rivet Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 They really should leave more meat on it in the first place. They will take care of you if you just want to send the thing back to them. That was what I did with another defective mold, and I asked about my core pin. The back log shouldn't be too bad right now, so I wouldn't expect much of a wait. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Deadeye 325 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 I decided to drill it out and use a pop rivet. So far it seems to be good. We will see if it will cast rite. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Deadeye 325 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2015 Pop. Rivet held good. Through 1 casting session. Better than I expected. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
csspecs 1,987 Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 I drilled and tapped mine for a larger bolt. Think it was a 10-24 socket cap head or something similar. Held up a lot better polishing a few of the corners with 1000 grit and smoking heavily helped as well. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted January 27, 2015 Report Share Posted January 27, 2015 (edited) I find that deburred and no smoke at the right temp works best. Run fairly hot, and develop a rythm. Fill, cool until just 'frosted' on a wet rag, flip, tap, open, dump, fill... They should come out fast with no fuss and no abuse to the mold. Preheating core pin with a torch before the first fill helps a lot too. Edited January 27, 2015 by GunFun Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 LOOK lee has changed the mold to solve this issue. 'bout time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFY0MuOacgk Quote Link to post Share on other sites
netpackrat 566 Posted January 29, 2015 Report Share Posted January 29, 2015 Mine did that a couple times. Put it back together and peened as described by Gunfun. I doubt there is enough material left to do it a third time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
gunfun 3,931 Posted February 2, 2015 Report Share Posted February 2, 2015 Drill and screw is the next option. I found the main thing is to only tap the mold when it is closed. if it is open, the weight of the slug flopping on the core pin transfers a lot of shock. Keeping the temp good, and a tap on the side of the holder with the mold closed has 8/10 falling free as soon as I open the mold. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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