I neglected my 308 dies. Haven't used them for almost 20 yrs. They have a little rust inside them. Is there a way to clean/polish them or should I just chunk them and buy new dies?

I would try flitz around a tight bristle brush wrapped in a few patches. It may be all you need unless there is pitting. JB will do the same thing.

I would be more aggressive and put some 400 grit on a stick and spin it with a drill, or really I would put the die in the lathe. Finish with 600, or finer. They are hardened so you can't do much damage to them. It will have to be pretty severely pitted not to still work fine.

I've found the oil sold as "KROIL" and steel wool to be extremely helpful and effective for removing rust.

Best of both worlds, put a 20gause shotgun brush in an electric drill, tease some #0000 steelwool into the bristles, soak it in Kroil and have at it.
Spray it down with brake cleaner to clear out any rust or steelwool residue and then oil with a light coating of Kroil.

break fluid -- cheap cheap ... put it in a coffee can and pour enough dot3 to cover em... leave em for a week

you know old dies shrink, right?

quote:

you know old dies shrink, right?

Interesting, how does that happen?

quote:

Originally posted by MickinColo:

quote:

you know old dies shrink, right?

Interesting, how does that happen?

teasing a buddy, guys

2nd on the Kroil. I've been using it for 48 years now and swear by it.

I go with Wasbeeman's style- a bit of 0000 wrapped around a wire brush, some penetrating oil and moderate rpm with a cordless drill. afterward, I always clean up with 90% isopropyl-awesome degreaser..

Wasbeeman must have been reading my mind.

After I posted I got to thinking-what have I got to loose. I didn't have any Flitz, so I dug around my diamond polishing compounds from my injection-mold building days and found some 50000. Spread a 1/4 pea size dab(probably too much) on a 20ga bore mop, chucked in a cordless drill added a couple drops of EDM oil and went to town. Sprayed out with brake cleaner. I don't think that die was that shiny when it was brand spanking new! I wiped the inside of the die with case lube. I have full length resized over 50 cases and no problems.


Andy

To clean the outside of the die set use a electric drill brush. It cleans nicely on the checkering of the die. Spray with Q20 afterwards and wipe dry. Will look as new.

All depends on the manufacturer of the die. There are dies that are not worth the effort and are subject to rusting.

I clean the inside of a die with a towel on a dowel, I prefer white towels. With a white towel I know when I am finished.

I do not clean the inside of my dies with chemicals, it takes me years to like a die and the finish, I do not like starting over.

F. Guffey

I have had great luck with PB Blaster... I use the liquid version, in a refillable spray bottle for cleaning and for rust protection. I haven't needed to use it on all my dies, but the ones I have, clean up nicely, easily, and are certainly protected from rusting.