Does anyone not use a lubrisizer heater?

[AbitNutz]

I must have been daft trying to fight lubing bullets with my RCBS/Lyman sizers without a heated base. Instead of doing the obvious, I kept trying different lubes in a wasted effort to find one that would flow correctly at room temperature...I've just bought my 4th heater. I have 5 lubrisizers and keep them set up with the correct lube and dies for my most used bullets. It's just a nightmare to change out lubes. In fact, I think it's almost impossible to completely change lubes. I bet you would have to boil your lubrisizer for about a week.

Anyway...what I would like to have is a heated base that is thermostatically controlled. I guess I could plug one into my PID and attach a probe somewhere on it. Where the best place to attach the probe to?

I'm not sure where to get the correct probe for use on a lubrizsizer or where's best to attach it...anyone already invent this wheel?

[ReloaderFred]

I own 6 Star lubrisizers (2 on long term loan to friends), 1 Lyman 450, 1 RCBS and 2 Saeco's. Each is set up for something different, some with soft lubes and no heaters, such as the 50/50 in the Lyman that I haven't used in a couple of years, RCBS green in the RCBS, SPG in one of the Seaco's and Magma lube in 3 of the Star's and Thompson's Orange in the other Star that I still have here at home. All the Stars have heaters, and 3 of them have bullet feeders, with the 4th Star left for changing to calibers that I don't load a lot of, such as .32 H&R, 9x19 and .44-40. I have one extra heater that I use for the other Saeco machine, which has a harder lube in it for gaschecking, etc.

Years and years ago I decided to stop trying to do everything with one sizer, and just started watching for deals on used machines. Patience pays off, and I've paid as little as $75.00 for one of the Star machines, and as much as $225.00 for another. One Star was given to me, and after removing some surface rust, it's as good as new again.

A person just has to decide how much value to put on his/her time and weigh that against the amortized cost of another machine. I did that and the cost of additional machines won out.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[jrmartin1964]

I don't. Not that I wouldn't, but my current needs are met with lubes that will flow at room temperature.

[Outpost75]

I see no need for either hard bullets or hard lubes.

Hard bullets don't seal bores effectively and hard lubes won't flow to coat the bore.

BOTH are common causes of leading.

I use soft 10 BHN alloys up to 1000 fps in my handguns and soft lubes which work at room temperature.

I have done so for 50 years and have no leading issues.

[dragon813gt]

I'm able to not use one in the summer. But in the colder months it's required for all of the lubes I use.

As far as the PID goes. It's complete overkill and not needed. The sizers don't lose temp quickly. So once they are up to temp they stay there. A simple rheostat is all you need to control the temperature.

[JMax]

I have two RCBS and an old Lyman 45 and all three are on heaters. Hot in the summer and cold in the winter and my lube/sizers don't care. All three are mounted to Pat Marlins Rock Dock system along with my MEC for shotguns and case trimmer for rifles. Like ReloaderFred when I see a deal on an orphan lube sizer I will pick it up and set it up, mount it on a plate with a Lyman heater and eliminate another change over. Also no PIDs needed.

[Mike W1]

Somebody other than I already invented that particular wheel but I do use a PID on my RCBS that has the old Midway heater. It works just fine. Tapped a hole as close to the luber as I could. Guess you can also epoxy a TC right on the luber too but I already had the needed tap on hand. This is the type I used. Got it from Auber's but also available on ebay (but maybe metric threads there).

http://i.imgur.com/n6w8MbP.jpg



I must have been daft trying to fight lubing bullets with my RCBS/Lyman sizers without a heated base. Instead of doing the obvious, I kept trying different lubes in a wasted effort to find one that would flow correctly at room temperature...I've just bought my 4th heater. I have 5 lubrisizers and keep them set up with the correct lube and dies for my most used bullets. It's just a nightmare to change out lubes. In fact, I think it's almost impossible to completely change lubes. I bet you would have to boil your lubrisizer for about a week.

Anyway...what I would like to have is a heated base that is thermostatically controlled. I guess I could plug one into my PID and attach a probe somewhere on it. Where the best place to attach the probe to?

I'm not sure where to get the correct probe for use on a lubrizsizer or where's best to attach it...anyone already invent this wheel?

[MT Chambers]

I don't need a heater for a couple of my lube/sizers for using SPG or similar homemade soft BP lubes.

[PS Paul]

In winter, I just put a portable heater next to my 450 for a couple minutes OR I just hit it with a hair dryer for a minute or two in order to heat up the body of the sizer. It's more than enough to make the lube flow and the lubes I use are soft enough that 7 months out of the year heat isn't necessary.

[dtknowles]

I have only one Lyman 450 and it is full of 50/50, don't need a heater. 50/50 work for everything for me.

Tim

[Duckiller]

I use Carnuba Red and it needs some heat in cold So. Cal. winters. A few minutes with a hair dryer to start that I use to plan what I am going to do then another shot of heat about every 1/2 hour to take a break from fast and furious lube and sizing. This I think is cheaper and simpler than a dedicated heater.

[rwadley]

I use Ben's Red on rifle and handgun. No heater needed in my Lyman 45. I haven't tried it in a RCBS or Saeco. I size in a temperature-controlled room, though.

