Rebuilding a Lyman 45. Need to source a few parts

[Animal]

I picked up a Lyman/Ideal 45 for cheap a while back. I'd like to replace the vertical guide rods and the lube cylinder. They are pitted and have a very small amount of play in the top cast.

Does anyone know of a source I could contact for replacement? or am I better off consulting a local machinist to make the parts?

Thanks

[bbogue1]

Have you PM'd BrassMagnet?

[Animal]

I have not. Does he sell these items?

[carbine]

JonB Is there anyone who repairs lyman 45's. I cant seem to solve my lube squeeze out problem.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

JonB Is there anyone who repairs lyman 45's. I cant seem to solve my lube squeeze out problem.

I've built/rebuilt a few from a box of parts I bought when I first started casting, I posted a thread about that. Brassmagnet has done similar. I don't know of anyone who does that professionally? But, besides Brassmagnet and I, there are several people on the forum who had rebuilt their own 45. They are simple, but parts are challenging to find, if you need them.

If your lube is squeezing out the top of the reservoir, You are applying too much pressure...Or if it's the old style pressure nut with brass sleeve, that sleeve is prone to leaking a little, that's just something you live with. But if that brass sleeve was gotten damaged, even slightly, it will leak a lot. If it has the newer pressure nut with the 2 O-rings, they wear and/or get damaged and may need to be replaced.

Or is it leaking somewhere else?

Take some photo's and make a new thread and explain the problem in as much detail as possible, and someone here will walk you through a fix.

[carbine]

Thanks JonB, I will take pics and post

[Animal]

This is the condition that I got it in.

[Animal]

Nothing an oxygen/acetylene torch, brazing rod, evaporust, tap-and-die set, blasting cabinet, time looking through hardware drawers at lowes, a relative machinist and some spare time can't handle. At this point it is all about swapping and trading for parts. It looks like I've got someone who wants to deal. I'm excited about the progress.

She's gone a long way, but still has a little more to go.

[Animal]

I had a machinist make a new set of guide rods. He did a great job. Everything tightened up nicely and fell into perfect alignment.

I had to get creative with the adjustment screw that adjust bullet depth. It originally had vertical serrations so that it could be adjusted by hand. The previous owner liked to use pliers, which destroyed those serrations.

I wanted to replace it, but I decided try my hand at making it useful again. I couldn't sleep one night, so I put together a plan. I chucked it in a soft-jaw vice and filed/sanded away what was left of the destroyed serrations. Once I had it smoothed out, I went to work with a 20LPI checkering file. After a few evenings of filing, I now have good looking vertical serrations. The serrations are deep and sharp. The bluish color is not a part of the final refinishing, it is lay-out fluid. I used it to cut down the glare while working.

While it is not an exact match, it is the original part and it has been restored to work in the way that it was originally intended, by hand.

It has been a fun project so far. Before too long, I'll have the appropriate parts primed and repainted to the original color. The parts that were originally blued will be reblued.

[Animal]

I was fortunate enough to get a new tube, a proper wrench, wood handle and a proper cap for the lube cylinder.

All the parts that were originally blued were reblued at home with a Rust Blueing method. I think it worked well. I already had a healthy stash of blueing supplies left over from one of my recent 1911 projects. Some of the parts had a good deal of pitting, but I decided that I would have to remove too much metal in order to remove all the pitting. I decided to call it good after a little work.

All that I need to do now is prime and paint. So far, all is well. The tolerances are perfect. I hope I can keep it that way through-out the painting phase.

I'm not much of a photographer, so I hope this passes as veiwable.

[Rcmaveric]

Curious where you got that spring from. It looks good. Your attention to detail and workmanships is impressive.

[Animal]

Rcmaveric, thank you.

I purchased the spring from Lowes. You can find it in the hardware/fastener isle. I did have to modify the hooks on the spring by cutting and bending them to fit. The hooks were much longer than needed. I think the coils are a pretty close match.

[jeepyj]

Very nicely done. I love the 45s

[ruger358]

I've built/rebuilt a few from a box of parts I bought when I first started casting, I posted a thread about that. Brassmagnet has done similar. I don't know of anyone who does that professionally? But, besides Brassmagnet and I, there are several people on the forum who had rebuilt their own 45. They are simple, but parts are challenging to find, if you need them.

If your lube is squeezing out the top of the reservoir, You are applying too much pressure...Or if it's the old style pressure nut with brass sleeve, that sleeve is prone to leaking a little, that's just something you live with. But if that brass sleeve was gotten damaged, even slightly, it will leak a lot. If it has the newer pressure nut with the 2 O-rings, they wear and/or get damaged and may need to be replaced.

Or is it leaking somewhere else?

Take some photo's and make a new thread and explain the problem in as much detail as possible, and someone here will walk you through a fix.

My #45 if badly leaking past the cup.
Saw this thread doing a search

Is the pressure nut and O rings hard to source in USA?
What shops or is it direct of Lyman?

Here in Australia $15 and is special order and at least 3-4months wait importer reply was.

Direct off Lyman is $10 for parts and $60 freight.
Looking for cheap option verse wait time.

Is the O rings custom size or general mechanical O ring repair kit have the required size?
Or best order couple extra to have as spares?

Thanks

[starnbar]

As far as the o rings you should be able to pick them up online over there try some of the A/C repair shops they might be metric size but you can make em work.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

My #45 if badly leaking past the cup.
Saw this thread doing a search

Is the pressure nut and O rings hard to source in USA?
What shops or is it direct of Lyman?

Here in Australia $15 and is special order and at least 3-4months wait importer reply was.

Direct off Lyman is $10 for parts and $60 freight.
Looking for cheap option verse wait time.

Is the O rings custom size or general mechanical O ring repair kit have the required size?
Or best order couple extra to have as spares?

Thanks

Lyman is the only source I know of, for the pressure nut. Sometimes I see ebay vendors re-selling Lyman parts, but a Quick search of Ebay-USA doesn't give any results today.

I'm not sure if the O-rings are a standard size, Lyman seems to work hard at making their parts a unique size, but maybe you can find something local, to work...but if you don't have that style of pressure nut, that is a moot point.

Lastly, If you order some parts from Lyman, Be sure to order a spare pressure screw. The older ones have a brazed "head" and are prone to breaking (head pulls off) if you apply too much pressure. I believe their thinking on that, was it would be a 'weak-link' if someone applied WAY too much pressure on cold lube, the screw would break instead of the casting. All the new pressure screws are machined from one piece of steel.

[ruger358]

Thanks for replies.
May as well order from importer here the parts as have close to 3months hunting starting 1st March so wont be needing it greatly till after that. Will save on the freight costs.

Be great to have it working correctly

[Hamish]

ruger358,

Local hardware/auto parts store will be a good source for the O ring, and eBay-Australia is almost certain to have what you need,,,,,

[bbogue1]

Thanks for posting this. I use a 45 and was unaware of the pressure screw issue. I installed a heater because I was afraid to torque the screw in cold lube. Now my problem is I forget to unplug it once it is warm and my lube gets too hot and ooozes out in many places. Love it, it does a great job if it is corralled within parameters.