darrondb
04-11-2016, 06:36 PM
DIY HEATER FOR LUBE SIZERS
Greetings All,
Once again I felt the need to invest the time and $$ on a project which could have been completely avoided if I could somehow persuade myself to spend the $$ on buying a commercially available product. As I’ve started casting for some magnum loads, I decided that I wanted to try to use some harder lubes in my Lyman 450. Big shout out to While Label Lube Carnauba Red!! I determined that this would require me to procure a lube heater (maybe not, but I wanted one anyways!). Once again, I cannot claim that this is an original idea as I was inspired by many others on this site. Credit to member “skeet1” for the majority of the inspiration (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?282355-Home-made-lube-heater ).
The idea is to create a heated base plate, similar to the one available from Lyman, RCBS, etc., that I could bolt my old trusty Lyman 450 to. Another thing that I wanted was to be able to have control over the temperature. Since I am a “sciency” type person, I also really like the idea of having a digital readout/controller that would automatically control and display the temperature (again, credit to skeet1 for his idea).
So, here we go! Things that you will need:
Temperature controller and thermocouple - AC 10A 110V Digital PID Temperature Controller Thermocouple Sensor LCD Display (http://www.ebay.com/itm/131134344259?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT). Note that I wasn’t paying too close of attention and ordered one that displays in degrees Celsius. Not a big deal if you can perform basic unit conversions. For those of us who can’t do math (if I could have, I would have been an engineer instead of a geologist…), Google is your friend.
Cartridge heater - AC 110V 100 Watt 9mm x 50mm Mould Heating Element Cartridge Heater (http://www.ebay.com/itm/230913514950?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)
Project box - Aluminum PCB Instrument Box Enclosure Electronic Project Case DIY - 100*100*50mm (http://www.ebay.com/itm/321800736417?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)
Toggle switch of some sort (optional)
Aluminum base plate – I used a piece measuring 1” x 4” x 4” that I had left over from my push through sizer build. eBay is a great place to find small pieces like this.
Cheap extension cord (to harvest plug and wire from)
Wire connectors, heat shrink tubing, wiring pliers, etc.
Drill (drill press works best), variety of drill bits, tap set
Dremel tool (you don’t have to have, but sure makes like easier)
Set screws – if you use #10-32 x 0.250” this is the same as the screw that holds the top punch in a Lyman 450/4500.
Basic understanding of electrical circuits - (If it smells funny, gets really hot, smokes, or shocks you, you probably did it wrong!)
Total cost for the project: Not factoring in the extra insurance purchased (homeowners insurance for when it burns my house down and life insurance in case it kills me and the wife has to buy a headstone engraved with “I TOLD YOU SO!”), I figure this project costs approximately the same as just buying the darn thing from people that know what they’re doing. But then again, I’m not aware of any that provide the same level of satisfaction of having built your own custom unit!
Step 1) Source components: Most parts are easiest (and cheapest) found online. Order away!! I’ve found that the perfect time to do this is in the evening when you are avoiding doing the dishes under the guise of “I have to pay bills online first”. Since most of the cheap parts will likely come from our friends in the People’s Republic of China, patience is your friend. ePacket shipping times from China can best be measured in geological time periods. This is extra convenient if you happened to indeed be a geologist. While you are waiting, you can gather all the other odds and ends you will need. If you don’t have things like connectors and wiring pliers, Harbor Freight is your friend once again. Of course, this is all stuff from China, but it is already here so no waiting!
Step 2) Stage project: If you are familiar with any of my other DIY projects, you will know this is a very important step that facilitates the smoothest transition from “pile of junk” to “finished product”. Find a box/bag/unused crockpot/etc. and throw all the pieces in it as they arrive from their overseas journey. This way, all the pieces (in theory) will be readily available for a quick and seamless assembly.
A word of warning here: Things seem to go missing quite frequently around our house. Since our eldest offspring is currently a very agile and adventurous 2 ½ year old, I have to make sure that I place the parts repository somewhere out of her reach. The best place that I have found so far is on the top shelf in our locked equipment storage room, at my office, twenty miles from home. You may need to modify this plan based on your toddler situation.
Step 3) Breakdown: Cut up your extension cord to harvest the wire needed. You really only need a couple of feet at the most. Retain a length of cord with the male plug end attached.
