Quality of Lyman mold.

[Griz44Mag]

I ordered a new Lyman .735 mold to cast balls for the Bess.
It arrived yesterday. Upon removing it from the package I had the dickens of a time getting the mold halves apart. They were really tight. I got it cleaned up and went to mount it on a set of Lyman handles. One of the halves was so tight to the handle arm that I had to file down the handle arm a bit to get the screw in it. The halves would close, but were exceptionally tight and took some effort to open them. I figured that would loosen up as they were used. I fired up the pot and warmed the mold an after fighting my way through 4 or 5 balls, the mold refused to close all the way. The balls have a bad seam line. I shut down the casting session and let everything cool. The mold will not close, even out of the handles. The alignment pins are no aligned properly. The holes for mounting are not in the right place. The mold is a manufacturing POS. I have over the many years I have been casting bought molds from many places, antique and new, I have molds in aluminum, brass, steel machined, iron cast and in configurations from singles to 12 hole monsters. Probably close to a hundred molds. This Lyman mold is the poorest manufacture quality of all of them. It goes back to TOW today. And I always thought Lyman was supposed to be one of the best.
Disappointed. (And still ball-less)

 

[WVAED]

Sorry friend. I bet that was disappointing. Hopefully they will replace it with a good one.

 

[Eric Krewson]

I traded for a Lyman .535 mold, it throws a ball that is .535 on one side and .526 on the other, I contacted Lyman twice, they chose to ignore my communication.

 

[BrownBear]

It's good that you filed on the mold handles rather than modifying the blocks in any way. They'll almost certainly exchange or refund, but you'd have been outaluck if you'd tinkered with the mold.

 

[Griz44Mag]

It's good that you filed on the mold handles rather than modifying the blocks in any way. They'll almost certainly exchange or refund, but you'd have been outaluck if you'd tinkered with the mold.

Not that the thought did not cross my mind. But I resisted. I can wait another week to cast. I wish someone else made a mold but I could not find one anywhere.

 

[Maven]

Griz, Your experience with current Lyman molds is not unusual. Quality control for them seems to have become an oxymoron. However, there are other roundball molds available, e.g. Tanner ball moulds (sic). I have 3 such moulds and am very pleased with their quality, pricing, and speed of delivery. Tanner will make a mould to your exact specifications.

 

[8 BORE]

Lyman is really poor quality in the last few years. Buy other brands if you can find the size you need. Or you may have to buy a custom mould.

 

[Griz44Mag]

I inquired about Tanner molds. Was told he passed away back in October.
I can't find a link for the company if they survived.
Do you have a link?
I also dropped a not to LEE. They make a mold up to .690
No reason they could not go on up, they have done custom runs before.
I think I will also drop a note to NOE. I have a few of their molds and they are excellent.

 

[cositrike]

I inquired about Tanner molds. Was told he passed away back in October.
I can't find a link for the company if they survived.
Do you have a link?
I also dropped a not to LEE. They make a mold up to .690
No reason they could not go on up, they have done custom runs before.
I think I will also drop a note to NOE. I have a few of their molds and they are excellent.

ballmoulds.com is the one you want. Jeff Tanners son

 

[Rifleman1776]

My Tanner mould (made when Jeff was alive) was a sorry experience. It had ridges around the mating edges making removal of cast balls impossible. I took it to a machinist who removed the ridges. Anybody can make misteaks but shipping an item without checking quality is inexcusable.

 

[Griz44Mag]

ballmoulds.com is the one you want. Jeff Tanners son

Found them. Thanks for the link.
I ordered a mold, we will see how that works out.

 

[Griz44Mag]

My Tanner mould (made when Jeff was alive) was a sorry experience. It had ridges around the mating edges making removal of cast balls impossible. I took it to a machinist who removed the ridges. Anybody can make misteaks but shipping an item without checking quality is inexcusable.

Couldn't be any worse than the Lyman I received. Also - inexcusable.

 

[cositrike]

Couldn't be any worse than the Lyman I received. Also - inexcusable.

That’s the only complaint I’ve ever heard about a Tanner mould and I know Jeff or his son would have replaced it immediately if asked. I’ve had 10 moulds now and have been happy with every one.

 

[Rifleman1776]

That’s the only complaint I’ve ever heard about a Tanner mould and I know Jeff or his son would have replaced it immediately if asked. I’ve had 10 moulds now and have been happy with every one.

Yes, but the time an expense of shipping back and forth across the pond dissuaded me. Getting fixed locally was more better. ;-)

 

[FishDFly]

My experience with Lyman and Lee molds.

1. Lyman, mine are older, no more current than 5 years old. They throw more consistent weight
balls than Lee.

2. Lee, mine are older, and current as of 2 months ago. They throw more variation in weight than
does Lyman. The only under sized molds I have are Lee.

I have a bunch of both and use them all.

 

[Griz44Mag]

This is a followup on the Lyman Mold issue. When I got home today, the replacement mold from TOTW was in the mail.
So - big KUDOS to Track for some excellent response and turn around time.
The replacement mold was a twice as oily as the first one, in my opinion that's a good thing.
So out to the garage and a can of cleaner to make it clean.
I mounted it in the mold handles, the holes were in the right place on this one.
And the holes and pins aligned properly.
I set up my casting table and fired up the plate and pot.
The very first ball was a touch rough on one side, but it looked like a little too heavy on the smoke coat I did as initial anti-stick treatment. By the third ball they looked good. I was a little disconcerted by the appearance of tooling marks from the mold, but decided it did not hurt anything and got over it. As the mold got hotter, they pretty much disappeared.
I dropped 50 - .735 balls in about 40 minutes, it took a bit to get the mold temp and the cycle time in sync. But after I got the groove, the casting went super smooth. While I had the pot hot I went ahead and cast 100 .535 balls for the GPR.
So after a rocky start with a Lyman, I guess I am happy now.

 

[Col. Batguano]

I have the same (sort of related) question. I'm thinking of buying a mould for my 38. On TotW's site, the Lyman moulds are $78 (pus handles) and the Lee's are $22 (with handles. Do you really get 4x the quality with the Lyman than you do with the Lee? The only ball I currently cast is a 40 bore (48 cal to the flats, 52 cal to the widest part on the belt) belted ball with a brass mould that was original with the gun (1858 vintage).

 

[FishDFly]

I recently looked at Lyman mold prices and it was sticker shock to put it nicely.

I can not see 4 times the value in Lyman, I would buy Lee which I did.

Even if you received a bad Lee mold you can get another and still be at half price of a Lyman.

Other option is to put a "Want To Buy" for a used Lyman mold and see what responses you get.

Ads are cheap!

 

[Griz44Mag]

From my recent experience, I would buy the Lee mold even if they were the same price. My Lee molds work fine and after many years, still cast great projectiles!

 

[Rifleman1776]

Do you really get 4x the quality with the Lyman than you do with the Lee?

That is a debatable issue. The Lyman steel moulds hold heat at a more consistent level. That can result in more consistent results when casting. But, like many others, I use mainly Lee moulds because of the price difference. I have been casting lately and, as I have for many years, my motions are the same for every pour. I work undisturbed and quit when I get tired. Meaning, the higher rate of heat loss from the aluminum is not a factor. Results are just what I want.