Star Lube-Sizer Heater

[Echo]

I want one! Winter is upon us, and I do my casting/smelting/lube-sizing on my patio, and I want to get a base heater so I don't have to rely on my hair-dryer! Amazon was no help, Magma just wanted to show me cooking stuff, and I'm tired of bouncing around! Someone point me in the right direction, PLEASE!

Ed, AKA Echo

[G W Wade]

Not sure if still available but I mounted my Star on a Midway heater base. GW

[dannyd]

get a lyman or rcbs they both fit a star. Lyman is the better of the Two.


https://www.buffaloarms.com/reloading-supplies-accessories/bullet-sizing-equipment/lubrisizers-44-heaters-accessories.html

these people have one in stock

[lightman]

I ordered the one from Magma. Its a quality piece of equipment. They are having staffing and/or material problems. I have a Midway unit on another sizer and it works ok.

[Echo]

I ordered one from Buffalo...

Ed

[dannyd]

I ordered one from Buffalo...

Ed

This will help keeping the heat setting right

https://www.harborfreight.com/router-speed-control-43060.html

[Green Frog]

get a lyman or rcbs they both fit a star. Lyman is the better of the Two.


https://www.buffaloarms.com/reloading-supplies-accessories/bullet-sizing-equipment/lubrisizers-44-heaters-accessories.html

these people have one in stock

Generally I tend to “buy orange” but it looks like the main difference between their lube heater unit and the one from green is that the latter has an onboard rheostat control that the former lacks. What is the basis of your judgement in favor of Lyman for this product?

Froggie

[dannyd]

Generally I tend to “buy orange” but it looks like the main difference between their lube heater unit and the one from green is that the latter has an onboard rheostat control that the former lacks. What is the basis of your judgement in favor of Lyman for this product?

Froggie

I have both actually 2 Lyman, 1 RCBS and 1 Midway. The problem with the green one the rheostat doesn't work right. It will go from warm to super hot back to cold. The Orange one with the speed control or better yet a PID unit work great.

You can epoxy the end of the coupling to the device or put the pot probe in an empty hole.

293177

[Beagle333]

Once you get your heater..... if you have a PID to hold the temp perfect, it's magical how well the lube will behave.

[Beagle333]

You can epoxy the end of the coupling to the device or put the pot probe in an empty hole.

293177

I did the same thing to mine with a similar glob of JB-Weld. I just laid the end of the thermocouple on top of the heater plate and glued it down. Looks just like yours, except gray.

[dannyd]

Once you get your heater..... if you have a PID to hold the temp perfect, it's magical how well the lube will behave.

especially the Star the right heat makes such a difference.

[dannyd]

I did the same thing to mine with a similar glob of JB-Weld. I just laid the end of the thermocouple on top of the heater plate and glued it down. Looks just like yours, except gray.


Got the idea off of here years ago. :)

[megasupermagnum]

I had a Lyman heater. Why anyone would want that is beyond me. No temperature control, and mine quit working after a couple years. You are better off bolting to an aluminum plate, and using a clothes iron on the plate to heat it the plate. You would at least have some temp control.

The Magma heater is 100x better in every way. Sure a PID would work well, but the Magma unit works fine right out of the box, the temperature is plenty consistent for what it needs to do. The amazing thing is they aren't that horribly expensive compared to the Lyman. A Lyman is almost $80. The Magma is about $120.

That's a no-brainer, get the Magma, or make your own. The Lyman is trash.

[dannyd]

I had a Lyman heater. Why anyone would want that is beyond me. No temperature control, and mine quit working after a couple years. You are better off bolting to an aluminum plate, and using a clothes iron on the plate to heat it the plate. You would at least have some temp control.

The Magma heater is 100x better in every way. Sure a PID would work well, but the Magma unit works fine right out of the box, the temperature is plenty consistent for what it needs to do. The amazing thing is they aren't that horribly expensive compared to the Lyman. A Lyman is almost $80. The Magma is about $120.

