Oughta make this a sticky, for easy reference.
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Oughta make this a sticky, for easy reference.
Our forum already has a lube recipe and making it as a sticky.
My thought exactly!
CDOC
This would definitely be appropriate for a sticky, and for the following reasons:
1. A lot of casters use lubesizers that utilize hollow sticks. And I, for one, just can't warm up to the "melting lube and pouring it in my reservoir" method. I've tried it twice and made a huge mess. I make a big enough mess just MAKING the lube. . . :)
2. Making your own lube is kind of a natural progression in casting. Granted, a lot of us move on to buying from White Label (Glenn), but it's often an itch that needs scratching for a lot of folks who get into boolit-casting.
And when you have a lubesizer, you need sticks of lube.
3. Much like the lube-recipe thread, variations and improvements and new ideas could be added to this thread. As industrious and talented as our membership is, there is no telling what kind of cool ways to make lubesticks might emerge here.
Just my dos pesos.
:coffee:
Well said Recluse
ALL IN FAVOR OF A STICKY post now.:castmine:
Sounds good to me, maybe a supplementary page with skills threads.
Yep need a sticky! :bigsmyl2: :cbpour:
Keep em coming!
CDOC
I have already copied his method of making lube stick molds and it works like a charm. I managed to find the caps flat rather than semi rounded so it was easier to affix 'em to de boad. But a sticky might bring out some improvements, who knows?
Please make this a STICKY !!!
+1 for making this a stiky !!
I`ve never seen flat end caps either ???
Making a stick mould is really the only thing keeping me from scratching the itch.
That`s my story & stikin to it .
I read this thread with a lot of interest as I was just starting to get the idea to mix my own lubes. Well, using the OP's info, off to the hardware store I went. I have started building my lube molds as per the OP's excellent pics & instructions.
HOWEVER, due to reading about flat caps etc, I decided I wanted to have the caps flat & not have to drill the wood base & epoxy the bases.
So,,, here's what I did;
I have a small belt/disc sander. Using the disc, and the guide to keep things square, I placed the caps I was going to use squarely up against the disc. I ground a "flat" on the top of the cap. It then sits nicely on the board. I ground them down just to where I could see a small spot in the centerwhen pressed with my finger. It made drilling the hole in the center for mounting easy. Just my method of mounting them and not drilling & epoxying the bases.
For those like me, who haven't got much storage room for a jig....I got an idea.
Instead of building a jig, where your caps are screwed into a board, make your jig rods long enough to fit into something like a small piece of 4x4 or even on a section of bench itself, where they will stand upright.
The holes will have to be drilled exact and kind of tight to hold the jigs upright. This way, when they've solidified enough, pull the pvc jigs out of the holes holding them upright, and pop them in the fridge/freezer, or let them fully harden where they are.
But someone like me, who loves the overkill, I can almost make this an assembly line process.
Plus when I'm done I don't have a jig on a board to put up. I can put these in a small box and store much easier.
I finally made my own lube a few weeks ago and have considered making lube molds from this thread. So far i have had to pour hot lube 3 times to refill my 450. Pouring hot lube hasnt been a problem but dropping in a new stick would be faster. I will say this, I wont be buying lube when I can make my own and I like mine better than everything I 've used in 35 years of handloading. Frank
I copied the design from post #1 and it worked like a charm. Thanks, that makes my life a little easier.
I copied the plans somewhat in that I need solid sticks for my Star that's in transit to me. I have about 24 hollow sticks that I going to melt down into solid ones as soon as I find some flat caps also, got the 1" PVC cup up and will be sanding them soon. Thanks for the idea, it's great.