Someone had to do it. Motorized Star.

[Lee W]

I Worked on it yesterday after a casting session. I did 3300 total this weekend.

IT WORKS!!!


http://s559.photobucket.com/albums/ss37/Whyte_album/?action=view&current=bulletfeeder2.mp4



(Original post)
I know it is rough, but I had to post a vid asap.


I am still working on the bullet feeder. It does not like going this fast!
There must be some fine tuning I missed, but I will find it.
I know it is a hospital trip waiting to happen but over time it will get better.

I have sized 3800 and a friend sized 2500 with it over the last two days.

[targetshootr]

I like it. It reminds me of my grandma at her sewing machine which was also scary to watch.

[btroj]

What kind of controller do you have? A foot switch? Is it just me or does it cycle a couple bullets and then pause? Or is that just using a switch of some sort?

Looks fast- and REALLY scary. I've caught myself on my STAR and that's using the regular handle.

Neet idea but not sure I'm ready for that.

Brad

[garandsrus]

I agree with btroj, a little too scary for me without the boolit feeder option. I like all my fingers without piercings.

Having said that, can you share some of the particulars of how you made this? I would like to do something similar, with the boolit feeder and tubes that you fill up.

Did you need to run the lube extra soft (hot or pressure) since the lube pump stroke is so short?

Thanks,
John

[trickyasafox]

with a bullet feeder that thing must be unstoppable!

[Ugly Dwarf]

You sir are a man of vision.

[SharpsShooter]

Very slick, but with my ten thumbs, I'd spend too much time in the E.R.


SS

[copdills]

Way cool but watch your hands and fingers

[freedom475]

:holysheep:redneck:..... that is scary to watch!! but it sure adds a level of discontent to the old Lube-a-matic. Thanks for the vid!!

[Willbird]

There is a reason that they outlawed punch press's that could not be stopped on a dime, that things is very dangerous without a bullet feeder and guarding.

[scrapcan]

could you devise some sort of feed tube that let you slide the bullet and dro it into the die? A little chute tupe affair maybe?

Tha tis pretty slick, but looks like a good finger getter, I had a P-W 800B 12 guage loader that was like that. It is now in original hand operation form due to the fact it scared me every time I used it.

[Russel Nash]

go here:

http://www.brianenos.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=70411&hl=sizer&st=25

and look for the post by jmorris with all the pics.

[targetshootr]

If it were me I'd let it hang over the edge of the table so they drop into a cardboard box which is what I do now, with the left hand full of boolits while the right works the handle.

:drinks:

[3006guns]

No one has mentioned Rube Goldberg.......although come to think of it, that might be construed as an insult!

I like it......shows promise and some damn fine "eyeball engineering". As already mentioned some sort of bullet feed would be the cat's meow (and keep your fingers whole).

What is the pipe or cylinder like device on the rod?

[KYCaster]

Ooooooooooh....that's gonna hurt!!!!! [smilie=1:

Jerry

[Lee W]

3006guns, you noticed it first.

The lube pump is subjective to temp, reservoir pressure and viscosity. The pipe has a 20 pound spring that adds a little pressure to the lube pump after the bottom cam over.
Instead of tuning the lube to the motor, the spring accounts for all those variations.

To protect the fingers, I will make the bullet feeder work and I will use it...

[dragonrider]

I would slow it down to half that speed and I think it would gain in productivity.

[hammerhead357]

I didn't watch the vid. but there was a company in Dallas that used to make a motorized Star lube-sizer and used the standard Magma boolit feeder. The company was Ben's Machines and was owned and operated by a man by that name that had an indoor range there. I didn't like the way it operated. If a bullet failed to drop into the die it looked to me like all sorts of things would break.
I don't want to think what would happen to your fingers if you are to slow. Oh heck I know what happens. Punch through thumb, have seen the result of that and it cost me about 650 bucks about 23 years ago.....Wes

[hammerhead357]

Well I forgot to add this. I think the best way to automate a Star lube-sizer would be with air. One cylinder for the operating handle and one for the bullet feeder. I have been thinking about this for a long time, just have never done it.
Ben had one that used one cylinder to do everything and I tried it out but it wasn't powerful enough to size a lot of my hard bullets at that time. His was attached directly to the sizer instead of to the handle. This reduced the operating force and left one with stuck bullets even at 125 psi operating pressure I think that the handle leverage is very important to the automation of the Star...Wes

[3006guns]

This device kept me awake last night.....admiring the idea/workmanship and trying to figure out a safe way to feed it.

