After a casting session, how do you clean the little bits of lead off your mould and out of the screw head slots, etc? Thanks.

I rub it off with a hard lead pencil while the mould is still hot.

Bye
Jack

I use a brass brush like sold in the gun leaning section.

Lvl1trauma

I gently slide a single edged razor blade on the bottom of the sprue plate to clean under the pour holes after the mould has cooled. Use the same method for the mould halves and tops if needed. Never touch the mould cavities except with a nylon toothbrush and denatured alcohol. Clean out the vent lines with round pointed toothpicks. Store my moulds in a GI ammo box with a large bag of dessicant.

Lawboy,

My steel moulds are disassembled and buffed with coarse bronze wool when they are cool enough to handle with gloves. As an added benefit, bronze wool won't create wear on steel moulds but will remove small burrs that can cause bullets to hang when they should be dropping freely and it cleans out vent lines nicely. Not to fly off on a tangent but if there are burrs at the ends of the vent lines that the bronze wool can't remove, I carefully run a #11 Xacto knife blade over the effected vent lines.

In preparation for the next casting session, I soak the mould haves in acetone for a few minutes and scrub the faces with a toothbrush dedicated for this task only. This way my steel moulds are squeaky clean and ready for casting.

BTW, if you're getting significant alloy deposits on the underside of the sprue plate or the top of the mould, you're opening the moulds before the bases are ready.

TMC

Lawboy,

My steel moulds are disassembled and buffed with coarse bronze wool when they are cool enough to handle with gloves. As an added benefit, bronze wool won't create wear on steel moulds but will remove small burrs that can cause bullets to hang when they should be dropping freely and it cleans out vent lines nicely. Not to fly off on a tangent but if there are burrs at the ends of the vent lines that the bronze wool can't remove, I carefully run a #11 Xacto knife blade over the effected vent lines.

In preparation for the next casting session, I soak the mould haves in acetone for a few minutes and scrub the faces with a toothbrush dedicated for this task only. This way my steel moulds are squeaky clean and ready for casting.

BTW, if you're getting significant alloy deposits on the underside of the sprue plate or the top of the mould, you're opening the moulds before the bases are ready.

TMC
Hanging next to the pot is a brass brush...one of the wooden handled brass tooth-brush style sold at home-depot or Lowes. Will just gently knock the stuff off as it occurs and promise myself not to get is such a hurry that I open the mold before it's time.

To put them away at the end of a session, will oil them. Know that makes for some work the next time, but degreasing them while the lead melts seems easy enough. I do live in a very humid enviroment, but some of my molds have been in my use for over 35years using the above method will no ill effects.

[QUOTE=ribbonstone]Hanging next to the pot is a brass brush...one of the wooden handled brass tooth-brush style sold at home-depot or Lowes. Will just gently knock the stuff off as it occurs and promise myself not to get is such a hurry that I open the mold before it's time./QUOTE]Thanks for reminding me to pick up one of these. Should be great for cleaning a hot mould.

[QUOTE=ribbonstone]Hanging next to the pot is a brass brush...one of the wooden handled brass tooth-brush style sold at home-depot or Lowes. Will just gently knock the stuff off as it occurs and promise myself not to get is such a hurry that I open the mold before it's time./QUOTE]Thanks for reminding me to pick up one of these. Should be great for cleaning a hot mould.

Wanted to add that I don't brush a hot aluminum mold...for that, a chunk of burlap seems to do just fine. Just make a large sized burlap Q-tip from a dowel (or stick for that matter). IF the fibers used are synthetic, you've just createda bigger mess...but if natural, then it cleans the stuff off just fine.

thanks everyone. am new to casting and figured I had better get some advice before I screwed up a $100+ dollar mould. I appreciate your sharing with me.