What temperature should the Lubisizer be with hard lube

[zomby woof]

OK, I set up the aluminum plate and iron to my RCBS LAM2. I was able to get the die on the sizer to get from 68 to 80 degrees in about a half hour. What temp should the sizer be for a hard lube such as Carnuba Red???

[williamwaco]

Hot enough for the lube to flow into the lube rings on the bullets with a stiff pressure on the ratchet wrench.

[snuffy]

I put a PID thermocouple on my lyman 450 to see if I could control the lube temp using one of the lyman flat al. heaters. I had the temp right at 110 degrees to get good flow from the carnuba red that I was using.

I guessed that 125 would be right, but it was too high. I allowed it to cool to 110, then the PID held it there real well. It's the same unit I use to control my lee 4-20 pot.

[lcclower]

I have a cobbled together heater under an RCBS lubrisizer.
With Rooster carnauba red and measuring temps with a Fluke thermo, below 110 the o-rings leak lube and above 120 the lube drools everywhere.

Which PID are you using, which thermocouples?

[geargnasher]

Sizer temperature is one thing I've never measured. I just warm it up until the lube flows well but not so warm that it makes a gooey mess.

Gear

[shootinxd]

I use just a quick warm up with hair dryer.10 minutes seems to be enough to just warm my RCBS.

[Guesser]

I have one of the early Midway heaters under a 450, no calibration marks on it, I adjust to fit what ever loob and boolit I'm running. I use odds and ends of loobs, whatever I find cheap in gun shops and gun shows, doesn't seem to make a difference with my castings and my low pressure low velocity productions. I picked up a batch of RCBS rifle loob, never used it before, we'll see. I seldom pay more than a dollar a stick for commercial loob.

[cbrick]

Actually Zombie, there is no cut & dried answer to your question. How much heat/pressure is needed will vary quite a bit depending on the ambient air temp. If your working in a shop at say 40 degrees it will take more heat/pressure than in summer and a shop temp of 90 degrees or more. That's why it's important to have temp control on your heat source.

I use a Star with the air cylinder and the Midway heater, it's an extremely simple matter to keep my LBT Blue temp at about 100-110 degrees and then adjust the air pressure for proper lube flow depending on the room temp, usually 60-75 pounds. My Speed Green likes about 80-85 degrees and air pressure about 35-45 pounds. I find it easier to keep the lube temp fairly consistent and adjust the air pressure with a simple twist of the knob and the exact pressure can be seen on the gauge. Without the adjustable air pressure lube temp would be the easier but slower adjustment while waiting for the temp to change. You could adjust the pressure with the pressure crank but the amount of pressure changes as lube is used and how much you cranked on it. The air pressure keeps the lube pressure consistent from full to empty.

So the answer to your question is . . . It depends on room temp and your method of applying heat/pressure.

Rick

[snuffy]

I normally have my lube heater hooked up to this simple, cheap, dimmer switch.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/cannont2ifolder/websize/IMG_0321.JPG

I may someday---------maybe-------- calibrate it to show temps. Now, I just keep it at half way on to maintain good flow with the room temp a pretty constant 68 degrees. It would be simple to set the dimmer switch to a mark, then read the temp with the PID.

Now I'll go take a pic of the PID thermocouple and put the pic I took of the PID on here to answer a couple of questions asked.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/bullets/websize/Picture%20114.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/general/websize/pid-heater-luber.jpg

Above, the 450 lubrisizer is drilled and tapped ¼X20 for the TC to thread into. Locating it there makes for a lower temp than the heater may be putting out. BUT everything is relative.

Below, how the TC plugs into the PID box.

http://photos.imageevent.com/jptowns/general/websize/IMG_0336.jpg

[bobthenailer]

Ive been useing hard lubes for about 25 years . I have used the following hard lubes in chronlogical order . red rooster zambine red , LBT commerical , thompson , true flight , magnma & lars carnuba red all seem to need a temp some where between 95 to 110 degrees F to flow correctly