Star Heater

[kbstenberg]

Tonight i was drooling at the Star Lusizer website. Then i looked at the price of the heater OMGosh. Wouldn't an aluminum plate with an iron do just as good? I don't mind spending when there is a nacesity, but i can't see it here
Kevin

[cheese1566]

Yes it would!

I built mine with a chunk of aluminum and used a Lyman cartirdge heater I already had...

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=88114

[59stude]

Go to the local thrift shop and look for one of the hand held hair curlers they have there.
Some brands have perfect small cartridge heaters inside them, anything from 15w to 60w, that you can use in a pice of aluminium with a proper hole drilled into it.
Best thing is price, the most costly I have bought cost me in US$ 3, and and a pice of scrap aluminium and some work it all cost me under $5 to get an base heater.

59stude

[Lloyd Smale]

the one for lymans that midway sells works fine and the star bolts right up to it and it much less expensive.

[BD]

I bought one from Midway years ago that came drilled for the magma, lyman and RCBS. I think it was $20 or so. Still works fine.
BD

[cajun shooter]

I used a 1/2 piece of aluminum and a travel iron(smaller in size and regulate better)for a long time with no problems. The Star heater is made much smaller and mounts with the Star in one package. It also has all holes ready for any other assy. you buy. The Star heater is also more accurate to dial in. So if you ever have the money it is worth while in my mind.

[Edubya]

I feel very fortunate to have the Star heater on both of mine. If I had it to do over, I would have built a PID that could be used on the heater base with an iron or any other electric heater. With a dual PID, you could set one to run your heat plate and the other to control your bottom pour and cost would be about the same as a Star heater for the lube/sizer. They can be programed for different temps and hold very narrow tolerances.

EW

[Dale53]

I have the Lyman heater (it is drilled and tapped for Lyman, RCBS, and Star luber/sizers). It doesn't have a thermostat and it needs it (gets too hot, otherwise). I use my Dremel tool rheostat (that was used to control tool speed on the older Dremels) to control the heat.

The least expensive method is to buy an electrical box, mount a wall socket in it along with a light dimmer switch. Wire it up to allow you to plug in the heater and control the heat with the dimmer switch. The switch is rated heavier than the wattage on the heater so it works just fine. A few dollars and you have a set up that works as well as the expensive set up.

Or, throw dollars at the problem and buy the Star heater...

Dale53

[cheese1566]

I feel very fortunate to have the Star heater on both of mine. If I had it to do over, I would have built a PID that could be used on the heater base with an iron or any other electric heater. With a dual PID, you could set one to run your heat plate and the other to control your bottom pour and cost would be about the same as a Star heater for the lube/sizer. They can be programed for different temps and hold very narrow tolerances.

EW

That is what I actually did, but with a cartridge heater. Seems to work great when set for 120* and a 30-40 minute warm up time using the Magma hard lube inside and 35 psi.

I built the entire heater base and PID for under $30. This of course from the wonderful deal Lee W did on the site fundraiser PID units he sold.

[prickett]

Why does everyone use aluminum plates rather than steel? Because its easier to drill or is there another reason?

I have plenty of steel plates, but finding aluminum is a problem for me.

[Bill*]

Why does everyone use aluminum plates rather than steel? Because its easier to drill or is there another reason?

I have plenty of steel plates, but finding aluminum is a problem for me.

Conductivity

[Down South]

Tonight i was drooling at the Star Lusizer website. Then i looked at the price of the heater OMGosh. Wouldn't an aluminum plate with an iron do just as good? I don't mind spending when there is a nacesity, but i can't see it here
Kevin

I use an iron and aluminum plate. The only problem that I had was the iron had an idiot switch in it that would shut the iron down after a few minutes of inactivity. I took the iron apart and cut the idiot switch out and wired it direct. Works perfect now. Iron cost $10 at Walley World. Aluminum plate was free from scrap from a job.

[Intel6]

I have the Lyman heater (it is drilled and tapped for Lyman, RCBS, and Star luber/sizers). It doesn't have a thermostat and it needs it (gets too hot, otherwise). I use my Dremel tool rheostat (that was used to control tool speed on the older Dremels) to control the heat.

The least expensive method is to buy an electrical box, mount a wall socket in it along with a light dimmer switch. Wire it up to allow you to plug in the heater and control the heat with the dimmer switch. The switch is rated heavier than the wattage on the heater so it works just fine. A few dollars and you have a set up that works as well as the expensive set up.

Or, throw dollars at the problem and buy the Star heater...

Dale53

This is what I did with my Lyman heater and have found it to work quite well once you figure out the settings you need.

[Triggerhappy]

Just a thought guys...

I usually have short periods of time I can fit my lubrisizing into so I hate to wait for the small heaters to heat my luber up. I use a paint stripping gun, basically a hair dryer on steroids, costs about $15.00 if I remember right from someplace like Harbor Freight Tools. You can get them anywhere, most hardware stores have them. This thing will heat up my sizer to working temp within a minute. Just cautiously spread the heat around the main casting then let the heat work it's way into the lube reservoir. The electric heater will maintain the temp and I'm off sizing bullets in just a couple of minutes.

Also if I need to change the sizing die out I can heat that portion up a little more to make it easier to get the die out and the cap screwed back on. You'd be surprised how much easier it is with a little extra heat.

TH

[454PB]

You might even consider this:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=5615

[Down South]

You might even consider this:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=5615

That's a great idea. The only thing that I don't like about it is, it doesn't have a thermostat. I can set my iron to what ever temp that I need and forget about it. The coffee maker will have to be plugged in then unplugged then plugged in then unplugged, you get my drift. I have marks on the thermostat on my iron that sets the temp justttttt right for the lube I'm using. If the ambient temp is different then I can make a minor adjustment to correct for it.