Lyman lube sizer heater

Abman

Abman

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Just purchased a Lyman lube sizer heater for my old lyman 45. However the universal model is predrilled and tapped for everything but the model 45 which i believe to be the first model.

The instructions read not to punch any new holes in it however being a maritimer we do not abide well with instruction.

On my initial inspection it appears that the electrical cord has a straight heating element which goes in about 3" and I assume the heat radiates through the aluminium plate. This is speculation only, has anyone seen a schematic, drawing or taken one apart to confirm my thoughts?
 
I would try to find a way to drill the lubesizer to fit the heater or a retro-fit plate rather than mess with the element. I have a heater for one of my lubesizers (450 I think it is) and it works ok if you plan ahead long enough before use, it is very slow to heat up and takes a long while for the heat to migrate up into the lube chamber. As I said it works but 6-8 hrs plug-in time before use is required. For this reason the retro-fit plate would be the least desirable fix to your problem...another plate between the sizer & heater would just slow it down more.
 
or you could improvise a cheap tawdry solution. I have a 450 and for a while I had to use it in an unheated garage, so I grabbed a portable pistol type hairdryer and gave it a reason to live honorably. turned it up to the highest setting, pointed it at the base of the luber/sizer and made an improvised tent out of a milk carton and an old winter coat. once the frost burns off the outside, it takes another 10-15 minutes or so before the lube is soft enough to flow through the sizing die to the bullet. once the sizer starts working, throw the coat and carton off and turn the heat down a bit because it will get too hot. don't run this setup when it gets around -15 or lower range because condensation will occur and it will rust inside and out after you shut down.
 
I bought the Lyman heater for one of my Lyman 450's to use Dragon Lube Red which is hard. Mine only requires 15-20 minutes to warm the lubesizer enough to cause easy lube flow.
 
Old Ranger said:
I bought the Lyman heater for one of my Lyman 450's to use Dragon Lube Red which is hard. Mine only requires 15-20 minutes to warm the lubesizer enough to cause easy lube flow.[/QUOT

I must have gotten a dud then. How hot does yours get, mine gets very warm to the touch but I can hold my hand on it after being plugged in a long time. Thought it was "the way it was supposed to work" as thats the way it was right out of the box from the store. LOL. My thinking was that, with it not getting overly hot it wouldn't soften up the lube enough to run out on its own . Actually it does work quite well in that it makes fairly hard lube just squeezable the way it should be
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I mounted my lube sizer on a 1/4" thick aluminum plate that is the width of the lube sizer but extends about 6" to the rear. I use an electric iron to heat the aluminum plate. I like the adjustable heat feature on the iron.
 
My heater gets quite warm (hot). I actually plug/unplug it intermittently once it is hot. If not I get some leakage of lube (Red Dragon) out of the bottom of my sizer.
 
laurencen said:
made one of 1/2 steel plate its longer than the sizer and I use a magnetic 200watt heater on it
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This is exactly what I built on the weekend, but with a 200w Alaska heater siliconed on. My plate has a slight bend in it just outside the lubrisizer so the heater pad portion sits slightly in the air and doesn't cook the bench.
 
propliner said:
This is exactly what I built on the weekend, but with a 200w Alaska heater siliconed on. My plate has a slight bend in it just outside the lubrisizer so the heater pad portion sits slightly in the air and doesn't cook the bench.
Click to expand...

to stop it cooking the table get a piece of concrete board or even a piece of drywall underneath
 
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