Star Lubri- Sizer trouble - I must be a DORK

Trying to get my “new” Star going. Using White Label CR...105* working temp...with warmer(no thermostat)

I can’t get this thing to work right!!! :x I THOUGHT it would be much neater/ cleaner than my old RCBS, but I got lube all over the place. Actually much messier. If I get the lube groove to fill, there’s lube all over the nose(.45 220g round nose, single groove)

I’ve tried everything I can think of. Varying temp, pressure, adjusted the plunger at least 2 dozen times, took die out(ruined the upper O ring), cleaned, remeasured EVERYTHING, and started over, checked hole alignment with lube groove....I mean, ***?! I have never had this much trouble with...ANYTHING!!! I literally used a full stick of lube working on this.

Am I wrong to expect this piece of equipment to be cleaner and work better than the older method?

Help me. I’m a dork!

Start here: http://www.magmaengineering.com/PDF/Star_Sizer.pdf

Page 4 will show you how to adjust the top punch to correctly align with the lube grooves.

I like to think of it as "less temperature and more pressure". If the lube is flowing like jello, then it's too hot. With your 105 degree lube, it won't take much heat to get it flowing properly, but it will be easy to get it too hot.

When adjusting the top punch, make very small adjustments, but measure like in the picture in the manual, and that will put you in the ballpark.

To answer your question, yes, it will be cleaner and easier to use once you get the hang of it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

I'm wondering if you plugged up the holes in the sizer that you do not need?

Lightman, yes sir. As far as I can tell, I’ve Followed all of the directions to the letter.

I need a second pair of eyes on this...

As the question above asks, did you plug the holes in the die that are not needed since you are lubing a single lube groove? If there are multiple rows of holes unplugged, you will get lube everywhere. You can plug them with small pellets of shot.

Make sure your castings aren't undersize for your die. This will also lead to leakage around the bands.

Winelover

like others said most problems are due to to much heat, not being adjusted perfectly and the holes you think you plugged are still leaky. I allways use two pieces of shot per hole instead of one. Biggest problem is usually heat. Even heated bases need a lot of tweeking to get the temp just right. Sometimes as I size I notice the lube getting to warm and turn off he base till it needs to be turned on rather then letting the thermostat control it. Especially when im using softer lubes. another thing that can get a newbie is using sticks of lube. They allow air into your lube chamber and you will see some bullets not getting lubed and think you have to crank up the pressure or turn up the heat. Fill your lube reservoir with melted lube. Fill it till it just starts to leak out the vent hole then let it cool and come back the next day or later in the day and start from there.

You need patience to adjust a Star. If the the lube is too warm, turn down the temp and walk away for 30 minutes.

I opted for custom sizing dies with only the holes I need and no extras to plug. I built my own heater setup using a cartridge healing element much larger than needed and employed a PID control for the temperature control. My results are no unwanted lube, no holes to plug, temperature that takes 5 min or less in most cases to obtain my set temp and the set temp that stays within several degrees. So, you can struggle with it or you can make it something that is a pleasure to run. I also added an air cylinder so I don't have to turn a crank along with a bullet feeder.

Added... I have my dies custom made so that I don't have to change the punch height. All my 44's and 45's use the same punch height as this makes things easy and simple. One Star for the 44's/45's and one for 38/357/9mm.

I try to use near maximum pressure & just enough heat to fill the grooves. There is a learning curve adjusting the punch but it can be done cause I learned. Once you get it, you'll have it forever. I've never measured the punch setting & can pretty much adjust it correctly by simply looking at the bullet. You'll get that way also.

To echo the above: Did you plug any extra holes?

Thanks guys.

Yes. All extra holes plugged. I’ll jack with it more this afternoon and report back.

Lay the die in your hand with the boolit groove/grooves aligned with the holes in the die. If there's only one groove to be lubed, the top set of holes most of the time are the ones I use unless it's a longer rifle length boolit. NOW... set the punch against the base of the boolit and either eye-ball or make a narrow paper gauge to measure the space between the top of the die and the beginning of the threads on the punch. Very seldom do I need to adjust the punch up or down to get the adjustment right. I only buy punches with set screws from Lathesmith so I only have to set the punch up once.

OK...

The projectiles are 230g, not 220g as mentioned above.

I did have a second hole open. I thought both holes were aligned and it was good/ ok to have 2 holes working. I was mistaken on both. I plugged a hole, re set the punch, and I ALMOST got it to work.(see above...I am a dork)

Apparently, my projectiles aren’t compatible with this machine. ... and I see why they were messy on the older machine. The boolit is .4524 or so below the lube groove, and .45 above. The die is .452.

So, there you have it.

Also, what does everyone do about the tails sometimes left on the boolit? This sizer doesn’t clean them up.

You may be over thinking it now, turn the heat way down.

Rather than a PID, I hooked up a simple rheostat to adjust the heater, once it reaches temperature. Same one used for both the Star and the LAM.

Winelover

never much saw a use for a pid controlled casting pot but do see some real advantage to using on for a lube heater. Id probably do one myself but anymore 90 precent of my bullets are pc'd and I rarely use the star.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 6bg6ga

I opted for custom sizing dies with only the holes I need and no extras to plug. I built my own heater setup using a cartridge healing element much larger than needed and employed a PID control for the temperature control. My results are no unwanted lube, no holes to plug, temperature that takes 5 min or less in most cases to obtain my set temp and the set temp that stays within several degrees. So, you can struggle with it or you can make it something that is a pleasure to run. I also added an air cylinder so I don't have to turn a crank along with a bullet feeder.

Added... I have my dies custom made so that I don't have to change the punch height. All my 44's and 45's use the same punch height as this makes things easy and simple. One Star for the 44's/45's and one for 38/357/9mm.

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I found out that the learning curve on a Star is a bit steeper than I figured. I have a makeshift heater on mine and use a lamp dimmer chord to control the heat. Found the
dimmer chord at Home Depot. I got my dies from Lathesmith and also got some of the top punch lock nuts. Those things are a life saver, set the top punch and forget it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 468

OK...

The projectiles are 230g, not 220g as mentioned above.

I did have a second hole open. I thought both holes were aligned and it was good/ ok to have 2 holes working. I was mistaken on both. I plugged a hole, re set the punch, and I ALMOST got it to work.(see above...I am a dork)

Apparently, my projectiles aren’t compatible with this machine. ... and I see why they were messy on the older machine. The boolit is .4524 or so below the lube groove, and .45 above. The die is .452.

So, there you have it.

Also, what does everyone do about the tails sometimes left on the boolit? This sizer doesn’t clean them up.

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tails of lube?
or
tails of alloy?

If he is only sizing his bullets less that half a thou I doubt it is alloy, unless he has a large base finning problem. Using some 2 stroke oil to lube the mould face usually clears this up.

Too much heat. Start out cold, turn the heat on and immediately run an already-lubed boolit through it about twice to get the die lubed, and then send a new boolit every few minutes as it warms up (testing to find when it begins lubing) and you'll find your temp that you need. Don't keep heating once you are getting a full lube groove. Then run a lubed boolit through it about every 10 unlubed ones as you go to keep from making a tail on any of them.