I bought another Star Sizer

Well, with a Magma in my stable I couldn't resist an old Star that was calling out to me from Ebay. I watched it sit on Ebay with no takers and this prompted me to contact the seller and make an offer. Its a little rusty and dirty but its home now. I gave $200.00 shipped to my door for it and I hope a didn't pay too much.

It took some doing to get the stuck piston spring assembly out of the lube cylinder but it finally gave way. The lube pressure piston at the bottom would move but not return. I removed it and fired up the propane torch and a little heat made the old lube start to flow and the piston moves freely now.

This weekend when the wife leaves for some grocery shopping I will get her large pan out and boil it a little and really clean it out. I don't plan a 100% tear down but will attempt to clean the rust away and give her some paint.

Its interesting to note that it has a slightly smoother feel to it than my Magma does.

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I have an older Star....you didnt go wrong....good luck and good find!

There is another Star on Ebay and its currently over $230 but it has some dies and punches with it. Mine did come with a nose punch and die for a 30 carbine which I will never use.

I put my lyman in the oven at 250 on top of an foil then paper towel covered cookie sheet. it melted most everything out and I didn't end up in getting anything on cookware. Doing it that way might keep you out of trouble. Some of the lubes have ATF fluid and other things I wouldn't want to have on something I would eat from.

That sounds like the ticket. I will try that...thanks

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Making some progress on it. I didn't like the darker blue paint I was finding so I went with the lighter shade of blue. I still have the lube tube to paint black. I would love to parkerize it and tear it down further but I just want to use it..

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Originally Posted by kayak1

I put my lyman in the oven at 250 on top of an foil then paper towel covered cookie sheet. it melted most everything out and I didn't end up in getting anything on cookware. Doing it that way might keep you out of trouble. Some of the lubes have ATF fluid and other things I wouldn't want to have on something I would eat from.

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Well the wife wouldn't go for a run in the oven so I simply took a some of my 50/50 beeswax/alox lube and ran it thru the sizer. It emptied out pieces of what looked like dried rat droppings. I carefully probed the valve area with a very small screw driver until I got everything out the cleanout port. I then ran a partial stick thru again and it was absolutely clean now. Not exactly the way I wanted to do it but it did preserve my man parts from being ripped out by a unhappy wife.

Attachment 83562Attachment 83563Anyone have an idea as to the age of this unit? It does have the Star patent number on the base of the unit. The Star decal is gone however.

The best way I ever found to clean lube out of a sizer is a heat gun. You don't have to blister the paint, just get it hot enough and the old goo just runs out like water. Do it outside, over an empty box with some old newspapers. When you finish, just fold the box up and toss it.

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Originally Posted by cuzinbruce

The best way I ever found to clean lube out of a sizer is a heat gun. You don't have to blister the paint, just get it hot enough and the old goo just runs out like water. Do it outside, over an empty box with some old newspapers. When you finish, just fold the box up and toss it.

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I actually tried a heat gun with zero results. I then tried a propane torch and carefully heated the bottom area and only got a few drops. After both failures I used the pressure of the lube screw to exhaust the hardened 20+ year old dried lube. I ended up putting about 1.5 sticks of home made lube thru it and its totally clean now and the mess went into a newspaper and was thrown away. While your method works well when a sizer hasn't been sitting as long as this one it was no match for the dried concrete mess that was in mine.

I received my star lubber yesterday and I did not receive the handle and die puller packet part of the kit.
I called Magma and they apologized profusely and said that they would get it in the mail today.


Anyone in a rush to send items out to there costumers can make a mistake. It is the good company's that that charges forward to resolve the issue quickly.

If this is what I can look forward to in the way of costumer service. I think that I will like doing business with them again.

an old Chevy I thought you were a Cadillac man :kidding:

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Originally Posted by angus6

an old Chevy I thought you were a Cadillac man :kidding:

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I can see the merit to purchasing a used machine. I'd love to have another MarkVI Ballisti-cast but the reality of it is I may not ever see another group buy from them. I happened across this machine and got it at a cost effective price. The pressure spring assembly was stuck in the tube and it took some doing to get it out. The machine had its lube turn into a hard cement like compound and this proved to be fun to get out. I removed a nice coating of rust from it and painted it and it looks like a used Chevy now and runs out fine. I haven't been able to get any answer from those in the know here as to the age but I'm thinking somewhere around 1954 as a production date.

I will admit that I did obtain a feeling of pleasure from bringing the old girl back to life. I have a feeling she sat around 30 years or more based on the type of home made lube and the condition of the machine. I'll throw you a bone... It was worth purchasing. Kind of like a lady of the evening that you have cleaned up and straightened out.