How about the inclined ramp suggested, feeding into a star wheel that indexes once as the ram is on the upward stroke? Or simply index the star wheel by hand. Any fingers involved would simply be feeding bullets into the ramp or operating the star wheel and everything would be in view in case of a misfeed.

[Lee W]

The Magma bullet feeder I have is being fine tuned to work more reliably at these speeds.

The Ballisti-cast sizer would be more suited to this change with there style of bullet feeder...

http://www.ballisti-cast.com/Mark%20VI%20graphic.htm


BTW, it is run with a foot pedal for many reasons.

[Lee W]

Please see original post for update.

[jdgabbard]

That has to be one of the most dangerous things I've seen in quite some time. And you used it!

[686]

lee w. i like your set up. please use the auto bullet feeder not your fingers. can you show some still pictures of the parts, motor linkage? some bullets will feed better than others. put an air cylinder on the lube and a heater. thanks

[Geraldo]

I see two problems, both related to bullet feeding. The first is that it is going to hurt like hell when you catch a finger in there. The second is that you can't seem to develop a rhythm to using the machine, so I'm not sure you are saving anything but arm strength at this point. Once you get a feeder rigged up, that should solve both of these issues. Of course then you're going to have to build a huge pot and run 6 cavity molds to be able to feed the sizer, and then you'll need a couple of 1050s to load the ammo...:drinks:

[Lee W]

The updated video is the way I will be using it. The bullet feeder is the way to go to save fingers.....

With the feeder, I run about 30-40 at a time into the small bin, and I can keep up with it.
I will make a hole in the table and a slide of some sort in the future.

It is a work in progress, but it saves my arms from repetitive motion that has damaged me in the past.

Also the real thing is about $8,000 from Magma.

[garandsrus]

Very cool, and now safe for your fingers! If you would be willing to publish some more of the details as to how you made it, I would be very appreciative!

John

[Russel Nash]

@ Lee W...

That new video with the bullet feeder is pretty darn slick.

You have kinda put the bug in my ear.

Back when I used to teach woodworking classes, my "boss" said he had a spare DC motor with controls that came off a Nova lathe, like this one:

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?familyid=5485&productid=146719&mode=details#tabs

I think you could dial that thing down to a really slow speed or up to say 3,000 RPM.

It's really neat what you got there.

[mtgrs737]

A for or more posititon star wheel that is indexed by the machine on the last half of the up stroke would be the safe way to feed this thing. A four or five positions star wheel should alow enough time to feed it by hand safely as a sheild could be rigged to keep fingers out of the punch area. With a DC motor you could control the cycling speed of the machine to your personal feed speed. Thanks for your efforts and posting the video of it.

[686]

Russei Nash can you tell me more about the video system you are using? it looks like you are shooting jacket bullets.

[Russel Nash]

^^^ It's a Samsung Sports Camera SC-210XL .... or something or another.

A corded external lens is attached to a spare baseball cap I butchered up.

I zip tied the lens to the underside of the bill.

Then I zip tied the cord in two or three places to the hat over the top right on the center line.

The camera came with a little pouch that I wear on my belt, about where my right kidney would be, behind my holster.

There is a button I press on that cord that turns the camera and external lens on and then I hit the button again and it starts recording.

It was NOT cheap. About $400 something dollars. But I have had a couple of jams that later I figured out were induced by me, so theoretically, I saved the money and headache of having to send the gun out to a gunsmith.

When I get home from a match, I can plug it directly into the TV and play it back.

The videos on that website are about 50% resolution of what I see on my computer or on the TV.

Yes, I am shooting those j-word bullets. That was back when I could get the Berry's from Cabela's very cheaply at around $72 per thousand. Now they are in the $120 to $140 range. Eeeek!!!

Hence, I am now on this forum.

[Lee W]

Here are some pics of the setup.

[Harmon_Greer]

very cool

Harmon