Carnuba Red Lube and a heated base

[dmftoy1]

Ok . .I've been playing again with the lubersizer and I think I've got the reservoir pressure figured out but I'm still not getting the flow that I think I should through the lube grooves. I "think" it might be because I don't have the heated base hot enough. Does anyone know approximately what temperature they're running their heated base when using Carnuba Red?


Thanks in advance,
Dave

[imashooter2]

I don't use heat and have no problems at all getting fill in an ancient Lyman 45.

[mooman76]

No idea the temp. I turn on the heater and when the flow gets good enough I unplug it. If it starts to stiffen up I plug it in for awhile. What are you using for a heater? A hair drier will work.

[Crash_Corrigan]

I used a hair dryer on my Saeco Lubrizer but the heater I bought from Midway has the correct mounting holes for all the lubrisizers and does a good job in about 20 mins. You need to get the Carnuba Red up to about 100 degrees or more to flow good. The Hair dryer works ok but does tend to make it too hot so keep an eye on it.

[monadnock#5]

If this is a Lyman lube/sizer, the literature states the way to get complete lube fillout is to size, lube, raise the boolit, turn it 90°, plunge it down, and lube again. I can sometimes get a run of completely lubed boolits, but seems to be tied to planetary alignment and moon phase rather than any expertise on my part.

[kodiak1]

I do the same as Mooman.
Ken

[44man]

CR is not real hard and a little more pressure will usually work. Warming it makes it easier but I would not worry about what temperature you need, just don't melt it. I have warmed it by kneading it in my fingers and applied it by hand.
We just got done blasting a small coffee can to pieces at 100 yd's with my BFR 45-70 revolver and CR, the stuff is great! My friend still can't believe he was doing it.
I think Lar45 should make a little softer version for us that don't like lube-sizers, but I can live with it.

[GP100man]

dmftoy1
ive never heated cr past 110f itll start running out every where.
i monitor temp with a infared temp gun

GP100man

[garandsrus]

44man,

Lars does make a slightly softer lube in his BAC which is 50% Carnuba Red and 50% Beeswax/Alox. It seems to work well for me...

I do use some heat (hair dryer) to get it to flow in a Star sizer.

John

[45r]

I put a lamp bulb close to my luber and move it back if it gets to messy.Lately I have been trying his BAC for my Kimber 45apc and it flows alot better and very accurate with the rcbs 201 keith swc.It doesn't need heat and I'm thinking about mixing his carnuba red with some LLA in a double boiler to soften it up and see if it works like the BAC sample I got.I bought a bunch of the carnuba red but think I would go with BAC now after seeing it works as well and flows easier.The carnuba red works great but is harder to get the lube off the bottom of my boolits and has to be turned 90 degrees to be on without any unfilled spots.I can go twice as fast with BAC.

[Possum]

BAC has been accurate and flows well in my Saeco.

[44man]

I guess you guys are a little ahead of me. I didn't know about it because of all the work around here. Don't retire, you will never get finished!

[dmftoy1]

Thanks guys! I'll check my temp today and see where i'm at . ..my highly accurate finger says I'm up over 100 degrees but I"m not sure. (It's a Star with the heated base from Magma)

It might be that I just don't have the reservoir pressure turned up high enough. I was running it too high the last time and made a mess so I'm being more careful this time. :)

Have a good one,
Dave

[dmftoy1]

I spent a good part of father's day screwing around with this thing and I still can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. I've verified my heat setting with an infrared gun pointed at the base just below the reservoir and I was at 95-96 degrees F. I'm still getting a "mess" when I try to lube up a bunch of boolits.

