How do you store your dies?

[Jarhead]

Hi ALl,

Roob posted a question in another post about die longevity, and that got me thinking about how to store them.

I digress about another passion of mine> quality tools.

I have my great grandfathers block plane set- it was given to me by my grandfather. It came originally from Germany, moved with my Great- Grandfather to New York in the 1920's and was given to my Grandfather in the 1930's. He gave it to me about 15 years ago and I brought it to Australia. I am not sure how old it is- but it is certainly 100 years+ and works better than new ones. My grandfather kept the plane blades lightly oiled and in a tightly sealed oak tool box that had straw lining the bottom. He told me to do the same,"the dry straw absorbs moisture to keep the rust at bay, you see." So I have. I have had it for 15 years, used the tools about 5 times, oiling the exposed steel every time, and have replaced the straw once in that time. Zero rust ever.

OK> back to dies......


A lot of the responses to Roob's post were about keeping dies oiled to keep rust at bay.....You can see where my thinking is headed....

I store my dies in the original plastic "4 die" LEE boxes.......though I suspect- not for long.

How do you store your dies?

[bladeracer]

I ordered 50 twelve-compartment plastic storage boxes from Bunnings. Each holds two, sometimes three, die sets. I'll try to remember to get some photos when I'm in my office. I use similar boxes for storing bullets, and the much larger boxes for brass.

[TassieTiger]

I store all my relevant calibre gear in a $2 XL lunch box - dies, case Length gauge, cleaning Brushes, etc - everything that pertains to that calibre - one box.
A light fish oil on my dies - but I used a brake cleaner to clean them every now and again and I sometimes forget to redo the oil. It only takes hours for rust to become visible....

[JimTom]

I store mine in their original containers mate. Oil after use and cleaned before next use.

[Jarhead]

Thanks Bladeracer,

look forward to the photos. That sounds like a good idea.

TassieTiger-

What brand dies are you talking about? Maybe some rust and some don't? Is the rust on the die body or the components inside or both?

JimTom,

What kind of oil do you use?

[JimTom]

Mate I generally use CLP or a spray with G96. Whatever is handy at the time.

[marksman]

I store mine in their original containers mate. Oil after use and cleaned before next use.

+1

except wilson dies that are sprayed lightly with inox and stored in little plastic bags in the original boxes

l have not yet worn out a die maybe l'm doing something wrong

[SCJ429]

I use Imperial Sizing Wax to protect my dies.

[bladeracer]

Thanks Bladeracer,

look forward to the photos. That sounds like a good idea.

TassieTiger-

What brand dies are you talking about? Maybe some rust and some don't? Is the rust on the die body or the components inside or both?

JimTom,

What kind of oil do you use?

Some die boxes on the shelf with a heap of brass and some wads. Also a box of stripper/en bloc clips. The cardboard box is .303 and 9mm brass. The envelope is more .30-cal sabots. The big box under the wads is 5000 62gn TAP bullets - it weighs 21kg, which is why I prefer the smaller boxes for bullets. 200kg+ of rifle bullets on the shelf beneath.

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.38 Special and .357 Magnum die box. Same die sets but I have them set up for the two different cartridges. Also length dies and gauges, bullet sizing die and bullet puller collet.

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A box of primed brass, including the dimensions - 350x270x95mm.

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This is the box of .224" bullets I'm playing with in the sabots in .30-30, .30-06, .303 and 7.62x54R.

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Some pistol bullets (the cardboard box is 1000 .224" FMJ). Also locked boxes of .223Rem and .38 Special. The two locked crates on the floor are .22LR ammo.

20200728_183746b.jpg (254.69 KiB) Viewed 3293 times

[JimTom]

Nice one mate, like the way you have your kit organised. Might look into that myself.

[bladeracer]

Nice one mate, like the way you have your kit organised. Might look into that myself.

I wish the various manufacturers (bullets, brass, die sets, etc - all the stuff that often winds up stacked together) would decide on a single modular system of boxes

[wanneroo]

I wrap them in VCI paper. It's corrosion inhibiting paper and if you've ever bought something like a machine tool or bit wrapped in paper, probably it was VCI paper.

[JimTom]

Anyone else noticed that Redding die boxes are a bit ******? If you stack them they end up with a significant bow in them and the lids will no longer close. Reckon Bladeracer has the idea. Bloody hell why didn’t I think of doing something like that.

[marksman]

l'd like blade to come to my gun room and do some organising LOL

[Jarhead]

I made an interesting observation and thought I would reopen the vault on this one.......

None of my Lee dies have rusted. At all.

That is an unexpected benefit! I bought these because they are ubiquitous and economical. Didn't realise they were corrosion proof until I re-read this post and realised I have done nothing to prevent corrosion. Worse- I clean them with wax & grease remover which removes everything from the surface leaving bare metal and I have yet to see a spot of rust anywhere.

Thought I would share.

[bladeracer]

I made an interesting observation and thought I would reopen the vault on this one.......

None of my Lee dies have rusted. At all.

That is an unexpected benefit! I bought these because they ubiquitous and economical. Didn't realise they were corrosion proof until I re-read this post and realised I have done nothing to prevent corrosion. Worse- I clean them with wax & grease remover which removes everything from the surface leaving bare metal and I have yet to see a spot of rust anywhere.

Thought I would share.

Same here, even the cheap RGB (Really Good Buy) dies seem quite resistant.

[eddievic]

Strange... mine had surface rust within about 6 months. A little spray of oil and then nothing. My redding or foster ones no drama but they have some black coating.

The redding die i got from qld, ohh that had a bit of surface rust.

[bladeracer]

Strange... mine had surface rust within about 6 months. A little spray of oil and then nothing. My redding or foster ones no drama but they have some black coating.

The redding die i got from qld, ohh that had a bit of surface rust.

I remembered I got a set of RCBS 8x57mm dies with a rifle a few years ago, never even opened the box. Just found them and had a look, they're perfect, although I don't know if the previous owner put anything on them to protect them, they seem dry and clean though.