My new Star Lube Sizer press arrived today. It was a long journey, as it was firstly sent to a freight forwarder, then on to New Zealand (I bet I could count on one hand how many of these there are on these shores).
Okay, it was well packed, and everything seems to be there, but I haven’t tried it out yet as I have no dies. I’m still waiting to get my .356 and .44mag before I can order them. Okay, on to the unit itself. It seems well made, which im sure most of you know already. On setting up the bullet feed system, I found that there was a couple of problems which stopped it working as such. Firstly, the Aluminium block that houses the boolit shuttle was being hit by the add-on bolt appendage ) the one that operates the cam mechanism). The tolerance is so tight, that the weld on the appendages nut caught and gouged up the housing as it travelled past on the upstroke of the movement. A touch on my belt grinder did the trick, just tickled off the weld a little to give it a good few thou clearence. The only other thing was that the small boolit shuttle (the one that was already installed from factory) didn’t want to return with the spring, far enough so that the same appendage (the welded nut/bolt assembly) would clear it. I looked and saw that the second boolit shuttle, the large boolit unit, had a roll pin that had a sleeve on it. A sleeve which would prevent the mechanism from binding. I swapped the roll pins over, and hey presto.
Anyway, the unit seems to cycle okay, but without being able to actually try it with a set of sizing dies that is. Also, need to fit a plug and try the heated plate too. I think my first job on that will be to add a small plastic knob and a printed scale.
Overall, I think the star is a really nice bit of kit. Being a bit of a tinkerer (and I have my own small home engineering shop on hand) I will make a few mods to it I’m sure. That’s when I’ve used it for a bit, just so I know I’m only doing something that’s needed. I imagine simple things like replacing the L shaped aluminium (the one which holds the return spring and also has a shuttle stop screw) for a “twist up” unit that allows the shuttle to be slid out in a matter of seconds, without undoing Allen screws or removing roll pins etc.
One other thing, I noticed that there seemed to be an excessive amount of space between the cam and the bolt, which means that on the handle upstroke, you need move far more than you should need to move, just to operate the shuttle. I’m sure this could be taken up by using a longer bolt. Also, the up-stroke seems to be stopped by the rolling pin hitting the aluminium shuttle housing, which is okay if you are careful, but would appear to put undue stress on the long rolling pin over time. I thought that by using a clip on buffer at the top of the ram, if it is made to the right depth, it would be a better ‘stop’ for the stroke, and would protect the rolling pin from constantly hitting the housing, thus preventing the pin breaking or its hole being enlarged over time.
One other thing I would change is some of the bearing surfaces. Like for example, bolt heads being used as push points for cams and spring return operations. I might install some brass or polycarb buffers at these points for better wearing surfaces. Sure, the machine won’t work any better for it, but hey, if I can add my own little touches and it makes me feel better when I use the machine, then great!
Might even powder coat it at some point. Not too struck on a rough cast Aluminium finish, but hey, if we wanted absolute perfection then the cost would be that much higher… and what colour would it be from factory?... there would be at least 50% of us wanting the “other” colour I’m sure! LOL
It may be that I am overlooking some aspects of the unit, as I cannot fully appreciate the operation yet, that is until I get some dies. Overall, I am very satisfied with my purchase, and even more so because I know this was not made in China. When I placed an order with Magma engineering, it was done on the phone, it was quick, easy and the lady I spoke to was very helpful indeed.
Yep, I am looking forward to a very long relationship with my new Star… as soon as I get some dies that is!.
Oh… if all of these points have already been covered before, please ignore my ramblings.
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Originally Posted by bbqncigars