That's a no-brainer, get the Magma, or make your own. The Lyman is trash.

The Magma is nice but I don't think they are available now; over 30 years ago I use the plate and iron worked good too. I can't remember how long I've had the Lyman's 20 years I think.

[FISH4BUGS]

I bought an old Midway one 30+ years ago. I think i paid something like $30 for it on EBay.
It works flawlessly on my Star. Takes 10-15 minutes to heat up to a higher setting if you change the temp.
But I have found one setting is fine if you use the same lube all the time.
I only use Magma lube so it is consistent.

[David2011]

Cheap and easy: Mine is mounted on a 1/8” thick, 6”x12” aluminum plate. An old clothes iron set on low provides the heat and temperature control is managed by moving the iron closer or farther away from the lube sizer.

I do see a PID for it in my future.

[Green Frog]

OK, so if I get the Lyman and a rheostat from Horrible Freight, I plug the cord from the Lyman plate into the HF rheostat box, plug the ‘stat box into a wall socket, the adjust the ‘stat by trial and error until I get a temp where the lube moves well without getting runny. When I finish a session, I just switch the ‘stat to off position, or should I unplug it too?

Is the negative experience dannyd had with the RCBS pretty widespread, or is it an outlier? I’d still like one unit with a built-in rheostat if possible… one less thing to keep up with on my already cluttered bench. Inquiring minds want to know!

For general information, are the mounting holes on any of these heat plates (Lyman, RCBS, or Midway) threaded or do all require a bolt and nut?

Froggie

[dannyd]

OK, so if I get the Lyman and a rheostat from Horrible Freight, I plug the cord from the Lyman plate into the HF rheostat box, plug the ‘stat box into a wall socket, the adjust the ‘stat by trial and error until I get a temp where the lube moves well without getting runny. When I finish a session, I just switch the ‘stat to off position, or should I unplug it too?

Is the negative experience dannyd had with the RCBS pretty widespread, or is it an outlier? I’d still like one unit with a built-in rheostat if possible… one less thing to keep up with on my already cluttered bench. Inquiring minds want to know!

For general information, are the mounting holes on any of these heat plates (Lyman, RCBS, or Midway) threaded or do all require a bolt and nut?

Froggie

I don't know your experience maybe completely different; it just works better on the PID or the speed control for me. The speed control just start in the middle let it warm up then adjust. Probably did 100,000 bullets using that thing worked great.

I thought the RCBS was a great idea but no matter how many times or ways I mark that control knob it never gives the same temperature, so I just turned it all the way up and hooked a PID to it works great now.

The plate and iron work too; just try to buy a small travel iron and be careful not to touch it by accident.

The Lyman, RCBS and the Midway have holes setup for Lyman, RCBS and Star sizers. On the RCBS heater I just us a regular PID probe in a open hole.

[bruce381]

I bought a PID controller on line $20 (for beer making) and got a chunk of 1/2 inch AL and drill a hole and put in the themp sensor.


And another hole put in a Heater element thing from ebay and like $50 got a nice PID that works great.

[Echo]

I thought of that. The loob in my Star likes to be at (or near) 120*, and I believe that I can use one of these to keep it thewre.

[Green Frog]

This whole DIY thing is looking better all the time. Would the cartridge insert from Lyman produce sufficient heat to bring a reasonable sized base of aluminum up to temp? Would a PID (whatever that is) be necessary?

Froggie

[megasupermagnum]

A PID is a temperature controller. To use one on a base heater, you would thread it to accept a thermocouple. You then plug your heater into the PID, and it will maintain whatever temperature you want. They are great for casting, but seen unnecessary to me for a lubesizer heater.

[Baltimoreed]

Built this a few years ago but don’t know if it’s what you’re needing. It’s able to heat both lubrisizers. Added the extra aluminum plate, put the whole thing on a piece of oak.