To determine the correct length needed for your power cord, you can use the process outlined by Patrick McManus in his treatise “At Loose Ends – Give a man enough rope and it will still come out six inches too short”. Specific to this project, this concept can be distilled down to the following formula: CL = Dpto – 0.5, where CL = cord length, Dpto = distance from press to the nearest wall outlet (all distances in feet). This provides for the added inconvenience of needing to find another extension cord whenever you need to use the heater.
Step 4) Cutting and drilling: The objective here is to create a means to join all the important pieces together (press, heater plate, heater, and thermocouple) in a useful manner. The thought here is that the press is attached to the heater block (to which the heater and thermocouple are joined) which is then attached to your bench or other mounting system.
Using your lube sizer press as a template, mark the heater plate and drill the mounting holes for the press. I threaded mine so that the press actually bolts to the heater plate and not the bench. Since I am running out of room on my reloading bench, I decided that I wanted to make this whole unit easily removed. I drilled three additional holes in the heater plate and screwed it to a block of wood which acts as an insulator and provides a mounting point to attach to my docking system (an old railroad tie plate fastened to my bench that has been drilled and tapped to accommodate various pieces of equipment). If you want to mount the press and heater directly to your bench, you can run bolts through the plate. Refer to the attached pictures if none of this makes sense!
Next, layout the locations of the heater element and thermocouple on the back side of the plate. Try to drill holes that closely match the diameter of the element/thermocouple as this will provide for the most effective heat transfer. An observant person will note that the thermocouple is actually measuring the temperature of the heater plate and not the press/lube. This is true, but is the best that I could come up with without drilling into the casting of my press. For my purpose, this is good enough (remember, I’m not an engineer).
Using the appropriate sized bit for the set screws you have, drill down through the top of the plate, in line with the holes for the element/thermocouple. You can then tap these and use set screws to prevent the element/thermocouple from coming out of the heater plate. This is also handy if you want to disconnect the heater for storage or hiding it in case of a suspicious fire investigation.
You will also need to cut out the face plate of the project box for the controller (Dremel and cutting wheel work great for this sort of thing) and drill some holes in the back for the switch and cords to run through.
Step 5) Electrical work: It really helps to have a plan in place before you start messing with electricity. This is the point in the project where my head starts hurting from trying to plan it all out in my brain. Attached is a schematic of how I wired mine up. If someone see’s any errors, please chime in. In the end, it appears to work and hasn’t shocked me (yet). I extended the leads on the heater element by about two feet so that I have room to place the control box out of the way. Next I bundled the element wires together with the thermocouple lead (using heat shrink) to create one singular cord that is easier to manage. Don’t forget to run the wires through the back plate of the enclosure box before you wire up the switches and controller (experience).
The temperature controller will come with a diagram printed on it that will explain the proper connection locations. All the text will be in Chinese of course, so use your creative thinking skills!
Step 6) Assembly (i.e. cramming ten pounds of poop in a 5 pound bag): Since you ordered the smallest possible enclosure that could feasibly be used, it takes a bit of creativity to get all the wires arranged inside the box so that the back plate can be screwed on. Resist the urge to break out the really big hammer here.
Fit the thermocouple and heater element into the heater plate, gently tighten down the set screws, and mount your lube sizer press.
Step 7) QA/QC Testing: This is the point where you will need some assistance. Have your helper plug the unit in, turn it on, wait a bit, and then size a few bullets. I would not recommend having your spouse perform this task. If the unit is indeed defective, you will have to hear about “yet another time he almost killed me!!” at every social function for the rest of your life. You should be standing a safe distance away wearing insulated footwear and holding a fire extinguisher. You can usually recruit an assistant under the guise of teaching a new reloader about the joys of casting and sizing your own boolits. It will be a memory they will cherish!
Step 8) Put to work: Bask in the glory of your creation and heat some lube!!
I’ve found that I need to set the heater to approximately 5 degrees hotter than the lube manufacture recommends and it takes about ten minutes for the lube to heat sufficiently. This gives me time to rummage through my pile of lube caked dies and punches to fine the correct one.
DdB
MANDANTORY SAFETY WARNING: I know about as much about AC/DC electrical systems as I do about AC/AD the band (not a whole lot), so… be careful!