[Hardcast416taylor]

I came up with a blend of C. Red and BAC lube that I would melt blend and pour into my 450 lubers. It was usable without a lube heater, a slight effort to crank the lube wrench but still usable as is. The mix is 2 BAC to 1 C. Red. I have a heater under a 450 that I used to use with hard Blue angle and cold Bear Blue lubes, haven`t used it or them in 10 years or more.Robert

[marlin39a]

I'm in Arizona, and use Carnuba Red exclusively in my heated 450. Works great for me.

[imashooter2]

I have a .135 steel plate screwed onto my work bench and it is tapped for my various sizers. My heater is a yard sale iron placed on the plate behind the press. The iron came with a thermostat built in.

[MarkP]

I have a .135 steel plate screwed onto my work bench and it is tapped for my various sizers. My heater is a yard sale iron placed on the plate behind the press. The iron came with a thermostat built in.

I Have a 1" steel plate and use a 600 W magnetic block heater, I unplug the heater when it flows well and plug in every 30 min or so for 5 / 10 minutes.

[PS Paul]

I use Carnuba Red and it needs some heat in cold So. Cal. winters. A few minutes with a hair dryer to start that I use to plan what I am going to do then another shot of heat about every 1/2 hour to take a break from fast and furious lube and sizing. This I think is cheaper and simpler than a dedicated heater.
As a SoCal refugee, I gotta ask: "does 65 degrees constitute your "SoCal winter?". Ha haha!!!

[gnostic]

There must be something about lube sizers I don't get, because I've been doing it for 50 years without a heater...

[dragon813gt]

There must be something about lube sizers I don't get, because I've been doing it for 50 years without a heater...

It's not the sizer, it's the lube used. The harder lubes have higher melting points and require heat to get them to flow. Carnauba Red is one such lube that's used by a lot of people. It does not flow until it's softened up.

[Mike W1]

I would add that with 5 sizers and maybe as many different lubes you would like the PID option to actually keep the heat at a particular temperature. Those other gizmos help no doubt but an optimum temperature for one lube might turn the next one to soup!

[PaulG67]

I have a heater under my Star, never use it. The lube I use is a mix of several commercial lubes and STP in equal parts. It is soft enough to flow without heat.

[oldcanadice]

Have never used bullets so hard or lube harder that alox 50/50 that a heater was necessary. In truth, since I discovered BLL, I only use my Lyman 45 to seat gas checks.

[WFO2]

New to casting . So far I have an RCBS Lam II and an older grey Lyman . I use 50/50 in the Lyman and Bac in the RCBS . So far no heater as I buy more lubsizers I'm sure at some point I will get a heater . Just starting out and doing pistols not needing it yet .

[AbitNutz]

So climate is the rub. I cast/size in my basement, which is more or less subarctic in winter and summer. My pee barely flows so it surprises me little that bullet lube doesn't make its way through my lubrisizers. However, I never expected a heater to make all things work THAT much better....and it does. Once I used a heater, I'll never go black, er, I mean back, yes back.

[Walter Laich]

I cobbled together a 'sorta PID' system for my Lyman 450
I just wire tied the sensor to the outside of the barrel about 1/2 down
Since we're not trying to reach 700º+ it does a fine job and is much cheaper
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Digital-LCD-Thermostat-110V-Temperature-Regulator-Controller-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-/281137945266?hash=item4175209ab2:g:ZDQAAOxy6~BR5z7 L

[Echo]

Occasionally, in winter, I need to use a drop light to warm a sizer. Otherwise, I have an old Lachmiller (samo LAM) with a heater, loaded with hard lube. Haven't used it...

[jlchucker]

I have only one Lyman 450 and it is full of 50/50, don't need a heater. 50/50 work for everything for me.

Tim
Same here. I have one, but left it plugged in and forgot about it for a couple of weeks one winter a few years ago--I doubt if it still heats up. Anyhow, I used Javalina mostly when I first started casting, and now use LS Stuff's 50-50 for everything--without needing the heater. I never had a need to go to any of the harder lubes, and don't think I will. It would require a separate sizer-lubricator, or a messy cleanup of my existing press in order to switch lubes.

[jlchucker]

There must be something about lube sizers I don't get, because I've been doing it for 50 years without a heater...
Wow. Time flies. I just counted up the years since I started, with no real need for a heater, and it's been around 40 or more for me. 1974 seems like just yesterday.....! Gnostic, we are approaching Geezerhood Emeritus!

[atr]

I have two Lyman sizers and don't use a heater. Been doing without since I started casting/sizing back in the 1960's

[dromia]

Never needed one and I do not live in a hot country all my lubes flow just fine at a cool room temperature.

[Shiloh]

Mine has a 3/16th plate of aluminum under mine. I use my wife's iron as my heater.

