My "New" Star Sizer

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Well, I just won a Star sizer on eBay. Kinda rough, looks like it's been rode hard and put up wet. It's got a lot of the blue paint chipped off on one side, and part of the plastic ball on the operating handle is chipped off. None of this looks like normal wear and tear, kinda looks like it's been bouncing around in a car trunk with the tire chains over back roads. The good side is, it's got three sets of dies,.356, .358, and.452, all of which I need, and I "only" paid $187, about $50 more than what the Phelps went for the other day. I figure I would have paid about $350 for a new Magma Star with dies.
Hope all the damage is cosmetic. It comes with several tubes of Alox, so I guess it's loaded with soft lube. I'll be using Rooster Zambini or something like it. Would a heat gun be the best way to get out the old lube?
Morgan

[madcaster]

Yes,either a hairdryer or a small propane torch(the best way!).
By the way,I was the first bidder on the Phelps,it had a buy it now of $90.00!
I thought the seller should get more than that for it!

[Swagerman]

Congratualations on acquiring the Star lube sizer, hope its all OK to perform.

I have a dozen tubes of Lyman alox lube and it is about the dirtyist fowling stuff ever made. Don't recomend the stuff...even though its easy to work with in its application through the sizer.

The red or blue hard lubes are cleaner, but usually require a constant source of heat to keep the lube flowing through your sizer. There are attachment heaters you can get from Lyman, or Midway, or Star, and I believe they are all adjustable.

However, you can use a warm air hair dryer or the wife's clothe iron if your unit is mounted on a flat piece of sheet metal such as aluminum.

Jim

[crabo]

I just went through this. You can download the maual from the website. I would start with that if one did not come with it.

Take the die out, you can tap it out with a wooden block and a hammer if you don't have the die removal tool., and also take the big screw out at the bottom. (inspection plug)

Then put some newspapers down and take the heat gun and melt all the old lube out of the body, and the spring assembly. Fill with a stick of lube. Do not put a stick and a half, or try to see how much it will hold. (Don't ask how I know)

I then use the heat gun to heat the body of the sizer until it is warm to touch. This will make your lube fill out the grooves much better and require less handle pressure to lube. Periodically apply a little heat to keep the lube flowing. The heat will also help you pull the spring assembly out. Expect that to be a pain.

I use Lar's BAC for all my pistol stuff. It is so cheap that I really can't see messing with making my own. Hope this helps.

[Springfield]

Take off the top of the sizer, the part with the spring and the plunger seal. Put the main body on a cookie sheet covered with paper towels, then put the whole thing in the oven set at 150. Wait 1 hour and the lube will be out all on it's own.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Folks thanks for the tips. I've recently switched from Rooster Zambini to Jakes Scarlet Ceresin for my pistol bullets(Cheap! Cheap!). I use it in my Lyman 450 with a Midway heater. I thought I"d order a box(10 sticks) of solids for the Star. I had a brainstorm after reading the brilliant tip about using a flat iron on an aluminum plate as a low/no cost adjustable heater. I'm going to a Salvation Army or Good Will thrift shop, pick up an iron or two, and see if I can take them apart and install the element and thermostat on an aluminum plate under a metal box, the way my Midway is built.

I still lube my rifle bullets with the 50-50 Alox-Beeswax I mixed about thirty years ago. Still have about 3 lbs left.

Madcaster, The auction for the Phelps I was referring to, ended yesterday, the final bid was $136.09, but it DID have a steel handle, not cast. :>)
Morgan

[GSM]

Before you try to take out the sizing die, be sure the set screw in the side of the housing is taken out - makes removal of the die a lot easier (trust me on that one).

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Like the one my old Lyman #45's had, I guess. Thanks. Anybody know the thread size of the top punches? I'll want to make a die remover like the one shown in the owner's manual on the Magma web site.
Morgan

[Nueces]

Morgan, mine are 1/2 x 27, the actual OD being 0.493.

Mark

[Morgan Astorbilt]

OUCH!! My lathe won't cut 27 threads, and special thread dies will cost more than the price of a die remover from Magma.
Morgan

[Marshal Kane]

My Magma Engineering catalog lists the die removal tool (part #S101E) at $9.50. IMHO, for that price it wouldn't pay for you or me to make a homemade one unless you just love to spend time in front of your lathe. Have seen these tool go for rediculous prices on eBay mainly because the bidders have not done their homework and researched the retail price of these things.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Thanks Kane, I'd remembered it as $39.95. A 1/2-27 die would have cost me more than that, with shipping, from MSC.
Morgan

[creekwalker]

Ahhhh!!!!!So your the one that that hung in there on that deal. At least I'm glad some one I know got it, even if I didn't. Hope it works well for you, look forward to reading some reports on it to as I'm shopping around for one myself.

creekwalker

[lathesmith]

Morgan, if you like I can send you a small chunk of drill rod I threaded to 1/2-27 the other day. I just got through making a die removal tool for my Star--a fairly straightforward job with a lathe. All you need is a piece of that rod around 3/4" in length, I am sure you can figure out the rest from there. I had a small chunk about that size that I almost threw away, but kept it thinking it might come in useful for something.
I threaded a piece of drill rod, about 6 to 8 inches worth, so I would have plenty of stock for making various size top punches, should I need them in the future. I also used a small chunk to make the die removal tool. This is a very handy thing to have, I am sure you will want one especially if you size for more than a few calibers.
I even made an inside thread cutting tool out of a 5/16" tool blank, and cut a couple of 1/2-27 nuts for use with the Star at the same time I threaded the rod. It takes awhile to set up those thread gears, might as well be productive while they are in place!
lathesmith