Greetings All,
Once again I felt the need to invest the time and $$ on a project which could have been completely avoided if I could somehow persuade myself to spend the $$ on buying a commercially available product. As I’ve started casting for some magnum loads, I decided that I wanted to try to use some harder lubes in my Lyman 450. Big shout out to While Label Lube Carnauba Red!! I determined that this would require me to procure a lube heater (maybe not, but I wanted one anyways!). Once again, I cannot claim that this is an original idea as I was inspired by many others on this site. Credit to member “skeet1” for the majority of the inspiration (http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?282355-Home-made-lube-heater ).
The idea is to create a heated base plate, similar to the one available from Lyman, RCBS, etc., that I could bolt my old trusty Lyman 450 to. Another thing that I wanted was to be able to have control over the temperature. Since I am a “sciency” type person, I also really like the idea of having a digital readout/controller that would automatically control and display the temperature (again, credit to skeet1 for his idea).
So, here we go! Things that you will need:
Temperature controller and thermocouple - AC 10A 110V Digital PID Temperature Controller Thermocouple Sensor LCD Display (http://www.ebay.com/itm/131134344259?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT). Note that I wasn’t paying too close of attention and ordered one that displays in degrees Celsius. Not a big deal if you can perform basic unit conversions. For those of us who can’t do math (if I could have, I would have been an engineer instead of a geologist…), Google is your friend.
Cartridge heater - AC 110V 100 Watt 9mm x 50mm Mould Heating Element Cartridge Heater (http://www.ebay.com/itm/230913514950?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)
Project box - Aluminum PCB Instrument Box Enclosure Electronic Project Case DIY - 100*100*50mm (http://www.ebay.com/itm/321800736417?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT)
Toggle switch of some sort (optional)
Aluminum base plate – I used a piece measuring 1” x 4” x 4” that I had left over from my push through sizer build. eBay is a great place to find small pieces like this.
Cheap extension cord (to harvest plug and wire from)
Wire connectors, heat shrink tubing, wiring pliers, etc.
Drill (drill press works best), variety of drill bits, tap set
Dremel tool (you don’t have to have, but sure makes like easier)
Set screws – if you use #10-32 x 0.250” this is the same as the screw that holds the top punch in a Lyman 450/4500.
Basic understanding of electrical circuits - (If it smells funny, gets really hot, smokes, or shocks you, you probably did it wrong!)
Total cost for the project: Not factoring in the extra insurance purchased (homeowners insurance for when it burns my house down and life insurance in case it kills me and the wife has to buy a headstone engraved with “I TOLD YOU SO!”), I figure this project costs approximately the same as just buying the darn thing from people that know what they’re doing. But then again, I’m not aware of any that provide the same level of satisfaction of having built your own custom unit!
Step 1) Source components: Most parts are easiest (and cheapest) found online. Order away!! I’ve found that the perfect time to do this is in the evening when you are avoiding doing the dishes under the guise of “I have to pay bills online first”. Since most of the cheap parts will likely come from our friends in the People’s Republic of China, patience is your friend. ePacket shipping times from China can best be measured in geological time periods. This is extra convenient if you happened to indeed be a geologist. While you are waiting, you can gather all the other odds and ends you will need. If you don’t have things like connectors and wiring pliers, Harbor Freight is your friend once again. Of course, this is all stuff from China, but it is already here so no waiting!
Step 2) Stage project: If you are familiar with any of my other DIY projects, you will know this is a very important step that facilitates the smoothest transition from “pile of junk” to “finished product”. Find a box/bag/unused crockpot/etc. and throw all the pieces in it as they arrive from their overseas journey. This way, all the pieces (in theory) will be readily available for a quick and seamless assembly.
A word of warning here: Things seem to go missing quite frequently around our house. Since our eldest offspring is currently a very agile and adventurous 2 ½ year old, I have to make sure that I place the parts repository somewhere out of her reach. The best place that I have found so far is on the top shelf in our locked equipment storage room, at my office, twenty miles from home. You may need to modify this plan based on your toddler situation.
Step 3) Breakdown: Cut up your extension cord to harvest the wire needed. You really only need a couple of feet at the most. Retain a length of cord with the male plug end attached.
