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Posted: 1/20/2013 9:54:11 AM EDT
| Im new to the whole reloading scene and I am currently using the Lee Single Stage press along with Lee dies. I was curious what you experienced reloaders do for regular maintenance. How should I clean/lube the pivot points and the ram itself. Also do you clean your dies regularly? Thanks for any info! |
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I clean my RCBS Rock Chucker with dry patches or rags using a little BreakFree CLP and Mobil 1 synthetic oil (any weight) to lubricate the ram and pivot points. I clean my Dillon XL650 the same way but only lubricate the ram with Mobil 1 and lubricate pivot and other friction points with Shell HSC100 grease (red wheel bearing type). I clean my dies with BreakFree CLP. The Lee dies seem to corrode quickly, so I keep them as clean as possible and well oiled externally with the CLP. I Q-tip the dies dry on the inside after cleaning with a wet one. I clean the rams maybe every 200 cycles or when I notice them getting dirty. I swab out the dies every 500 or so (maybe less now that they are in the 650's toolheads).
Mike |
Everynow and again I read where someone "galled" a ram. It's impossible to do, unless ram is neglected and operator doesn't comprehend as ram action gets sluggish its time to clean. Instead operator lubes and problem perpetuated. Everynow and again someone claims the problem is metallurgical. 
Actually issue is mentallurgical. Depriming causes a lot of grit to collect on ram, with use grit thickens lube, ignored causes oil to dry, once dry and neglected ram will "gall." More oil, collects more grit, continued oiling, collection of grit creates sludge. I don't like brake cleaners anywhere near guns or presses. I do keep a bottle of 90% alchohol on bench for cleaning wax from dies and lighter fluid for cleaning grit from press ram. I clean before oiling, makes sense to remove grit before lubricating, right ? I like green Lucas grease for grease serks and FP10, CLP or 3in1 oil for rams with one exception. Hornady AP uses a grease groove in ram. Keep'em clean, dc. |
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Keep clean and lubed. I use 30 wt motor oil for the main ram. Some presses have zerk fittings on the pivot pins to squirt grease in to lube them. Some don't and the pins will have to be punched out, cleaned, lubed, then punched back in. My older 550B doesn't have these fittings, so I have to pound the pins out. Same for my Rock Chucker. White lithium grease is good, best grease is the grease that comes in the Dillons machine maintenance kit. Wheel bearing grease works great too Example of a 550B dissembly http://www.ar15.com/content/page.html?id=483 650 is more complicated since it has more parts. Whenever doing caliber changes on the 550B or 650 I wipe down the old shell plate with WD-40 before storage. Dies I just swab out with WD-40 then a clean patch to remove the WD-40. CLP would work just fine too but WD-40 is cheaper. |
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