Magma Star Lube-sizer

[lykoris]

would those who own one care to talk me through the value or merits of the additional options available. As I am ordering from Europe I want to avoid....

"I should have ordered that when I originally bought it moment [smilie=b:

I would really appreciate the help and assistance

I want to size for 9/357/45




Optional accessories include:

* Star Die $42.50.
Dies are available from .218 through .585. When ordering Star Dies please give us the size and if more than one grease groove the distance (center to center) of the grease grooves.

are these specific or will any manufacturer sizing die fit the Star? Would I be better to order all Star sizing dies

* Heated Base available in 110V & 240V $105.00
I think this will be an option I should include

* Bullet Feeder with one Caliber $120.00
o Small or Large Caliber Conversions $27.50
o Caliber Conversions for bullets under ½" $30.25

I have looked at youtube and the bullet feeder essentially feeds 12-15 bullets at a time I believe...am not sure the value is there but maybe I am missing something.


* Air Feed for the Bullet Lube (60 psi air pressure required) $100.00
worth it? I have two 12L 300 bar scuba tanks as a source

* Shovel Handle $26.50
probably worth it for comfort, so I think I will include it with the heated base.

* M-A Systems Collater for the Star Sizer $658.00
no idea what this is

Price: $250.00

Appreciate the help;-)

[fecmech]

Here is what I think.

1. Get the size dies you need/ Get a flat top punch for the 9mm and size all your bullets nose first. You only need one punch that way.

2. IMO bullet feeder is not necessary, you can easily size 1000-1500 bullets per hour without it.

3. Heater is optional--simply mounting the sizer on an aluminum plate will allow you to set an old clothes iron on the plate to heat the lube and the thermostat on the iron will regulate the heat. Much better than $100 for a heater.

4. I think the shovel handle is a good idea.

5. Air feed-nice but not all that necessary

The air feed and collator are more for someone in business and wanting to maximize production, if that's you then you may want them.

I use a basic Star sizer, with iron and manual spring fed lube for 15-20K bullets per year with no problems.

[Echo]

IMHO...

1. Buy your dies from Lathesmith, on this board. Outstanding work, and cheaper than Magma. I have a couple of his, and they are great.

2. Ditto the Al base w/iron for heat - I use a drop light. No need for the Hi-$ heater.

3. You have a good bullet feeder - your left hand. Works great...

4. I have not used an air supply, nor do I intend to - Good Grief! Give the widget a turn every 8-10-15 boolits.

5. I like the round knob on my Star, and see no need for a shovel handle. And can't see any reason for them, except as a product to sell. I don't have a shovel handle on my Dillon, either...

The only item you mentioned that I see the least bit of utility in (other than the dies) is the heater. But theirs is too expensive, and there are other viable alternatives.

Of course, - YMMV...

[Colorado4wheel]

I just got mine about a month ago. VERY worth the money. All I got was the Sizer, the dies and a heater from Midway USA for $50. My .356 die sized to .355 so I had to get a .357 to make my stuff work. Lathsmith has a nice handle I have never seen but in pictures. If you set it at the right height it's not needed. I say you NEED the heater. I like the hard lubes. Stuff that only flows with a heater and dries non-sticky. The lyman heater works perfectly. Magma makes a good lube that is not sticky and is only $1.60 a tube. I would get a dozen in whatever color you like (it's all the same). I would "like" to have all the toys but don't feel I "need" them in the least to make the thing work perfectly.

[runfiverun]

i have three of them all have the air, the boolit feeders,and different slides for different sizes with corresponding drop tubes.
i also got three large and three small clear tubes then built twenty more of each.
i also have the heated bases for all three.
the time i save sizing and lubing is well worth the extra money. IMO.
if i want to put on gas checks or do longer rifle boolits i then single feed,and don't feel i am losing anything to another sizer.
i use a small 2 gal air compressor and it has enough air to run all three at a time if i want to.
there are other lubes home made or bought that surpass magmas lube and work in the star better than magma's does.
carnuba red comes to mind first.