I occasionally get a spooge out the back of the boolit but that I could live with as I think it's because of an irregularity in the boolit or because I put too much pressure on it. The bit that I can't seem to get rid of is that I get lube on the front tip of the SWC. I suspect that to have nice clean lubing/sizing I need to have single large lube groove rather than two really small lube grooves. (LEE 148 Grain LSWC mold)

I'm a bit frustrated by this as it seems to me it should be alot easier to just size/lube a bunch of boolits. I"m curious as to whether people who are doing large quantities of boolits and who are happy with the Star luber-sizer are using molds that are just more friendly to the lube portion of the process or if I'm just an idiot. :)

Have a good one,
Dave

[Bass Ackward]

I'm a bit frustrated by this as it seems to me it should be alot easier to just size/lube a bunch of boolits. I"m curious as to whether people who are doing large quantities of boolits and who are happy with the Star luber-sizer are using molds that are just more friendly to the lube portion of the process or if I'm just an idiot. :)

Have a good one,
Dave


Dave,

It can be. :grin: It's not a perfect world. How many times have you read where one guy claims to be a shooter and along comes another that enjoys reloading. NEVER have I heard anyone say they cast just to enjoy the lube process!!!

It's a combination of depth and force. And heat the lube and all that can change. Especially if your heat source is not controlled real well and constantly changes. That's why I like a piece of aluminum that is long enough to mount the sizer and still lay a household iron behind it.

Now picture adjusting a luby every time you change bullet designs and you now understand why people put themselves through that torture ritual known as LLA. :grin: And if that fails, they try paste wax, toilet rings, and this or that. Pan lube or finger application. It's all the search for something less painful that will allow you to get through this process.

The farther you go, you learn lube is lube and sadly a necessary evil. You can make any lube work just adjust conditions. The choice between a lubrisizer or some slop on combination is often thought to be money. It's like making a choice between a broken toe or a broken finger. Nobody wants either one really, just choose your poison and get'er over with.

[ANeat]

Dave it sounds like your lube grooves may not be aligning with the lube holes in your sizer. When you have multiple lube grooves they have to be drilled at the correct spacing so that they will align with the lube grooves in the bullet.

If that is correct then the top punch needs to be set so its putting the bullets in alignment with the grooves as the lube is injected.

Some other things that may cause you to get large blobs of lube is a bullet with a slight void or wrinkle in it. Or a bullet that is undersized. That will allow lube to leak out of the groove

[44man]

ANeat has the answer!

[Cherokee]

ANeat pointed you in the right direction and it is not easy to solve some time. That is why I always try to use bullet designs with one large lube groove for the Star. I have been known to have Mr Stillwell make me a sizer with different lube groove spacing. Otherwise, I will use the Lyman 45/450/4500.

[dmftoy1]

Well I'll fiddle around with positioning again and measure the lube groove distance again but I'm getting the grooves filled so I'm pretty sure that's right. I'd be willing to buy the wrinkles letting lube slip past, but it sure seems like there's alot more lube leaking out all over the place than their should be. I"m using almost no pressure on the reservoir and I've got the heat regulated but I'll continue to play. I"m almost to the point of thinking that unless they're huge lube grooves that single lube grooves are the way to go.

Have a good one,
Dave

[garandsrus]

dmftoy1,

Can you post a picture of the lubed boolit? I have lubed boolits with multiple lube grooves in a Star with no problems.

Did you measure your boolit diameter and the diameter of the sizer? If so, what are the measurements?

Keep in mind that you can plug un-used lube holes in the die with lead shot. I use #9 and it seems to work well. Star recommends larger shot.

John

[GP100man]

dmftoy1
i have 0 exp with a star but Aneat hit it i think, undersize boolit will let lube run every where on a 450/4500 sizer for sure!!!!

GP100man :castmine:

[dmftoy1]

I'm pretty sure these boolits aren't undersize . . . . ..the sizer appears to be hitting al the metal, etc.

Here's a question for you though. On the sizing die there are 4 "rows" of holes that run around the die and 3 sets of holes on the vertical plane. Does everyone leave 2 sets of 3 holes "unplugged" when lubing a two groove boolit, or do they only leave one or two of the holes on a given "row" (horizontal) unplugged?

Have a good one,
Dave