Shiloh

[gwpercle]

Bought my Lyman 450 in 1968 , been lube/sizing with it ever since. No heater , no probe.
I just use lubes like NRA 50/50 alox-beeswax , lithi-bee (1 part lithium grease to 3 parts beeswax), if you buy a soft lube that doesn't require heat and your lube/sizer is in a protected place during the winter (not in freezing temperatures) you shouldn't need a heater or a probe.
During cold of winter I have placed a incandescant trouble light next to the cold frame just to help it get going, but during normal weather the soft lubes flow just fine. During hot-hot weather (100+), it flows too fine , you have to be careful not to over pressure.
Gary

[mold maker]

When I started casting, lubes were mostly grease or wax, and in Winter the wax wouldn't flow to fill the grooves. I found a 4" sq. 40W Al. heat pad and have used it with a light dimmer (with pilot light) for over 40 years.
They're mounted on a board that fills the space between presses, held by clamps when in use and hung under a shelf out of the way otherwise.

[ReloaderFred]

Soft lubes, such as 50/50 and some others, will work for the person who only casts and shoots limited numbers of bullets. Those of us who cast in volume, and bulk pack in boxes of 1,000, find the soft lubes make a mess when stored. I use hard lubes for a couple of reasons, and storage is just one of them. I don't get leading with my Magma hard lubes, nor Thompson's hard lubes, so the blanket statement that hard lubes don't work are untrue.

I shoot tons of .38's in SASS matches every year, as does my wife. I clean our guns about twice a year and I get a very small amount of lead out of the forcing cones of our revolvers, but none whatsoever out of the Marlin rifles. All those .38 bullets are sized .358", and lubed with Magma lube. It works for me (and for her), so there is no reason for us to go back to soft lubes and the accompanying mess when loading thousands of rounds per year.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[RP]

Kind of surprised no one has wrapped their sizer with some of that pipe heater wire you can get to keep water lines from freezing heated wire I guess you would call it. Maybe you can not cut it not sure I have seen it used a few places here but in the colder areas I would think it would be more common place.

[RED BEAR]

i got a rcbs not long ago and am using a lube of my own making and use it for all my needs it seems to flow fine. i didnt think of adding a heater as rcbs doesnt sell one . i have seen a lyman heater that says it will work on rcbs. like i say i am new to using a luber sizer as i used to pan lube. so who knows maybe try it in future .

[ShooterAZ]

I use an RCBS LamII. When I bought it I ordered the Lyman heater to go with it. I never use it. White Label's BAC, 50/50, and 2500+ all work just fine in it with no heater. It's mostly the harder lubes that need heat, I prefer the softer lubes anyway.

[Bent Ramrod]

I size and lube out in the garage. When the weather gets cold, sometimes I need a hair dryer to start things going in my Lyman 45s with Alox/beeswax lubes. Once things get moving, the lube seems to flow even when the sizer cools back down. If I stop the lubing for the day, and it's cold the next day, I have to warm it up again, but the lube seems to generate enough heat by being pushed out of the reservoir to keep running by itself. This is the low 50's Fahrenheit. No problem in the other seasons.

The only lubrisizer that has a permanent heater under it is my Lachmiller, where I use the Rooster Red and other high-temp/high-tech lubes. I generally have to unplug the thing when I'm running a lot of boolits because it can overheat even the hard lubes and make them runny.

[dragon813gt]

I use an RCBS LamII. When I bought it I ordered the Lyman heater to go with it. I never use it. White Label's BAC, 50/50, and 2500+ all work just fine in it with no heater. It's mostly the harder lubes that need heat, I prefer the softer lubes anyway.

2500+ needs heat as the ambient temperature drops. I've found it's easier to use in general if you apply a little heat to get it going. It's not required but it makes it easier in my LAM1s.

[Andy]

I keep my shop at 55-60 in the winter and couldn't even get 50/50 nra to flow through it nicely (it would flow, but would be hard to push and have voids more often) so I ended up doing what you did and just have a heater permanently installed on my star sizer. A PID is in my near future as I hate having to plug/unplug it at intervals to keep the lube from flowing to quick/slow.

Guys in warmer climates or with shops heated to 70 degrees will disagree, this is my personal experience in my environment. I don't need the heater when it is 70 in the shop in the summer though.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I keep my shop at 55-60 in the winter and couldn't even get 50/50 nra to flow through it nicely (it would flow, but would be hard to push and have voids more often) so I ended up doing what you did and just have a heater permanently installed on my star sizer. A PID is in my near future as I hate having to plug/unplug it at intervals to keep the lube from flowing to quick/slow.

Guys in warmer climates or with shops heated to 70 degrees will disagree, this is my personal experience in my environment. I don't need the heater when it is 70 in the shop in the summer though.
When I bought my Star, it came with 50-50 lube in it and a bunch of 50-50 sticks. My casting room is typically 55-60 in the winter, and yes, 50-50 was troublesome without a heater at those room temps.
until I switched to SL68B.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?288713-SL68B-the-quot-all-around-quot-boolit-lube-and-how-to-make-it
SL68B flows the same if the room temp is 55º or 95º

[darrondb]

AbitNutz - I had the same want for a thermostatically controlled base plate. Here is a write up on what I did just in case you want a little DIY project:

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?304580-DIY-heated-lubesizer-base-plate

I've been quite pleased with it so far.

[Freischütz]

I warm the machine with a light bulb placed about 12 inches away.