How many cast boolits can a stick of lube lube? :)

[Don2]

You know Andy, I guess I never really thought about it.
I always THOUGHT it was around that number, but never really checked it.
One thought is that all the lube is not used all up from each stick, but added to with the addition of another.
I always TRY to keep my lube sizer full or very close. I guess I usually worried about running out and missing the signs until I had run through a bunch of bullets???

I'm sure you are very close to the correct number, maybe someone here has done that test also??
Thanks for the info....Its a good reference to use.

Don2

Ps...I went ahead and "Bit the bullet" and bought a Lyman heater for my RCBS lube/sizer yesterday...It should be here soon??
Next is the lube order from White label lube, I still have several RCBS & Lyman lube sticks around.
Oh well....Its just money

[MoJo]

Kind of like, how much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Try typing that it's almost as hard as saying it three times fast.

[Don2]

You know Andy, I guess I never really thought about it. I always THOUGHT it was around that number, but never really checked it.

Likewise; I just kept going until I was down to my last stick then ordered more

It's perhaps vaguely useful in helping determine how many sticks of lube to buy beforehand - "Lessee, if'n i wanna cast 10k boolits, I need ta buy 10 or so sticks..." - but hardly an exact science

*gasp* an actual Lyman heater?? This - from the man who won't buy a new corn-cob ingot mold?

Just yankin' yer chain of course, Don - I do hope you'll do a conversion on it to dial the heat up and down; I'm useless with electrical stuff so I'd be very keen to see how it would go together

With NO idea of how many bullets I could lube with one stick of lube...I always figured on at least 500. There is no data I based it on, usually like I said, I just kept on adding lube till it was full...I have several half sticks I use when it will not hold a full one.

OK..You "Yanked my chain" now I'm gonna bark
The corn cob mold is no fun if I buy a new one...I like old used stuff.
Really it was just an item I wanted to buy cheap since I really did not need it but thought it would be COOL to have.
Know whatta mean
No big deal...I'll find one for a dollar or two some time.
My Son says about the same thing to me...He says I won't buy a cheap item, but buy some stupid expensive item he thinks is not worth the price ????
Oh well.....

I plan on trying the inline rheostat that was made for a ceiling fan I have, it works like the dimmer switches for lights that people are using on them, just a little more heavy duty...I think?? At least LOOKS that way.
I want to try using it on ALL lube, from reading more about the subject lately I understand that the warm lube fills the groves better and faster without the tendency of "Smooshing" out and around where you don't want it. Plus you need to use less lube pressure with warm lube.
Plus...I plan on trying some harder lubes. This is a subject all to itself.
Suppose to use ( as I read it ) soft lube with hard bullets, and hard lube with soft bullets. ( But I don't know the BHN rating at where hard and soft bullets begin ) Its all in how the bullet obturates.
A hard bullet does not obturate well, so it needs a softer lube to help seal the bore.
None of this is written in stone..there are still several variables ie...actual bore size, actual lead hardness etc...
I want this BHN tester = http://www.lbtmoulds.com/hardtester.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
But there's ANOTHER $100 plus shipping. BUT I'm gonna get one...may need to sell something to buy it?

Don't think I'm even close to an expert...Just been reading everything I can on the subject and will do some tests in the coming months when I get everything setup...I HOPE..!

Got any ideas on the subject you'd like to add...Anyone is welcome since I'm just looking for answers too

Thanks
Don
Typed, but not proof read very well

Ps...I'll try the dimmer switch too and see how it works so you will know. If it works, I'll give you the installation details I come up with. I would not mind at all if I can help.

[Don2]

Ps...Ps....

This is anothher BHN tester with a direct readout via dial indicator I kinda like. I do not know anything about it. At least the other one ( LBT ) I know someone who uses one and likes it??????
http://www.castingstuff.com/cabinetree_ ... oducts.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Not sure if that info and 50¢ will buy you a cup of coffee or not ?

Don2

[MoJo]

I plan on trying the inline rheostat that was made for a ceiling fan I have, it works like the dimmer switches for lights that people are using on them, just a little more heavy duty...I think?? At least LOOKS that way.

Dimmers are rated in Watts fan controls aren't. Buy a dimmer that is rated equal to or greater than the wattage of your heater. Remember the rheostat will heat up so a heavy duty dimmer with cooling fins may be a better choice.

[mjoplin]

I'd pay close attention to the wattage of the heater. The heating elements are essentially a dead short that heats up and they tend to have a huge appetite for current (try hooking a simple coffee pot to a generator sometime and hear how it drags it down).

