Sealing a leaky 450 w/Permatex #1

[cheese1566]

I have read many ideas and solutions to sealing a bottom leaking Lyman 450- from lag bolts and wood blocks to cardboard to rubber sheets- and know these are tried and true methods. But...

I have improvised a 4"x5"x1" thick aluminum block and an old 30w solder iron as a heater. (The block has a 1/2" hole and the solder iron is placed into it. It takes about 15 minutes to warm everything up.)
I will be firmly fastening this to the bottom of the Lyman and then to the bench. I know a rubber gasket and cardboard gasket would seal, but prefer not to have these type of gaskets act as insulators and impede the conduction of heat.

I was thinking of using a circular small bead of Permatex® Form-A-Gasket® No. 1 Sealant only around the area of the staked in seal plug. This would fill in the small gaps in the cast iron and allow the two metals to still have a majority of surface area touching to conduct heat. This formula hardens to a hard semi-flexible seal of up to 5000psi.

Has anybody tries this with success?

[Maven]

cheese...., I wonder whether you'd get a better (meaning perfect) seal if you coated both the base of the #450 and the Al sheet with Permatex, bolted the thing down and waited a day or two to trim the excess away? Btw, I used a piece of cardboard as per Ken Molohan's suggestion and it worked perfectly, without insulating the lube sizer from the steel plate and heater.

[Newtire]

cheese...., I wonder whether you'd get a better (meaning perfect) seal if you coated both the base of the #450 and the Al sheet with Permatex, bolted the thing down and waited a day or two to trim the excess away? Btw, I used a piece of cardboard as per Ken Molohan's suggestion and it worked perfectly, without insulating the lube sizer from the steel plate and heater.

Hi Maven,

Could you direct me to the thread about the leaky lubrisizer fix using cardboard as per Ken Molohan...?

I'd much appurschiate it!

Newtire

[Maven]

Newtire, Sorry to take so long to reply to your question. Ken Mollohan's solution wasn't posted here, but in a past issue of the "Fouling Shot" (CBA). It is very simple to do: It took me less than 15 minutes start to finish and completely stopped the leaking. Btw, I tried epoxy first and later Permatex and neither was effective. Here's what Ken/Molly suggested: Unbolt your #450 and place it on a 1/2 piece of cardboard writing tablet backing. Trim it roughly to size, meaning you leave ~1" around the base's perimeter (or "footprint" if you can stand that term). Poke or drill holes through the cardboard and rebolt the machine with the oversized cardboard gasket to your bench. Lastly, use a utility knife, etc. with a new blade and trim the excess cardboard away from and flush with the base. That's all there is to it!

[Newtire]

Thank you Maven. I'll give it a try next trip out to the shop.

[ronbo]

Have the 450 mounted on a Lyman electric heater. I roughed up the bottom of the 450 and the heater aluminum with sandpaper and used not too much, as it expands Gorilla glue on the base, bolted it on. Let it dry a couple of days and it hasn't leaked hot lube in a couple of years so far.

[mauser1959]

I have a lubesizer and wonder if the same fix would work for it? Does anyone have any experience on the RCBS sizer?

[cheese1566]

I applied the Permatex last night and will give it a good week to cure.
One word of caution is to only apply a small bead. It is a tight fit to begin with and you can get a mess when bolting down. Trust me from experience!!! If you do make a mess, it scrubs off with rubbing alcohol and paper towels. The wet sealer also has the tendency to make the parts slide around when bolting. Just go slow and have everything ready when starting.

I will let you know how it works in the long run...