Broke my lube sizer

[Wolfdog91]

Anyone happen to know what happens here ?
Was lubing some bullet a while ago with some lube that was supposed to needed to be heated (white label) and after a few cranks heard a pop and no more screw tension. Un did it abound found this


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[high standard 40]

There is a piece that was attached to the bottom of the screw that has broken off. You will have to dismount the lube-sizer from the bench and remove that broken part from the bottom, then order a replacement.

[dondiego]

That happened to me when my reservoir ran out of lube and I kept cranking. Lyman usually has them in stock.

[avogunner]

That happened to me when my reservoir ran out of lube and I kept cranking. Lyman usually has them in stock.

Yes, exactly this. Happened to me when I first used a 450 ….. lesson learned.


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[35 Rem]

Yep, that happened twice to the Lyman lube sizer my friend and I used in college. We took it to a welding shop and got it brazed once and maybe welded the 2nd time. Whatever they did the 2nd repair worked and it never happened again. It pays to do some kind of heating if it feels a bit too hard turning the piston screw.

[Larry Gibson]

Once I fixed mine [welded] I learned to not crank so hard on the wrench and to use a heater when the lubrasizer has been in a garage or elsewhere where it is cold as in 40-50 or less. A strong bulb or heat lamp shining on the lubrasizer worked for me until I got, off the for sale forum here, a home made plate with a hole in it for an electric solder iron. Since then I've learned to not use too much pressure and to heat if necessary and haven't broken any of the 3 others i use since that first one years ago.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Short story, your lube wasn't warm enough, that part will break if you apply too much pressure with hard lube.

[Bazoo]

I wasn’t aware they would break like that. Glad to know though, thanks all for sharing. I’ve ram a bit cold in the past but I don’t like unfilled grooves so I usually put the hairdryer on it.

[mehavey]

Yup. If there isn't any lube left for the screw-plate to squeeze out,
continuing to screw down the plate pulls the screw itself out of where
it's swaged into the base lock ring.

(Everybody does it . . . once)

[gwpercle]

When something on a 450 doesn't want to move easily ...

Do Not Force It ... Breakage is sure to follow .

Handle a 450 like you do a Baby ... gently !
Gary

[Screwbolts]

Never broke mine, but before i built a heater for mine I used to use a 60 watt light bulb in one of those aluminum shielded clamp on light. Unfortunately the old resistance incandescent light bulb, you know the healthy ones with little to no known harmful effect are now banned.

[Hannibal]

I just lay a cheap hair drier on the base aimed at the lube reservoir for 20 minutes or so before using it. Been working well for a decade or so.

[metricmonkeywrench]

Be happy it was the replaceable/repairable screw. I have under my bench a 4500 where the previous owner busted out the bottom of the casting, the newer 4500's don't have the steel inset like the 450's and the casting seems to be real thin in this area. He must have had access to a machine shop as someone turned a new oversize bottom piece hold the T base of the pressure screw and cover the blown out casting. They then went one step further and machined out an aluminum plate to set on and screwed it all together. I wondered why it sold so cheap, but it was my second sizer at the time.

The whole thing is currently bolted down to a Lyman heater and filled with Speed Green. Of course the sizer casting base is nowhere near flat and the heated lube goes everywhere and leaks out the sides. when the lube runs out I will likely not put lube that requires heat back in this one and potentially look for a more permanent solution that seals better. I called once to see about getting a replacement housing, but for the price Lyman wanted I could buy 3 or 4 replacement sizers on the secondary market.

[jimb16]

When that happened to me, I took it out of the sizer, then slipped the ring back on. Then I wrapped the thread with leather and put it into a vice that was turned sideways over the work bench. I put a chunk of hardwood under the tip with the top end sitting solidly on the wood and the vice tight enough to hole the threaded rod snug so it wouldn't move. Then I took a center punch and drove a nice hole into the bottom of the rod. After that, I used the round end of a ball peen hammer to spread the tip a little bit. That repair is still holding after somewhere around 10 years. But I too learned to warm the lube before using the sizer in cold weather.

[Hannibal]

I would also mention that some lubes such as those designed for higher velocity seem to be thicker or stiffer in colder conditions especially. So preheating really isn't optional, it's a necessity.

[MT Gianni]

You can still find 75 watt bulbs if you look. They offer enough heat to warm any lube when placed in a trouble light next to the sizer.

[jaysouth]

A good opportunity to take up powder coating. Get rid of that messy greasy lube mess.

[Bazoo]

Be happy it was the replaceable/repairable screw. I have under my bench a 4500 where the previous owner busted out the bottom of the casting, the newer 4500's don't have the steel inset like the 450's and the casting seems to be real thin in this area. He must have had access to a machine shop as someone turned a new oversize bottom piece hold the T base of the pressure screw and cover the blown out casting. They then went one step further and machined out an aluminum plate to set on and screwed it all together. I wondered why it sold so cheap, but it was my second sizer at the time.

The whole thing is currently bolted down to a Lyman heater and filled with Speed Green. Of course the sizer casting base is nowhere near flat and the heated lube goes everywhere and leaks out the sides. when the lube runs out I will likely not put lube that requires heat back in this one and potentially look for a more permanent solution that seals better. I called once to see about getting a replacement housing, but for the price Lyman wanted I could buy 3 or 4 replacement sizers on the secondary market.

Never seen a repair like that. I didn't know the 4500s were made like that, thanks for sharing. You could probably make a suitable repair with gasket maker from the auto parts store, of course, with the parts cleaned well and then let to cure sufficiently.

[Larry Gibson]

Be happy it was the replaceable/repairable screw. I have under my bench a 4500 where the previous owner busted out the bottom of the casting, the newer 4500's don't have the steel inset like the 450's and the casting seems to be real thin in this area. He must have had access to a machine shop as someone turned a new oversize bottom piece hold the T base of the pressure screw and cover the blown out casting. They then went one step further and machined out an aluminum plate to set on and screwed it all together. I wondered why it sold so cheap, but it was my second sizer at the time.

The whole thing is currently bolted down to a Lyman heater and filled with Speed Green. Of course the sizer casting base is nowhere near flat and the heated lube goes everywhere and leaks out the sides. when the lube runs out I will likely not put lube that requires heat back in this one and potentially look for a more permanent solution that seals better. I called once to see about getting a replacement housing, but for the price Lyman wanted I could buy 3 or 4 replacement sizers on the secondary market.

Might try making a gasket to go between the 4500 bottom and the plate. I use a double thickness of soda pop case on one of my heated 450 between the base and the heater, works perfectly. Gasket material from an auto parts might work aas well or a tin layer of cork gaskets.

[243winxb]

If room temperature is not 75 or above, a heater is needed for even the soft 50/50 lubes. I wrap a heating pad around my L450 for 1 hour, before starting sizing, lubing.