I would look for a heavy duty dimmer control that exceeds the steady state wattage by about a 50% margin. Also it will produce quite a bit of heat as the resistor does its job.

[Don2]

I have a corn-cob ingot mold I'll trade ya for one of those new-fangled Bhn testers....

Funny, though - I used to prefer hard lubes, but... I'm not convinced any more that it really does as good a job of sealing the bore. The soft lube I tried (BAC) was just too gunky and nasty, but this carnauba red seems to hit the sweet-spot with me. I've loaded up some hard-lubed and carnauba-lubed bullets to do a side-by-side comparison, just for grins.

OK, I'll see what I can do.
Sounds like a good deal to me.

---

The more I study all the issues on lube vs. lead hardness and a few other factors...the more it seems to me that you just gotta experiment with them in your gun to see how it works. It seems that you can get pretty close using all the factors and methods they mention, but it looks like it comes down to just doing some R & D ...???

Still reading.
Don2




Don2

[Don2]

I plan on trying the inline rheostat that was made for a ceiling fan I have, it works like the dimmer switches for lights that people are using on them, just a little more heavy duty...I think?? At least LOOKS that way.

Dimmers are rated in Watts fan controls aren't. Buy a dimmer that is rated equal to or greater than the wattage of your heater. Remember the rheostat will heat up so a heavy duty dimmer with cooling fins may be a better choice.

Wish I understood a little more about what I don't understand
The fan control I have is for a very old ceiling fan, taking the control box apart, I found that there is a small transformer and a rheostat with 4 positions turned by outside knob labeled 1-4. Both the rheostat and transformer have 4 taps that connect each of them, plus one input wire going through them and one wire going straight through the box.
Box has 2 wires in and two out.

So far I have connected it to a desk type light with a 75wt bulb, When the switch turned through the 4 settings, the light went from bright to very dim.
When this control box was connected to a box fan, it changed the speed according to the switch settings also.
Next I will connect it to the light and let it sit on low setting for a while to see how hot the control box gets.
I believe this to be a closer test to the heater, actually more I bet being a 75wt bulb?
I have no idea what the heater is rated at until I get the unit and play with it some.
I have seen several Youtube videos of people who use all sorts of things to control the heat on these lube heaters.
I just got to find the best one...!!!

Thanks for any help.
Don2

AndyC.....I feel I am stomping on your post. I am very sorry if I am and will quit if you want. I just thought you were interested in the same info.
No hard feelings either way.

[MoJo]

Don2, that is a really old control. A regular rheostat will give you a smooth change of heat rather than the four settings you now have. I think if I were going to make something like that I would go with the dimmer or, get a heat control for an electric space heater and use it.

[v-rog]

Could I add my opinion to the pile? Well, thanks Andy: Can I get a "T", "U", "M", "B", "L", "E"----tumble lube

Thousands and Thousands of bullets from one $5 tube. No leading either. OK, I'll excuse myself now

[Don2]

Don2, that is a really old control. A regular rheostat will give you a smooth change of heat rather than the four settings you now have. I think if I were going to make something like that I would go with the dimmer or, get a heat control for an electric space heater and use it.

That control is about 20 years old from an old metal blade ceiling fan I had in my garage years ago...Just kept the controll when the fan motor burned up. Everything I have hooked it up to has worked good. ( so far )

Looks like you know more about this stuff than I do.
I'm from the old school...Where I use to work at an electronics test equipment company, we use to make burn-in chambers for electronics companies like IBM,Intel, Samsung and the rest.
We used a heated special "oven" for pc boards with all kinds of devices "chips" to do a burn-in test on. Intel and AMD cpu's were fun to test. Plus got to take some home too But that was back in the day of Pentium 4 cpu's.
Anyhoo...we had digital and analog temp controllers in them called LFE and Partlow's....Wish I still had a few of them, I could hook them up with triggers and could dial-it-in to the temps I wanted..But thats out..!!!
So...Do you think I would do better with a heavy duty light dimmer like HomeDepot has?
What wattage do you think I would need..or are they sold that way?
I really do not know what watt these heaters are rated at. I sent a message to Lyman to ask that question..But they may not answer??? Who knows?
I did find out from Lyman that their Universal lube heater heats up to about 110deg F to 130deg F.

Lyman suggests that when the lube/sizer get hot, unplug it...Thats kinda crappy to me, seems for the price, they would have some cheap heat control on it?????

Thanks for any input
I really appreciate it.
Don2