star Newbie heater advice needed. ..

[funnyjim014]

So I fell into a old star sizer (one of the old timers at the club said 25 bucks and my wallet was out before he finished talking).Im ordering some dies from lathe smith and air assist from kyle632. Just need a heater. I drilled and tapped the lyman heater for my old 45 but I dont have temp control, just unplug when lube starts to get too thin. Could I do the same with the star? From what I read here the star is a fine balancing act of temp and pressure. The lube I use in the 45 is JAKES PURPLE from flee bay and have had good luck with it. Kinda need a goodbit of heat to get it flowing.

[HATCH]

Get a 10 amp rated extension cord from lowes/Home Depot/ect
Get a dimmer switch , cover and afterthought wall box.

[HATCH]

That is until you can get a pid setup

[blikseme300]

This was my solution: http://www.bliksemdonder.com/hobbies...s/star-heater/

[VHoward]

Find an aluminum plate to mount your star on that has room for the star and a small travel iron setting on the plate behind the star. Most travel irons have good thermostats in them. Also get one of those stick on thermometers from the pet shop to stick onto the star so you can see what temp it is at.
http://amzn.com/B00026Z4PS Usually better to get one meant for a terrarium that is for lizzards. Those go up to 105 degrees where the aquarium thermometers only go up to around 84 degrees.

[funnyjim014]

Ok I got my star sizer setup with the lyman heater controlled by a dimmerswitch. The lathesmith dies are fantastic. I bought a air assistand roller handle, my question is how do you remove the handle ? I removed the bolt on the side of the shaft and the handle wont move when I tapped on it with small hammer . It might just be frozen , some surface rust on some of the parts. I dident want to go walling on it if there is somthing holding it in. I think I have a blister fromt he old wooden handle so it has to be changed before the next sizing session

[chloe123]

Rust from the climate you're in, maybe. It should just slide back and forth (toward/away from you) once you remove the screw that is perpendicular to the handle.

shouldnt be a big deal to remove. The outer housing is actually a sleeve but, imo,no parts that could be a damaged by a rust remover. Though you may want to just try a few drops of oil around where the rod inserts first. Ill have to go back and acquaint myself with this post. I really like the roller handle. I have the Magma. I find it allows me to open my grip at the top of the stroke while squeezing only when I need to near the bottom. And this is with hardened bullets. Without, I think the leverage may be sufficient to drop them without much effort. Good choice.

[357Wheelgunner]

So I fell into a old star sizer (one of the old timers at the club said 25 bucks and my wallet was out before he finished talking).Im ordering some dies from lathe smith and air assist from kyle632. Just need a heater. I drilled and tapped the lyman heater for my old 45 but I dont have temp control, just unplug when lube starts to get too thin. Could I do the same with the star? From what I read here the star is a fine balancing act of temp and pressure. The lube I use in the 45 is JAKES PURPLE from flee bay and have had good luck with it. Kinda need a goodbit of heat to get it flowing.

What a great find! Congratulations, though I would almost have been embarrassed to pay that little for a Star, almost!

Take a look at my thread on mods that I have made to my Star at:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...finger-pincher

[Avery Arms]

Find an aluminum plate to mount your star on that has room for the star and a small travel iron setting on the plate behind the star. Most travel irons have good thermostats in them. Also get one of those stick on thermometers from the pet shop to stick onto the star so you can see what temp it is at.

I used this method for a long time except my travel iron had no heat control (very small low power iron) so I used a long aluminum plate I had laying around (about 5" wide 1/4" thick and 24" long) and I could adjust the heat very easily just by moving the iron closer or further from the sizer. Usually I would put the iron right next to the sizer to bring it up to temp then put it further away to maintain. Larger more complex irons will work the same way but some have "dead man" switches and will shut themselves off completely if left face down without moving them. I never used a thermometer and I really don't see the purpose of using one unless you have a PID or something contolling your temperature.

[funnyjim014]

Ill try soaking the old handle in kroll oil for a few days and see if it will tap out. I just dident want to break it

[Pee Wee]

I have the star heater, l live in cent. Fl. So hardly use it. But if you get the lube to hot you will have a mess, I have scribed settings on the thermostat housing from trial and error and all is good.