Lyman 4500 ?s

[Skooterr]

Last year I got a 4500, along with other stuff, in a bulk deal. I met a guy to buy a trimmer, said he had some other stuff, so I ended up with 2 boxes of other stuff. 4500 only, no dies, punches,or wrenches. Sat in a box til now, got some dies, just got some NOE punches. So I pulled it out to clean it, no lube inside, at all, just what looks like residue, chips from machining. Is this how they come new? Also what looks like a plastic spacer on the pressure bolt assembly, that I don't see in the parts breakdown pic.

[C.F.Plinker]

The plastic spacer goes inside the luber and should just drop over the pressure screw. Its purpose is to keep the pressure nut from going down far enough to come off of the threaded portion of the pressure screw. If that were to happen you would probably have to take the luber off of the bench and put downward pressue on the pressure screw while trying to catch a thread so you could, after bolting the luber back to the bench, bring the pressure screw back to the top.

[jdfoxinc]

If you use hard lube be sure it is hot enough to flow. The pressure screw is held at the bottom of the press by a thin lip of cast iron. It doesn't takemuch pressure to break that lip. The only fix is taking the pressure screw through a steel plate over the bottom of the press that leaks a lot.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Gee, it sure looks like machining metal chips from manufacturing, it a shame if Lyman doesn't clean 'em up any better than that.

[jimkim]

While I had it apart I'd probably hit it with a cyl hone, and clean it out real good. It probably wouldn't hurt to leave it like that, it would just bug the cr@p out of me.

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[Skooterr]

Thanks for the info guys. It'll get a good cleaning, flush out. Have to make a mount for it, and still need to get some lube. It came with 6 sticks of Lyman Super Moly, and Alox, but I think I'm going to try some Carnuba Red.

[gwpercle]

The plastic spacer goes inside the luber and should just drop over the pressure screw. Its purpose is to keep the pressure nut from going down far enough to come off of the threaded portion of the pressure screw. If that were to happen you would probably have to take the luber off of the bench and put downward pressue on the pressure screw while trying to catch a thread so you could, after bolting the luber back to the bench, bring the pressure screw back to the top.

My 450 doesn't have that spacer and when you go down too far , getting that rascal back up is a job. I don't know how they expect you to tell where that drop off point is. I keep looking down in the reservoir but it's hard to tell where the drop off point is.
Would a spacer like this work on my old 1970 450 ?

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Would a spacer like this work on my old 1970 450 ?

YES.