Heater for my Star Sizer

I bought an old Star Sizer on ebay a year or so ago and its great. I mixed up some Felix Lube and have had pretty good luck not leading the barrel in my Ruger Blackhawk 45 Colt. I needed to soften my lube to run it thru the sizer, and being a skinflint I went to a local scrap dealer and bought a piece of 1 1/4" aluminum plate and mounted the sizer to it. I mouted the whole shooting match to a couple of pieces of 2" alumimun square tubing fastened to my bench. I have been heating it with an old iron I traded my wife out of (ok she wanted a better one, I bought it and took the old one). It gets too hot even set at low so I have to turn it off and on when my lube gets too soft and I start globbing it.

I have been trying to figure out how to control the temp. or at least mount a thermometer to the plate so I can know when its about to get too hot or too cool. Any suggestions on this? I have thought about drilling a hole and mounting a dial thermometer in it.

Is there anybody out there as cheap as I am. I know I could buy a heated base for it with a thermostat. But I have managed to set this thing up without spending any money to speak of and I hate to start a bad habit now.

Thanks,
Swamprat

What about putting something under the iron that would either block some of the heat or absorb some of it like a hot pad or towel or big chunk of metal? Then turn the iron up or down as needed.

I am using exactly the same setup that you are and went through the same problems. Solution: find a cheap flat refrigerator thermometer and lay it on the base plate.

It doesn't have to be accurate, just consistent and I think that mine runs best at 95 degrees. Once it reads the correct temp, turn off the iron.

I would suggest creating an air space between the iron and the plate. I'd start with a quarter of on inch and change it accordingly.

It still ah, boils down to temp control. It's pretty easy to unplug the iron when it hits the right temp and re-plug when it starts to cool a bit.

Really, one of cheap refrigerator thermometers works very well.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/atta...1&d=1197145315

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Swamprat1052

Is there anybody out there as cheap as I am?

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We could start a contest...:-D

The cheapest way I have found to heat a Star Luber sizer is with a Wal-Mart $3.00 Metal Hooded Mechanics light. The el cheapo clamp on style (the one that has a single bulb receptacle, and a metal funnel shaped shield around the bulb, with a spring loaded clamp base) works well for me. I just turn the light on about 20 mins before I need to lube and lean it against the sizer. I wrap the whole thing with a old cloth towel to insulate it.

When I am ready to lube, I remove the towel and leave the light on.

Here is a photo of a more expensive model, but you can get these for $3 - $6 at Home Depot, Lowe's or Wal-Mart.

http://www.emilysplants.com/store/me...20image179.jpg

I can run the whole lube stick without it getting too hot or too cold. I used paraffin based lubes.

Why wouldn't a light dimmer switch work? Just make sure the switch will handle the wattage of the iron..........

I have a midway heater on my lyman 450 and it has several diff. mounting holes looks like you could mount almost anything to it. I just looked on there web site and didnt see any of these one. There is a small thermastat in the top right corner to adjust to the right temp for diff. lubes keep your looking around maybe there are still some on ebay or gunbroker. good luck

Thanks for the input guys I will try the thermometer, gotta go to town to get one. Either that or I'll use an old meat thermometer I have here and drill a hole to fit the prong on it and insert it into the aluminum. I'll get it to working.

Thanks again,

Swamprat

I drilled a hole in the side of that 1 1/4" aluminum plate and stuck a meat thermometer we had laying around in it. Worked great, I started sizing when it reached about 95 degrees and shut the iron off when it got to 100. It heated up to almost 120 degrees with just the hot iron setting on it. The lube worked great anywhere from 95 to 120. I sized about 100 boolits before it got back to below 95 and I plugged the iron back in and did the same thing again. I sized a lot of boolits today without a hitch. Its the best luck I've had with the Star. Only got lube in the lube groove, no globbing up on the nose or crimp groove. The bullets looked better than the ones I bought from Leadheads when I first started all this. I think the problems solved,

Thanks guys,
Swamprat

There ya go.....cheap and easy! :)

I have a Lyman heater for my Star and RCBS lube/sizer. It, too, would overheat if not plugged in and out. Pain in the tuckus! So, I had a Dremel variable speed control ( really just a rheostat). I plugged in the heater to the Rheostat, then plugged in the rheostat to the wall outlet. I can now control the heat with consistency.

A light dimmer switch would be a fine and inexpensive way to do just what my Dremel speed control does.

I like the idea of adding a thermometer to the mix.

Dale53

You guys are all too hi-tech for me. I plug my Lyman heater into a power bar and my fingers on the Star tell me when the temperature is about right. That's when I start cycling the on/off switch on the power bar. My lube doesn't care about the heater being a few degrees off one way or the other.

thats what i use too. The star bolts right up to it and its thermostaticly controled. I guess to me looking at it its probably cheaper then fiddling around with a plate and buying an iron.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by hotwheelz

I have a midway heater on my lyman 450 and it has several diff. mounting holes looks like you could mount almost anything to it. I just looked on there web site and didnt see any of these one. There is a small thermastat in the top right corner to adjust to the right temp for diff. lubes keep your looking around maybe there are still some on ebay or gunbroker. good luck

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I was ordering some parts form lyman today and they have a heater that they say you can bolt to your star luber and its only $55 not bad take a look, pick the casting page in the top right hand corner and scroll down the page and youll see it.



http://www.lymanproducts.com/lymanproducts/index.htm




Lube/Sizer Heater

The new Lyman Lubricator Heater was designed for today’s new high temperature lubes. It heats the Lube/Sizer to the right temperature allowing smooth, effortless bullet lubrication. The mounting plate is drilled and tapped for Lyman 450, RCBS, Saeco and Star Lube/Sizers. Plugs into standard 110 volt outlet (comes complete with mounting hardware).
110V Item #2745885
220V Item #2745888

I hope this works, here is my rig. It seems to get the job done.

[IMG]http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q.../StarSizer.jpg[/IMG]


[IMG]http://i135.photobucket.com/albums/q...s/Boolits2.jpg[/IMG]

My reloading room is kinda crude and cramped but I have turned out lots of rounds in it.

Swamprat

Looks good do you ever get a couple shirts done in between bullets :kidding:

Lord no Hotwheelz, I might can cast bullets and reload but I cant iron shirts worth a hoot.

Dont be giving my wife any ideas. She comes up with enough on her own.

Swamprat

Midway has the Lyman heater for around $35 to $40. I have a Midway brand that has the adjustable heat feature allready on it, but I don't think that they make them anymore.