[Daddyfixit]

Dies - Buy from lathesmith, less expensive and better (harder)
Handle - I use the stock one
Air pressure system - I don't need it
Heater - use an iron or heat lamp

[hammerhead357]

IMHO the heater is nice but you can make one cheaper than the factory one. The bullet feeder is a must for me if I am trying to size and lube a bunch. It keeps the fingers out of the die. It will eat your thumb if you get to going to fast.
I know about this, my first wife was sizing bullets one day and cut a .358 hole in the end of her thumb. That one cost about 650 to fix. Nasty business. She could do about 2000 per hour and things got out of whack and cut her thumb badly...
Now if you don't try to get to fast the feeder is not nessesary. But they are nice...Wes

[mtgrs737]

I have shovel handles and air cylinders on both of my stars. I feel that both are worth the price as they enhance the enjoyment of using the sizer. I also have both a lyman and Midway heater for my stars. If you use the Lyman heater you will need a reostat control to keep the heater from overheating the sizer, or you could just unplug it when it gets too hot. The Midway heater has a thermostat but, sadley is no longer made. Both are drilled and tapped for the star mounting plate base. I have dies made by star and Lathesmith. Chris does an excellent job of making the dies and he is less expensive too. I like holes every 90 degrees around the bore so I get a little better lube groove filling than the every 120 degree spacing. He also made me an oversized lube plunger for one of my stars that had a worn bushing. I had him make it .003" oversized and then reamed the bushing with a reamer to fit, it now works better than new. Good luck!

[GLL]

Buy a hand full of extra "O" rings with the machine !!! The correct size may be difficult to find where you live and you will probably mess up one once in awhile when changing dies. I sure did ! :) :)

Lathesmith dies are indeed the best !

Jerry

[Dennis Eugene]

I don't know about the air feeder, get by fine with out one. Don't need or want either the shovel handle or boolit feeder, but did run mine without the heater for a long while used a blow dryer for girls hair when I needed heat. Then one day i bought a cheap used but still new in the box lyman heater and i recommend you get one of those or something similar. Dies are a bit cheaper from laythesmith but if your ordering from Magma it might be just as easy to order dies at the same time. I've never screwed up an o-ring changing dies but do own the die changing tool from magma so take that for what it's worth. Dennis

[Down South]

I don't know beans about the bullet feeder, air cylinder or shovel handle.
My Star is bolted to a aluminum plate and I use a clothes iron for a heater. I had to bypass the safety switch in the iron. The iron would stop working after a few minutes of inactivity. A couple snips from a wire cutter and a butt splice cured it.
I’ve messed up several O-Rings and getting extras is easy. They are standard O-Rings that can be found at a hardware store.
Most of my dies came from Lathesmith. He makes a shovel handle too.

[Zbench]

While I have both the factory air cylinder and heater, and can see the points on the heater, I think that the air cylinder is definitely worth the money invested.

Unlike twisting the screw every so often, one you load a tube of lube into the cylinder and put it back together, you don't have to even think about it until you are ready to refill the cylinder. It has a small regulator, so if you are pushing a lot of wax you can crank it up, or if not, set it down to a lower level.

Either way, I can't imagine using the Star without it. It's hard to make the case that using the screw is faster since you never have to fool around with that part of it during a sizing session.

Pete

[GLL]

The reason I mentioned "O" rings is that lykoris is in Europe and the local hardware store may not carry what we consider standard sizes. I messed up a couple when I first started using the Star ! :) This can be a consideration especially on a cold machine ! It would be very cheap insurance !

Jerry

[lykoris]

many thanks for all the replies, you've all given me a lot to think about.

finding imperial sized o-rings could prove difficult as everything is metric here.

I really appreciate the help.

I'll go with the Lyman heater having done a bit of research, I didn't realize they had a univeral one out also - thought it was just for their 4500 sizer.

As for the options, well I'm going to have to think a bit longer until I make up my mind.

Thanks again to all :grin:

[Colorado4wheel]

there are other lubes home made or bought that surpass magmas lube and work in the star better than magma's does.
carnuba red comes to mind first.

