gettin lube out of a 450??

[sisiphunter]

Hello all.

I have a lyman 450 that is close to empty. At most 1/4 or less of an unknown lube that came in it. I want to empty out the lube from my dies and the 450 to start up with a known lube to be more consistant. I dont have a manual for my 450 and was hoping you folks could help me out with how I might go about this. Thanks. Matt

oh ya and it doesnt have a heater on it.

[scamp62]

had to do the same thing last weekend !
i used a heat gun. got it all out in about 20 min,

[Recluse]

Some folks boil theirs, I prefer to use a heat gun. Take your sizing die out, warm up the lubesizer and cycle the handle to get as much lube out as you can, then keep the heat gun on it pretty steady to melt/liquify and drain the rest of the lube out.

[stubshaft]

+3 on the heat gun, just make sure that you put old newspapers or rags under it to catch any stray drips.

[sisiphunter]

Ok. Thanks guys. I thought of that way bit was hoping there was an easier or should I say less messy way.

So the heat gin wont harm any o rings inside there I assume??? And the dies just clean with solvent as usual....something like mineral spirits should work with some paper towel.

[30yrcaster]

Don't have a heat gun but use a hair dryer. Don't need to get it 400 degrees from a heat gun for the lube to melt. Like the others said, remove the die and put something under it. Also remove the plunger in the resivoir as you would putting a new stick in. After that theres no o-rings left in it.

Once mine started to melt, the liquid lube started to really come out. Didn't need to wipe anything out or remove it from the bench. Seems it's designed for everything to run out on it's own if I remember correctly.

Removing the lube from the die could be done with the hair dryer as well but think solevent would be a mess. I push out the I part of the die and push the lube out with a toothpick. That's good enough for me as the first time you use it, it pushes out any old lube anyway.

[high standard 40]

.......... Also remove the plunger in the resivoir as you would putting a new stick in. After that theres no o-rings left in it.............

There is still one o-ring left in the sizer at that point. It's at the bottom of the center shaft pressure screw. But if you use only enough heat to melt the lube, the o-ring should not be damaged.

[Hardcast416taylor]

A friend of mine, for lack of a better term? Acquired 6 different size 450 sizers in a deal. He solved the problem of removing the nasty collection of different lubes on them by first removing the "O" ring and then holding the sizer with a pair of pliars held the sizer over a lit candle to warm it then wiped the warm lube off.Robert

[sisiphunter]

Thanks alot guys for all the info...much appriciated.

[30yrcaster]

There is still one o-ring left in the sizer at that point. It's at the bottom of the center shaft pressure screw. But if you use only enough heat to melt the lube, the o-ring should not be damaged.

Didn't know there's one in the bottom. Mine has been mounted on the bench since I got it a long time ago. Good to know!!

[Papa Jack]

I changed from 50/50 Alox beeswax mixture a year ago in my 450....I also used a heat gun to heat the outside. After removing the size die. The machine was still bolted to the bench, so the lube dripped into a can sitting on a trash can. I left the stop adjustment screw in the machine and the melted lube made an awful mess dripping all over the screw . I had to take it apart and clean it all up.....So you might want to remove that screw first and maybe the linkage too, just to make it cleaner....PJ

[Valley Forge]

I found that by using an old pot with sufficient water and my gas grill with the lid closed I could melt all the lube out and it would float to the top quite easily. Drying the hot (but not too hot) 450 was just as easy and by leaving the pot outside overnight I was able to skim the cooled lube away the next morning.