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Thanks Lathesmith, you can always tell the non-machinists who think it's all dollars and cents. We get joy out of making parts ourselves, both when we finish them, and when we use them. I'm sending you a PM with my address.
Morgan

[lathesmith]

Morgan, how right you are! I love taking a piece of scrap metal/wood and making a useful item out of it. A creative spell in the shop beats sitting around watching the tube anytime! BTW, if you haven't already discovered it, the Magma Star web site has a downloadable manual for the Star sizer. You can easily get your idea for making the die remover from this. I used 1/4-20 threads for mine, and it works great. BTW, the sizer in the pic is my own ebay bargain, and I am quite happy with it. Enjoy!
lathesmith

[Morgan Astorbilt]

The sizer hasn't even come yet and I'm already building a heater base for it. I picked up two flat irons for $5 at a thrift shop. One Kenmore(Sears) and one Black & Decker. Stripped them down to their sole plates and thermostats, and checked them out, laying them on a piece of 1/2" aluminum plate. They should work fine, I'll try to get a piece of 1/4" or 3/8" plate for the unit, but will use the 1/2" if I have to. I'll bolt one of them onto the plate and fabricate a cover out of sheet aluminum, with a toggle switch so I don't have to use the thermostat to turn it off, thereby losing the setting.
Morgan

[Poohgyrr]

Paul Jones is another source for Star parts- every month or so he sells original manuals and new old stock misc parts on ebay as star0reloader0mentors

This Paul Jones was the top seller back when and has been clearing out stored inventory pending some bad health issues.

I picked up an original saeco 45ACP mold and several Fitz grips for my wheelguns from him; good service although he slows down a bit sometimes. He is a good guy.

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Poohgyrr, What's the deal between Rush Limbough and Rio Linda? He sometimes explains what he's saying with "And for the benefit of those of you in Rio Linda...." Did he broadcast out of there at one time?
Morgan

[Poohgyrr]

Morgan,

Kind of a long post, but here goes.. :-D

Rush worked a local radio talk station here in Sacramento, and was pretty successful at it. That was right before he moved and went national. Rio Linda is one of our neighbor communities. I work out there often and have friends who live there. And all our different communities poke at each other and so on...

On one of his shows, Rush explained how he started poking at Rio Linda.

Back when, Rush used to pick on another local town called West Sacramento. West Sac has its' own flavor and characters. Life is not boring around here. [smilie=1:

BUT!! Then West Sac went ahead and "incorporated". Here in CA, this means they are now a "real" city, with their own Police, Fire, trash collectors, Dog Catchers, and so on. Just like a real town. They now start collecting their own taxes and paying for all their own public service stuff. This also means that if you live here, you now pay your local taxes to the new City.

Before doing this, West Sac was what we call an "unincorporated" town. That means they are a "town" with their own Post Office and "city limit" type of signs posted, but they "mooch" all their public services (Police, Fire, trash, and so on) off the County. ( To be fair, if you live here, you pay your local taxes to the County, so the public service stuff is not really mooching.)


Rush says that since West Sac was now "Official" and a "real town" then they deserved some respect and he could no longer pick on them. Give them their due for being responsible and taking care of themselves.


Rush also said that about the time when this happened, he was driving through one of the more colorful streets in nearby Rio Linda! :drinks:

Ri Linda definitely has flavor, and its' own characters who live there. One thing Rio Linda is "known for" are all the broken down cars parked in front yards. These cars are usually up on blocks too. Makes for colorful scenary and this is something we all tease "them" about. So, Rush decided his new target to get poked at, in fun, was Rio Linda.

That's the story I heard Rush explain on one of his radio shows a few years back.

Rio Linda really isn't that bad at all, and a lot of the broken down cars aren't there like they used to be. It also used to be a well kept secret that property was cheap there, but those days are gone.

That picture in my avatar is meant to point out one of the real good things about the town. The two Men running that high school Jr ROTC program have really helped out quite a few kids, who honestly could use the help. I've watched some of those kids grow up and they are doing good, which probably would not have happened for some of them. I understand the Army has programs like this across the Country, and I think they deserve big kudos for this. I simply do not hear about all the success stories from this program and want to let folks know about it.

Best.....

[Morgan Astorbilt]

Lathesmith, I just got done drilling and tapping the piece you sent me 5/16-18. It was pretty nice steel to machine. What was it, O-1, W-1? It sort of felt like D-2.
Morgan

[lathesmith]

I believe that stuff is W-1, I got it from Enco. I'm still experimenting with feed rates and speeds on various materials, but that stuff seems to machine pretty good at 500 rpm or so. I have learned to feed the drill bit fairly fast, it seems to cut a little smoother. That drill rod really heats up fast, so I also like to use oil, especially when drilling it.Experimenting has become easier since I got my little lathe converted to variable speed. BTW, I've never worked with D-2, what kind of stuff is it?
lathesmith

[Morgan Astorbilt]

D-2 is a high chrome air hardening steel. I began using it about thirty years ago, when I was making custom sheath knives. I've used several brands, including Carpenter, but found the best available was a Swedish steel, Uddeholm UHB Sverker 21. It's is so tough, that I've made center punches and chisels out of scrap, just hardening at 1850F., and not bothering to temper, and to this day, have never had one chip, or need to be sharpened, they Rockwell out at 65C. It's used extensively by auto makers for their blanking tools, dies that punch out the steel body parts before stamping to shape.
Morgan