Care to expand on that? Carnuba Red is a lower temp lube a little more sticky I hear. Besides that the Magma lube works perfect in my sizer. Better then the Blue Angel I used before. No overflow, perfect fill out, not as sensitive to variance of the pressure knob like the blue angel.

[jameslovesjammie]

Carnuba red needs a heater but melts MUCH lower than most of the commercial "crayon" lubes out there.

[Bob J]

I have the heater and shovel handle..... As others have mentioned, the heater is nice for hard lubes..... Set and forget....

Lathesmith made all my dies except the one that originally came with my star.... Highly recommend his stuff.....;-)

For the amount of lube sizing I do this works for me.....

[Norseman]

I've found out that the heater setting is the same (or a fraction less with the Carnauba) for the Magma heater, using Magma og Carnauba Red lube.

[plaz]

I prefer to have the options designed for the Star. I bought the Magma heater and the Magma air cylinder. Screwing around with makeshift equipment only creates more problems. The reason I bought the air cylinder is because I kept forgetting to add more pressure to the lube by turning the lube adjustment screw again and again. I got tired of returning the bullets to the Star for re lubing.

I think I will get the L handle sold by Lathersmith since the handle provided by Star keeps falling out and onto the floor.

[HeavyMetal]

base your options purchase on your forseeable output.

If your casting 10,000 a year and using hard lube the base machine with a Lyman heater ( or the aluminum iron deal) will be all you need.

If your going to be casting 200,000, or more, in a year then the air feed for lube the coallator and bullet feed system are going to make this work much faster.

You will then find time for the family.

The shovel handle is the same deal! Comfort! the more you size at anyone time the more you'll want that shovel handle.

Back in the day I sized about 4000 a month and that Ball wore as spot in my hand!

[mpmarty]

I use an old electric iron from a second hand store on an aluminum plate I mounted the star on. It works fine. Although my shop is plumbed for air and I have a large compressor I don't mind cranking the pressure handle once in a while.

[cajun shooter]

I have to laugh when I see people post that I don't have the air cylinder and you don't need it either. I used my first Star in 1970 and bought my own after that. I always got by with out the air cylinder until about 5 years ago. I had three Stars for different lubes and decided to try one. The best thing since ice cream!! If you are doing any hard lubes then just crank up the pressure and all grooves are filled until you need more lube. It makes your bullet lubing so easy and smooth. Before I would have to run my larger bullets more than once to fill all the grooves. No more. I set it on about 90 lbs and lube away. You do nothing but feed the bullets. I used the bullet feed and did not care for it but you might like it. I feel I do as well my self. The air cylinder can be run without a compressor because you only use the pressure without the loss of air. I use a air tank that holds about 7 gal of liquid or 125 psi. If you have no air leaks it will last for months. You also don't need the o-rings that are installed in the new machines. The original ones had none and work fine. When magma bought the machines and the Star plant they thought that the original could be improved with the o-rings. To me they are a PITA and I remove them and use the machine without them. The air cylinder can best be described by saying it is like a car that has heated leather seats. I have owned both and much prefer the ones with heat on those cold days. If you can't relate to this then think about how much hot bread is improved with butter. It's a pleasure you want to keep.

[Fixxah]

The dies from Magma need lead shot to plug any holes not needed. This is just a path for lube to leak by and onto the head of the bullets. Messy to say the least.

I tried the bulb trick to heat the lube and when it leaked out of every seal I bought the star heater. Haven't regretted it.

Lathesmith dies are excellent and he is a good guy to deal with

Need to buy another heater for my other star. Gonna get shovel handles for both from Chris.

[Ugluk]

I've just had my Magma for a few weeks and a few thousand lubed, but I did get the air cylinder with it.
I tried it with the spring first using the Javelina the machine came with, and it sure worked well but I didn't get a feel for how much pressure there was.

I then switched to BAC and fitted the cylinder. It's a good upgrade. The very graphic pressure gauge means I don't have to learn that part of lubing and it really works for you without needing any attention.

The bullet feeder seems pointless without the collator. I'm still making my own bulletfeeder, but that is part of a project to add an electric motor to the star.