Shiloh Rifle Forums

Looking for some support from you long-time bullet casters on how to preserve the quality of a fine bullet mould. I’ve been casting with for around seven or eight years with the same BACO (Jim) pp mould without really ever giving it a good cleaning. By ‘cleaning’ I mean cleaning the ‘vents’ clean in the mould halves. My procedure has always been to spray the mould with a good coat of WD40, and wrap the mould in plastic baggies after use for storage. When I’m ready to cast again I spray the mould with Napa CRC Brakleen cleaner/degreaser, air-blow dry, and then give the inside of the mould a quick, light spray with Frankfort Arsenal Drop-Out. I’m getting really good definition on my bullets, but I’m just looking for a ‘safe and sound’ method to prolong the mould life.
Any help would be appreciated,
Robert

Brass wire 'toothbrush' is what I use.
Gary

Lumpy Grits wrote: ↑Sat Dec 12, 2020 8:00 pm Brass wire 'toothbrush' is what I use.
Gary

Gary, with all respect wouldn’t brass be a little hard on the cast iron mould? I wouldn’t want to do any damage to the sharp corners.
Robert

I initially clean/ degrease moulds once when new,iron,brass or aluminum ,no brushes of any kind. After casting session mould is cleaned with a piece of wood,scraping any stuck lead. 2 stroke oil is a good for keeping lead from building up on sprue plates ,apply with Q tip or paraffin wax will keep lead from sticking as well.When done and the mould is hot touch a piece of paraffin wax to the mould it melts and gets into every crevice perfectly hermetically sealing the mould for storage anywhere,let cool and store.I use a hot plate to heat moulds up the very small amount of wax melts/burns off leaving your mould clean and ready to cast.

Well folks, I think you must like to clean moulds instead of casting bullets. I have been casting since 1961 and have never done anything except just leave a bullet in the mould when I am finished casting. And, I have NEVER had any rusting either in the cavity or on the outside of the mould. During that time I have lived in some mighty humid and wet (90 inch rainfall) areas to boot. Leaving the last bullet in the cavity is how I was taught way back when. I still do that and, when the mould is cool, I take it off the handles, wrap a string around it to hold things together, and put it back in the box it came in. Sometimes in the plastic bag that came with the mould and sometimes just naked in the box. Next time I want to use that mould I simply put it on the handles and start casting. Keeps things mighty simple. Some of the moulds I have I've been using for well over 50 years.

Now as for cleaning a dirty (not rusted) mould; first of all I doubt that "iron" mould blocks are made from cast iron. I don't think a soft brass "tooth brush" would hurt the metal an iron mould is made from.

George
Salmon, Idaho

All entries posted are very interesting. I’ll keep all of these thoughts in mind. Thank you, everyone. I may just keep what I’ve been doing all along, and should there become a real problem to deal with down the road I’ll refer back to these posts.

Thank you all again,
Robert

Before casting, my molds are washed with a 5% solution of Micro Pro-90. Go to their website and you can order a free sample of the concentrate. After casting, each mold is sprayed with Eezox

opencountry wrote: ↑Sat Dec 12, 2020 9:06 pm

Lumpy Grits wrote: ↑Sat Dec 12, 2020 8:00 pm Brass wire 'toothbrush' is what I use.
Gary

Gary, with all respect wouldn’t brass be a little hard on the cast iron mould? I wouldn’t want to do any damage to the sharp corners.
Robert

Go gently and it works very well.
Look for the fine wire type.
Gary

John Boy wrote: ↑Sun Dec 13, 2020 10:25 pm Before casting, my molds are washed with a 5% solution of Micro Pro-90. Go to their website and you can order a free sample of the concentrate. After casting, each mold is sprayed with Eezox

Thnx John Boy,
Eezox is something I’ve used for years to lubricate/preserve the bores in my Shilohs, I wouldn’t be without it. Do you just ‘soak’ with Micro Pro-90, or do you scrub with anything? Air-blow after washing with Micro-Pro? And, do you prep the mould with anything before casting?

You’ve got my attention,
Robert

Robert, I wash the molds with a toothbrush using the Micro Pro-90 and then rinse with hot water and wipe dry. Then the molds are heated to temp on a gas stove. The only lube I put in the molds is parrafin to lube the pins and a slight wipe on top of the mold halves under the sprue plate. The cavities are not touch with anything. Parrifin does not leave any reside. It is a saturated hydrocarbon alkane

John,
Could you please post a link to the Micro pro-90? I’m
having a tough time finding it. So, you’re diluting to a 5% concentration, huh?
I already have the Eezox; it’s good, really good stuff.

Robert

I'm with George, never touch the ones I'm using, except to use a carpenter pencil where lead may potentially smear when cutting the sprue.. Other than that the good ones stay in a dressor drawer. The ones I seldom use are lubed and are put into sandwich bags.

I ruined a mould once using a soft brass brush. It cast parting lines after using it.
If I get lead in the vent lines I use what put it in them, the lead I cast with.
I cut strips of paper and just put it around the outside edges of the mould and close it on the paper and fill the cavity. The over flow will pull the vent lines clean.

Micro Pro 90 website ... click on request a sample and use a business name ... https://www.ipcol.com/cleaners/micro-90

That’s brilliant thinking on your part, Kurt! I got it!
Thanks, pard.
Robert