Lee Mould Mods??

[Grizzly Greg]

Howdy gang, any of you gents,or ladies ever modify a Lee mould by welding up the mould with aluminum welding compound??.....I mean the welding rods sold for aluminum and using them to increase the lube groove size....I got this wacko idea that it can be done,then honed out to a proper size.......would love to have a PRS/SB .38 type bullet for my .38 OTs and '66,just got 25lbs of real black and need to shoot it.....but can't afford the set up fee for the lee mould......any feedback would be appreciated...thanks,Grizz.

[ButlerFord45]

Damn, I hate trying to throw cold water on a good imigination, but welding and honing are pretty inprecise.  If you could bore the lube groove to diameter and machine the edges of the grooves, you MIGHT be able to make it work.  You'd still need to be able to polish all surfaces enough to remove the machining chatter marks or your bullets will forever be sticking in the mold.  
I believe anything less than this is going to result in an uneven lube groove.  Even if you can get it out of the mold, it's not going to have its center of gravity along the center of axis, and depending to what degree, could be seriously inaccurate even at CAS distances.
HOWEVER at the price of a set of Lee molds, you could probably afford an extra set just for grins and giggles ta see if Ya really could make it work.

[Grizzly Greg]

Howdy BF45,cold water doesn't bother me at all .....just wondered if anyone had tried it.....I have a Lee mould,have some xtra time and goofy ideas.....  a vice, a dremel tool and lots of patience.......wondered if the weld would hold up to the heat/reheating or just come apart.....If I give it a try,I'll let ya know.

Thanks Grizz.

BTW, RH is/was my favorite author growing up,they sure could have done StarShip Tropers a lot better,but glad they did it.