How to clean lube out of a lubrisizer?

[LRRifleman]

I have a small problem. I entered the wonderful world of casting in the early 2000s. The last time I had cast and lubrisized any bullets was 2006. In 2007, about the time that I would have started my annual casting session, I was involved in a MVA that left me physically disabled. My lubrisized has gone untouched for just over 13 years. Sadly, there was a lube stick in the reservoir.

I am looking to start casting again in the next couple of weeks, and I anticipate that the lube in the lubrisizer has hardened. I didn't use a heating element for my lubrisizer.

How would the members of the forum suggest that I clean out the old lube if it has hardened in the reservoir?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[CBH]

Heat it up slightly with a hair dryer/blower and lube em up.

[Dusty Bannister]

Clean off the crud or dust from having set for a period of time. Lube the links and pivot points and lightly wipe oil on the side of the ram as you can reach it. Make sure the linkages will be free enough to work through the cycle. If you are able to do so, dismount the lube sizer, back off the pressure feed nut as the lube will expand as it is heated. Set the lubesizer in the afternoon sun for a half hour or so, and then apply pressure and see if the lube will flow into the sizer die. It will be helpful if you have a much smaller bullet than the sizer diameter so the lube flows easily. .270 for a 30 cal sizer as an example. Depending upon whether you used a soft wax lube like the NRA 50/50, or something in a hard wax lube, it will likely be free enough to clear the ports and lube your remaining bullets.

Failing that, there are some that will remove the size die, and place the sizer in a large pan of water to heat the water and melt out most of the lube. Most lubes will float to the surface so once you get most of the lube out, just turn off the heat until everything is cool to the touch. If your lube sizer was left with the Lyman black lube, it might not soften sufficiently to continue to use to lube bullets. Good luck, not an unusual problem for those that seek out used equipment.

[rcslotcar]

The last two I cleaned out I boiled them in water. I cleaned out as much lube I could with a small flat stick. I took it apart and boiled the main body in water an small amount of dish soap. While that boiled I cleaned all the parts with steel wool and oil. I boiled the main body a couple of times and wiped it clean with a towel and tooth brush.

[LRRifleman]

Thank you for the encouragement and sound advice. I think that the last lube that I used was a soft green lube (SPG?) that I used was for BPCR bullets.

While I plan to try powder coating some bullets, some will still be sized and lubed!

[Murphy]

I did the same as reslotcar and boiled my two Stars. The lube all floated to the top. Just a simple skimming of the surface to get rid of the old lube and they came out nice and clean. If anything, I'd lean toward the side of caution and see if the lube will clear out before reaching the water reaches the boiling point.

Murphy

[MT Chambers]

Either heat lubesizer up and try it, or as others have said, boil it out.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Most boolit lubes will not harden in 13 years inside a lubesizer.
I would just attempt to lube some boolits with it, you may need to heat the sizer a little bit with a heatGun to get things going.

[dragon813gt]

I’ve boiled four different RCBS LAMs, waited for the water to cool and the lube to harden, and every press body still had lube all over it. A heat gun is the way to go for the least amount of mess. I sand blasted all those LAMs so the lube all over wasn’t a concern. Had I not done that it would have been a pain to clean off.

[rmark]

I boiled two that I bought used, cleaned them pretty well. was some residue on the exterior but not much.

Added some carrots, onions, oh wait sorry, that's stew.

[cp1969]

I boiled mine. Worked great. Take it out before the water cools.

[gwpercle]

Generally a soft lube will not "harden " in 13 years of time , I'm still using some sticks of soft lube I bought in 1978 and they are still soft . They are a beeswax (3 parts)and Lithium grease (1 part) blend and no harder than when new .
Might warm the sizer up to get things flowing but I would bet money the SPG lube will still be
usable .
On the other hand if you want to change lubes ....then get a big old pot and get ready to make a little mess !
Don't do it on the top of the wife's new cook stove ... Lube is also a bugger to clean off a kitchen floor .
Gary

[Mk42gunner]

If the parts all move freely, I would take the H&I die out then see if the piston will push out the old lube. If it does, great; if not sterner measures are called for.

I have boiled out one RCBS Lubamatic. It worked but was a big mess to clean up. I two Lyman 450's that I bought later I heated up with a heat gun and while it worked it took a long time to get the black nasty lube out, hthe seond one I used a propane torch (gently) to get the lube to flow out.

The torch is my much preferred method. It doesn't take long, and you aren't heating the parts to nine million degrees just to lube flowing temps.

Robert

[David2011]

How ever you clean it out, mineral spirits and paper towels will get the last bit of lube off of everything.

[abunaitoo]

I just did one a few weeks ago.
Still looking for the o ring for it.
Boil it in water. Skim off the lube from the surface.
Pull it out, and let it cool.
I don't try to wipe it dry.
I did once and lots of the paint came off.
Spray down wit WD40 or anything like it.
Done.
Easiest way I have found.

[DocSavage]

If you can hang it some how remove the size die,plungerand the threaded rod it rides on. Put a pan under it use a heat gun to heat the press to where gravity is your friend,heat the press to where the lube liquifies and flows into the pan. Cheap aluminum baking pan btw.

[GONRA]

Just a hint: GONRA does all this in the Kitchen and gets Mrs. GONRA to clean it all up!

[fcvan]

I haven't used my Lyman 450 I've had for 35 years. I always used Javalina but once tried RCBS because that was all there was at the time. Only time I ever really leaded up a barrel, that lube and Unique in a S&W M57 41 Magnum, what a pain. I tried making my own lube once with beeswax and something else. It worked okay, no leading, I got that recipe from this website. Then I bought a bunch of Carnuba Red from Lars, really good stuff, but needed a lube heater.

Funny thing about the Lyman was it leaked past the bottom o-ring almost from day one. Turns out, the bottom plate had a defect which created a gap. I fixed the defect and it never leaked again.

I stopped using lube when I started powder coating so I cleaned out the sizer. I disassembled completely, placed it in a baking dish with soapy water and baked in the oven @ 200 for an hour and let it cool. Lube of course floated to the top and solidified making it easy to just pull out. Sizer was reassembled after anti rust treatment and placed back in the original factory box, albeit the cardboard was a little worse for the wear.

[Land Owner]

If you are in no hurry, well an afternoon is all it takes, the least cost alternative is to set up the sizer, cover it like a tent with a shop towel, place a 40W or larger light bulb under the towel, and turn it on. The bulb will heat the sizer through and through in about an hour. Warmed lube will run through it like maple syrup.

It's the same principal as a wax candle left in a hot car, which, now that I think about it, would be free and a suitable alternative to an electric light bulb. Use the latent heat that builds up in (say) the trunk of the car (like an Easy Bake Oven) and there would be NO COST whatsoever in heating the sizer. Use a cardboard box, a heap of newspaper, and a plastic trash bag to catch any spills.

I wouldn't worry about any residual lube in the sizer either. Once flowing and drained of the majority of the old lube, just add a new stick. The latent heat in the sizer will be absorbed. The new lube will flow into all of the nooks and crannies.

No muss. No fuss. No fumbling with big pots. No boiling water. No mineral spirits. Just heat, flow, and go.

[Echo]

Heat it up slightly with a hair dryer/blower and lube em up.

What he said...