Help - Star Luber Problem

[slug]

I'm having an awful time lubing my .45's in a Star luber. I can only get about 2/3 of the lube groove filled. I have two Stars and the same problem in each. They work just great with .38's.
I pit lots of pressure on the crank, have turned the squirter plunger out so it compresses the spring all the way, hold the handle down for a count of three. used a heater block, melted all the lube out of the machine in case some crud was gumming up the works, and checked the die holes for plugging.
Any suggestions?
I'm thinking that the die holes may be too small, but I'm sure that the die is hardened and I couldn't drill it larger.
Any help would be appreciated by this frustrated Canucklehead.

[IcerUSA]

Have you adjusted the top punch ? Sounds like the lube groove isn't lined up with the holes in the die .

Keith

[Dale53]

You can remove the die from the Star luber. Then use a hair dryer and melt all of the lube out of it so you can see. Then push an "already sized" bullet until the grease groove is aligned with the holes. Measure the distance from the mouth of the die to the base of the bullet. Put the die back in the press, and adjust the top punch to put the bullet base where you previously measured (this is all assuming you are sizing the bullets base first).

Dale53

[HeavyMetal]

Yep! I think your missing the groove as well.

If your nose sizing with a flat punch you almost have to have the punch threaded completely into the press with almost no threads left for the lock nut!

Thats if your using the last row of holes on the size die as well!

You can make some measurements if you want but what I find quick and dirty is block all the holes I'm not gonna use ( or with the dies I get from lathesmith I ask for one row of holes) and then put the die in the sizer. Now, once the lube is moving freely, I will push a boolit through and adjust the punch until I see lube push out over the base of the boolit! At that point I know I am adjusted to far down and then shorten the punch ( threads are 27 turns to the inch so one full turn will lengthen or shorten the punch by .027 ) four turns is .108 and that usually gets me in the lube groove!

Measure the boolit you have so you know what you need when you need to make that adjustment and you won't have 50 boolits covered in lube!

Done right you'll only have to take lube of one or two boolits and then you can measure the punch for future reference!

Once you swap dies a couple of times you'll get the hang of this fast and it's not hard to do.

This is also the reason most guys with Stars use boolits with one large lube groove rather than fight boolits with dual lube grooves.

[Echo]

( threads are 27 turns to the inch so one full turn will lengthen or shorten the punch by .027 ) .

Actually, one turn will move the punch .037...

[slug]

Nope, the holes are lined up with the lube groove.
It's at the point where no lube comes out bottom or top and I've been adjusting it a quarter turn up and down both ways. The middle row of holes on the die is open and clear. The other two rows are plugged.

[cajun shooter]

The problem is you don't have enough lube holes open. Unplug the die and it will pass plenty of lube. I lube big lube bullets for BP shooting and had Lathesmith design a die with six open holes to supply the lube needed. Each hole that's even close to the lube groove should be open for ease of operation. Later David

[Willbird]

What kind of lube are you using ??

Also does it feel like the machine is "vapor locking" or are you feeling pressure on the lube cylinder when the handle is at bottom stroke ??

The key with my machine to have it behave like a gentleman and not a %$#@*&^ is to leave the heated base turned on all the time, or to fire it up at least an hour before I need to use it, the whole machine needs to be warm for mine to work in my 50 degree shop.

if just the base is warm it will not properly flow lube from the main reservoir and the lube piston will not be pushing any lube, I call that "vapor lock"

I only have Magma/Star dies, they have (3) holes for each grease groove, a friend was telling me some of his older Star dies only had (2) holes per grease groove ?

Bill

[KYCaster]

If it works OK with .38's then there's no good reason for it not working with .45's.

You say you've checked that the holes in the die are clear, so the only variables are temperature, pressure and boolit position in the die. One of those has to be the culprit.

Turn on the heater and set to the temp that works for the .38's, then let it preheat for an hour.

Take the die out of the press and look down in the hole where the die goes, now crank the pressure down till you see a ribbon of lube oozing out of the hole in the left side of the base. In ten seconds or so, you should get a ribbon about an inch long. Adjust temp and/or pressure till you get a nice ribbon going. The lube should be about the same consistancy as Play-Doh, or slightly softer. If not, adjust the temp and let it set for another half hour before proceeding.

Now pump the handle...it should squirt out a ribbon about 1 1/2 to 2 in. long. It should be a solid ribbon with no gaps or air bubbles.

Insert the die without a boolit in it. Pump the handle and you should get lube evenly from all the holes that aren't plugged. With each stroke of the handle you should get at least a two inch ribbon from each hole, more is better.

The only thing left is to set the height of the punch.

Some lubes are better suited than others for use in the Star. A lube that has a very narrow plastic stage (goes from too hard to too soft with a small temp change) will give you fits.

This method sounds complicated, but it's the best way I've found to trouble shoot problems with the Star and doesn't take as long to do it as it does to read it.

Jerry

[crabo]

Did you buy used or new? I bought a used one and the head of the bolt that the lever rides on was dished out. I sanded it flat on the belt sander and put some washers on it so the lever would pump more lube with each stroke. It made a difference.

[cajun shooter]

Did y'all read what he said in line #6. He said only the middle row of holes are open with the others being plugged!!! He needs to open those holes.

[HeavyMetal]

I've worked with Star dies with all but one row of holes plugged and they have all worked fine.

Plugging holes is suggested in the Star instructions when setting up a die for a specific boolit. So unless he did something real strange to block those holes off that's not the problem, or shouldn't be, tough to say without a visual.

Think unit malfunction ( broke) or vapor lock is the issue.

Think Willbird's suggestion to turn on the lube heater and give it an hour or so might be the best answer here. Add a lamp to it if needed but hard lube and not enough heat could very well be the problem here.

[slug]

Right on, Cajun.
That did the trick.
Thanks to all for your input.
Caje - next time you're in northern Ontario, coffee & doughnuts are on me.
Many thanks.
Stew