sizer die madification question

[XWrench3]

a few months back, i finally got a used lyman 450. i absolutely love it. after using it for a while, i have made some observations. maybe part of this is my home made lube, that i initially made for pan lubing. i have not purchased any commercial lube, mostly because i have several POUNDS of this to use up. i do not use a heater, the lube seems to flow decently, and i think if i used heat, i would have a mess. i purposely blended this lube to have a melting point high enough that any ammo sitting in 90 degree sunlight, the lube would not melt and migrate (leak) anyway, the one thing i have noticed is that if i use a lube pressure low enough that it does not force its way under the boolit, i have to run the boolit thru several times in order to get all the lube grooves completely full. this is still so much better than hand lubing, and cleaning it is not even funny. but since i have been a "tinkerer" all of my life, i can not help the wheels in my crusty brain from turning. i was thinking about either drilling extra holes in the dies, that are height wise half way in between the already drilled holes, half way between the pre drilled holes radially. so in stead of having 4 sets of holes, there would be 8 sets, drilled at alternating heights. the other thought i had was to grind in grooves diagonally between holes at different heights. the idea being that lube would be able to flow into any groove at any height no matter where it happened to be. so, before i do this, i would like opinions, especially if anyone else has tried to devise a cure for this little annoyance. it is not enough of a problem to really be a problem. but anything to make life nicer (or less agravating) is worthwhile doing.

[theperfessor]

You probably have checked this but in case you haven't, try adjusting the depth screw at the very bottom of the luber under the die. If the bullet isn't going down far enough (or too far) and the holes aren't aligned with the grooves then it will take excessive pressure to flow the lube into the die. And keep a steady downward force on the bullet as you lube it.

It's an easy thing to check before you whittle on your dies.

[XWrench3]

yes, i have played with it. found the spot where to stop the bullet so the crimp groove does not fill with lube. then tried moving it in 1/2 turn increments from there to see if i could find a spot where all of them would line up. i talked to an old friend, who said to try subtle heat (from a light bulb) to just warm the lube a little to help increase its flow characteristics, without melting it completely. i guess i will try that before doing anything drastic. dies are not so cheap that i would not care if i ruined one. fortunately they are not so expensive that it would keep me from trying it as a last measure. but the k.i.s.s. method has worked for a long, long time for good reason. so i will try that first.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

see post #9 in this link:
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?166565-Lyman-45-buying-guide-and-cleanup-instructions

I do this especially with the older style dies and their large ports, but it can be done with any die that has a troublesome boolit you are trying to lube. If you can plug the area that stop the lube from flowing underneath the boolit base, you can apply more pressure. Also, besides adding the heat, which is always necessary for me since the room I cast and Lube in, is cold during the winter. Another hint is to Heat the boolits (warm to the touch), that helps the lube flow also.
Jon

PS. Lyman dies are made of fairly hardened steel and is difficult to drill and grind...I'd recommend not even trying it, unless you're a machinist and know what you're getting into.

[Wayne Smith]

I'll echo what Jon said only different. If you are good enough to make those modifications on hardened steel you are good enough to make your own dies!

[XWrench3]

well, thanks JonB! I LIKE that idea! i do get lube under most bullets, which i wipe off with a folded paper towel before putting the boolit into a box or case neck. which is still so much better than wiping the excess lube off from the entire boolit when i was doing it with Lee sizers and dipping the boolits into molten lube. /// Wayne, as far as Lyman dies being hardened, i did not know about that. so drilling them, unless i take them to my brother (a machinist for 30 years) i will not try. i can however, grind them with a dremel and a stone bit. which may or may not work out. but thank you for the warning. it is always better to go in knowing what your dealing with, than finding out the hard way.

[DLCTEX]

I drilled one for another hole as I could not get the boolit to go deep enough to lube all the grooves. I had to heat the die to red hot and let it cool slowly to soften the steel and then retemper it in oil when finished, The biggest problem is dealing with burrs created in the die when drilling through. I think that I should have used a rod fitted to the bore before drilling. As stated, finding a way to make it work without alteration is best. A hair dryer can be used to heat the lubesizer to help lube flow, also. A disc cut from a styrofoam takeout tray can also help prevent lube under the boolit base.