Lee Loader

I sure hope someone can answer this. The shank screw that holds the sprue
plate on my 90318 striped out, I know I can drill & tap the side for a set
screw, (which I am going to do). & I don't know if heli-coils come that small.
are oversize shank screws available, then I could just re-tap?? Any & all help
is greatly appreciated...

Just re tap I doubt heli coils come this small tap her and use new size screw to match thread easy cheesy.

larryw wrote:I sure hope someone can answer this. The shank screw that holds the sprue
plate on my 90318 striped out, I know I can drill & tap the side for a set
screw, (which I am going to do). & I don't know if heli-coils come that small.
are oversize shank screws available, then I could just re-tap?? Any & all help
is greatly appreciated...

You would need to find a replacement screw with a shank that fits the sprue plate hole. If you can provide the tension that is required, not as tight as one might think, I would use two allen sets to hold it it in place. One from each of the corners. I've been trying to pull up the parts on Lee's website to see what size it is put their site won't pull up the pages this morning. I looked real quick on ebay and they offer some very small helicoils.

Thank you Michael. Finding the right size shank & threaded diameter is gonna be the problem.
Would love a tiny Helicoil. 2 set screws sounds like just the ticket. Thanks again RD...

What the heck is a Helicoil?

It's a thread-insert, that has a standard thread on the inside, and a larger thread on the outside. That outer thread is available in different forms, so you can use it to have a "large screw" in a piece of wood, and still use normal steel screws to fasten things. The wood won't break as easy, because the thread cutting in the wood is much larger that otherwise. Or it can be used to repair a broken thread, by drilling out the broken one, cut a new, larger, thread, and apply a helicoil, so you are back to your previous size thread.

klick

I would recommend JB Weld but have never tried it on something that hot. Have used it on diesel engines just not in an area that got as hot as a mold.

You could always drill a longer hole and retap deeper and put a longer screw in it. Or drill and tap the opposite side and put the spruce plate on it