I never tried the smoke thing.
LEE Mold Tips-
The Double Cavity Molds that come back to us for repair invariably do so due to lack of lubrication. You can keep your mold working trouble free for years by following the suggestions below - practices that I follow here at the factory.
After receiving your mold and cleaning it per the instructions, cast one set of bullets to warm the mold. Then smoke the mold heavily. I use a lighter, and prefer one of the "oven" type lighters with a long barrel. Take a clean rag and wipe the soot off of the mold faces. Get them nice and clean. Now cast two or three more sets of bullets to get the mold hot. The steel alignment pins should now be hot enough to melt the beeswax or Anti-Seize lubricant.
To prepare the lube, slice off a piece about 1/4 inch wide. Cut that piece in half and form it into a football shape. Lightly touch the lube to the steel pins and then run it along both aluminum nibs at the ends of the mold. You want lube on the pin, but do not use so much that it gets on the mold faces.
Cast another set of bullets, knock them out, and carefully inspect the mold faces for evidence of lube. If you see any lube on the faces, wipe it off with a clean rag. You're now ready to go. Inspect the mold faces frequently to be sure that nothing gets on them. Keep the mold faces clean. The small grooves in the faces allow air to escape when pouring and in doing so, prevent wrinkles. You don't want anything to fill them up.
To minimize wear on the aluminium by the steel pins, you want the pins to do as little work as possible. If you hold your mold upright and slowly bring the halves close together, you may find that the mold halves don't quite line up. The pins will do the final alignment, but generally, if the mold is held upside down the sprue plate will open, the alignment will be initially better and the pins will have little to do. If this is the case with your mold, then this is the casting procedure that I recommend: 1) Pour 2) Turn the mold past vertical and knock the sprue into the pot 3) Turn the mold upside down, open and knock the handles to release the bullets.... never into the pot though. With the sprue plate straight out to the right, you can knock the handle just above the sprue plate. 4) Close the mold 5) Turn the mold right side up and only then, close the sprue plate.
Never close the mold with the sprue plate not completely open or close the sprue plate with the mold not completely closed. If you do, the sprue plate can hit the opposing mold face and nick it which will put annoying little tails on your bullets.
Relube your mold about every 500 casts, and be sure to put a little lube on the sprue plate pivot or you will get galling in that area. You can just touch the lube on the side of the bolt when the mold is hot and lube will wick down. Again, not too much or it may run into the cavity. Wipe off any excess.
It's vital to keep lead splashes off the mold faces or your mold will go out of round. A dripping pot may send out a splash that finds your open mold. Also, NEVER knock your bullets out into the pot! Finally, be careful not to damage the edges or rims of the cavities, and in general, don't touch them with anything other than a soft cloth.
My method-
When i got my Lee 2 cavaty molds, i did my normal prep i use for iron molds.
Wash in hot tap water using Dawn. Lightly scrub with a stensel brush. Rinse with a flow of hot water. Dry with wife's nice new fluffy towel.
Set on edge of Lee 10 lb pot to warm. Lube mold with BF CLP. Start casting with pot at maximum heat, till bullets are good. Then move pot heat pointer to 8.5. If i see a frosted bullet, later, move to 7.5. Mold will get to hot. Take a break to let it cool.
I always check as cast diameter on the first bullets, as soon as the cool. If undersize, add antimony rich alloy, like linotype.
