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Author Topic: Mould Repair  (Read 762 times)

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Offline Castaway

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Mould Repair
« on: July 10, 2006, 05:01:38 AM »
After more than a few thousand bullets, my 6 cavity Lee mould finally quit working.  The sprue plate bolt stripped.  I looked at shimming with teflon tape, but it melts at around 650 F.  Any ideas on how to tighten up the bolt?
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Offline jgalar

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Re: Mould Repair
« Reply #1 on: July 10, 2006, 05:14:35 PM »
You could install a helicoil.
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Offline LAH

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Re: Mould Repair
« Reply #2 on: July 25, 2006, 07:54:36 AM »
I agree, helicoil or tap the next size. Should be an easy fix with the alum. they use..........Creeker
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Joshua 1:9

Offline Castaway

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Re: Mould Repair
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2006, 11:14:05 AM »
Checked the price of a helicoil but is seems the ones I found were more expensive than my mould.  Thinking of wrapping some thin copper wire around the bolt shaft and horsing it in.  If that fails I guess I'll have to break down and buy a new mould.  Thanks for the idea.  Never knew such a thing as a helicoil existed and certainly won't rule it out when I break something more expensive.
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Offline dubber123

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Re: Mould Repair
« Reply #4 on: July 25, 2006, 11:18:46 AM »
If you don't want to spend the cash for the stuff to tap it to a larger size, ( probably don't blame you for the cost of the Lee molds), maybe try a slightly larger self tapping screw with a lock washer.  Should be under 1$ at a hardware store.
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Offline Nobade

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Re: Mould Repair
« Reply #5 on: July 25, 2006, 03:26:41 PM »
I just fixed one of their 2 cavity types by changing the self tapping screw to a real one, (10-32) and drilling and tapping a hole from the side for a smaller screw to lock the main one in place, similar to the way SAECO does theirs. Works great, took 10 minutes, and since I had the screws laying around it was free. Works great now!
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"Give me a lever long enough, and a place to stand, and I'll break the lever."

Offline Castaway

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Re: Mould Repair
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2006, 03:33:23 PM »
Noblade, what did you do about the large radius at the top of the threads?
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Offline Lloyd Smale

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Re: Mould Repair
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2006, 11:36:04 PM »
send it back to lee. Theyve replaced a couple that stripped out for me for free.
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blue lives matter

Offline Nobade

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Re: Mould Repair
« Reply #8 on: July 26, 2006, 02:09:35 AM »
I don't quite know what you mean. I did add a longer screw, which went into fresh threads below where the factory screw had pulled metal out. Is that what you mean? Anyhow, it wasn't a problem and now works well. This mod also allows me to control the tension on the sprue plate, something the factory Lee setup doesn't allow you to do. (Theirs is all or nothing, since if their screw isn't tight it will back out.) Now this is on a 2 cavity style, so your 6 cavity one may be a bit different but the concept is the same. Or as Lloyd says, they'll probably fix it for free anyhow if you send it back, but this was so easy I had it done in 10 minutes and didn't have to deal with postage.
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"Give me a lever long enough, and a place to stand, and I'll break the lever."

Offline pistolfan

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Re: Mould Repair
« Reply #9 on: August 24, 2006, 05:21:13 AM »
I agree with Mr. Smale, send it back to Lee, or at least contact them about fixing it. I did once it was fixed up good as new.
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