For Sale - Pyrex powder hoppers

[Dram Worx]

I make replacement powder hoppers out of Pyrex for most all of the popular powder measures on the market.

I was approached by a couple of people asking if I could make them for the Star presses so I did.



They come complete with a cap and are $45 each. (They don't include the powder slide housing cover shown ) Shipping is flat rate of $12

Available at https://dramworx.com/star-reloaders/

Thanks

[fc60]

Greetings,

Does the base of the hopper have the original baffle?

Also, does it have the proper 9/16-27 TAPERED thread?

Cheers,

Dave

[Dram Worx]

By baffle do you mean the extra disc?  No

And yes - the thread is 9/16-27

[fc60]

Greetings,

The original Star hopper has a threaded brass fitting with an Aluminum disk mounted just above it which asks as a powder baffle to provide a constant amount of powder pressure.

Regarding the thread, the original Star thread is a weird TAPERED thread. Many after market vendors do not cut a TAPERED thread, rather a straight thread.

As a result, the constant removing replacing of the threaded hopper ruins the TAPERED thread of the powder housing lid.

Cheers,

Dave

[fc60]

Greetings Dram Worx,

I found the thread specification.

https://law.resource.org/pub/us/cfr/ibr/005/sae.j476a.1961.pdf

Refer to Appendix D, Section D.6 and D.7.

The thread is a 9/16-27 Dryseal SPL-PTF, OD .5625

It involves a bit of math.

Easy to cut on a CNC lathe. More challenging on a conventional lathe.

27 NPT inserts are readily available.

Cheers,

Dave

[FOR_Star]

The knowledge-base of this website always amazes me.

[fc60]

Greetings,

The greatest challenge with Star is that there are few fully dimensioned drawings remaining. When Bruce Williams bought the company from Pioneer, lots of tooling was supplied; but, few drawings.

Seems like "Tribal Knowledge" prevailed at Star...

So, this begins the task of Reverse Engineering the parts.

What were the original Star designers thinking?

Fortunately with the aid of thread gauges, hardness testers, microscopes and an abundance of existing spare parts a lot of reconstruction has taken place.

Oh yes, I forgot the Internet. Via the Internet, I was able to locate that weird powder hopper thread. It is not listed in any of the standard tables in the Machinery Handbook. I stumbled on it merely by accident.

Star's primary products were sprinkler heads for the Citrus farmers in California. Perhaps this is why the odd threads? Look at the Expander Plug and decapping rods for the Sizing dies. Both are 27 pitch!

Cheers,

Dave