To determine the correct length needed for your power cord, you can use the process outlined by Patrick McManus in his treatise “At Loose Ends – Give a man enough rope and it will still come out six inches too short”. Specific to this project, this concept can be distilled down to the following formula: CL = Dpto – 0.5, where CL = cord length, Dpto = distance from press to the nearest wall outlet (all distances in feet). This provides for the added inconvenience of needing to find another extension cord whenever you need to use the heater.
Step 4) Cutting and drilling: The objective here is to create a means to join all the important pieces together (press, heater plate, heater, and thermocouple) in a useful manner. The thought here is that the press is attached to the heater block (to which the heater and thermocouple are joined) which is then attached to your bench or other mounting system.
Using your lube sizer press as a template, mark the heater plate and drill the mounting holes for the press. I threaded mine so that the press actually bolts to the heater plate and not the bench. Since I am running out of room on my reloading bench, I decided that I wanted to make this whole unit easily removed. I drilled three additional holes in the heater plate and screwed it to a block of wood which acts as an insulator and provides a mounting point to attach to my docking system (an old railroad tie plate fastened to my bench that has been drilled and tapped to accommodate various pieces of equipment). If you want to mount the press and heater directly to your bench, you can run bolts through the plate. Refer to the attached pictures if none of this makes sense!
Next, layout the locations of the heater element and thermocouple on the back side of the plate. Try to drill holes that closely match the diameter of the element/thermocouple as this will provide for the most effective heat transfer. An observant person will note that the thermocouple is actually measuring the temperature of the heater plate and not the press/lube. This is true, but is the best that I could come up with without drilling into the casting of my press. For my purpose, this is good enough (remember, I’m not an engineer).
Using the appropriate sized bit for the set screws you have, drill down through the top of the plate, in line with the holes for the element/thermocouple. You can then tap these and use set screws to prevent the element/thermocouple from coming out of the heater plate. This is also handy if you want to disconnect the heater for storage or hiding it in case of a suspicious fire investigation.
You will also need to cut out the face plate of the project box for the controller (Dremel and cutting wheel work great for this sort of thing) and drill some holes in the back for the switch and cords to run through.
Step 5) Electrical work: It really helps to have a plan in place before you start messing with electricity. This is the point in the project where my head starts hurting from trying to plan it all out in my brain. Attached is a schematic of how I wired mine up. If someone see’s any errors, please chime in. In the end, it appears to work and hasn’t shocked me (yet). I extended the leads on the heater element by about two feet so that I have room to place the control box out of the way. Next I bundled the element wires together with the thermocouple lead (using heat shrink) to create one singular cord that is easier to manage. Don’t forget to run the wires through the back plate of the enclosure box before you wire up the switches and controller (experience).
The temperature controller will come with a diagram printed on it that will explain the proper connection locations. All the text will be in Chinese of course, so use your creative thinking skills!
Step 6) Assembly (i.e. cramming ten pounds of poop in a 5 pound bag): Since you ordered the smallest possible enclosure that could feasibly be used, it takes a bit of creativity to get all the wires arranged inside the box so that the back plate can be screwed on. Resist the urge to break out the really big hammer here.
Fit the thermocouple and heater element into the heater plate, gently tighten down the set screws, and mount your lube sizer press.
Step 7) QA/QC Testing: This is the point where you will need some assistance. Have your helper plug the unit in, turn it on, wait a bit, and then size a few bullets. I would not recommend having your spouse perform this task. If the unit is indeed defective, you will have to hear about “yet another time he almost killed me!!” at every social function for the rest of your life. You should be standing a safe distance away wearing insulated footwear and holding a fire extinguisher. You can usually recruit an assistant under the guise of teaching a new reloader about the joys of casting and sizing your own boolits. It will be a memory they will cherish!
Step 8) Put to work: Bask in the glory of your creation and heat some lube!!
I’ve found that I need to set the heater to approximately 5 degrees hotter than the lube manufacture recommends and it takes about ten minutes for the lube to heat sufficiently. This gives me time to rummage through my pile of lube caked dies and punches to fine the correct one.
DdB
MANDANTORY SAFETY WARNING: I know about as much about AC/DC electrical systems as I do about AC/AD the band (not a whole lot), so… be careful!