Okay, I want to make a primer tube filler from scratch. Please help!

So, filling primer tubes sucks. And as far as I can tell all the automated tools to do it also suck. I know people love the frankford and hornady gun type things but my testing with them didn’t prove that successful. What I want is a static mounted machine that will fill tubes that I put under it. I get that the vibration flips them all over using a standard primer tray ribbed surface and that’s great, that part is a no brainer. The trick seems to be to get them to move over a hole which allows them to drop down, WITHOUT tilting and jamming as they fall off a cliff. So, does anyone know of a design theory that will help here? I’m a machinist and have some decent tools and skills at my disposal. Let’s get nerdy!

I prime cases using the old style lee hand primer with the flipper tray, which seems to do a fairly good job of getting the primer to drop into the cylindrical chamber which aligns the to be seated primer with the brass supported by the shell holder. It would seem the dimensions lee used in the flipper tray might be a place to start. The diameter of the opening for the primer to drop thru must be pretty critical.

I wonder how the pros do it? They might not end up in tubes at all. I can also imagine a process that transitions them onto their side, rolls them down a track and then lets them fall over into the hole.

I had a CAMDEX that used a vibrator type primer feed. Can't remember who made it, but if you contact CAMDEX I'm sure they will sell you one. Might be pricey, tho.

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Originally Posted by shell70634

I had a CAMDEX that used a vibrator type primer feed. Can't remember who made it, but if you contact CAMDEX I'm sure they will sell you one. Might be pricey, tho.

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Id like to see how they do it, but I don’t want to buy one, I want to make one. I’ve made a boolit collator and a brass annealer that we’re both quite satisfying projects. Also I’ve made a lot of other custom tools and things for my reload setups.

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Originally Posted by Drew P

So, filling primer tubes sucks. And as far as I can tell all the automated tools to do it also suck. I know people love the frankford and hornady gun type things but my testing with them didn’t prove that successful. What I want is a static mounted machine that will fill tubes that I put under it. I get that the vibration flips them all over using a standard primer tray ribbed surface and that’s great, that part is a no brainer. The trick seems to be to get them to move over a hole which allows them to drop down, WITHOUT tilting and jamming as they fall off a cliff. So, does anyone know of a design theory that will help here? I’m a machinist and have some decent tools and skills at my disposal. Let’s get nerdy!

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Since you have had trouble with both the Frankford and Hornady have you considered your problems might be your technique and not the tool?
I have "made" a loader using the Lee round plastic trays from the old hand priming tool, for both large and small primers.
I think I even posted pics of it somewhere on this forum, I'll look for it.
I have since bought a Frankford and spent some time "learning" the technique, like the best angle to hold it for proper operation.
Lots of vids on YouTube of primer loaders, even some user made.
:mrgreen:

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Originally Posted by Kenstone

Since you have had trouble with both the Frankford and Hornady have you considered your problems might be your technique and not the tool?
I have "made" a loader using the Lee round plastic trays from the old hand priming tool, for both large and small primers.
I think I even posted pics of it somewhere on this forum, I'll look for it.
I have since bought a Frankford and spent some time "learning" the technique, like the best angle to hold it for proper operation.
Lots of vids on YouTube of primer loaders, even some user made.
:mrgreen:

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I’ve considered that, and it’s entirely possible, but i found it frustrating enough that quite frankly I don’t give a **** lol. Im a pilot, I drive a stick shift, I ride motorcycles, I have what I consider a good feel for the mechanical world. I thought the franklin tool sucked. Maybe it was a bad example, but I just want something that you dump primers on and it fills a tube.

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Originally Posted by Drew P

I’ve considered that, and it’s entirely possible, but i found it frustrating enough that quite frankly I don’t give a **** lol. Im a pilot, I drive a stick shift, I ride motorcycles, I have what I consider a good feel for the mechanical world. I thought the franklin tool sucked. Maybe it was a bad example, but I just want something that you dump primers on and it fills a tube.

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I found my old post/thread, on a different forum though, old and locked [smilie=f:
Not sure you will be able to view the pics if you are not a member there:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.ph...-tubes.545056/
:mrgreen:
edit: those Lee trays are long gone/ not available anymore:(
Back then though, people were buying the Lee trays and doing it my way as the Frankford's were NOT available [smilie=b:

I've got a Lee and RCBS hand priming tool. The Lee flipped a few sp/sr primers on me so I quit using it. I've never had a problem with the RCBS. Whatever they got goin' on in the area where the primer slids from the tray into the hole that contains the setting ram may be worth looking into.

I actually didn’t try the hornady gun shaped thing. But it seemed to me like a rip-off of the frankford design so I don’t give it much attention.

So this one looks awesome and pretty straightforward. Can’t get to their website.

https://youtu.be/OV1GwJwBD3Q

And here is the Camdex, not sure how I feel about a pile of 3k primers, but it works.

https://youtu.be/_NT5w64h_gY

For both would like to see the detail of the hole it drops in.

Interesting watching them all march uphill. So it seems the Italian one just has small notches that catch on the anvils and kick them out. Easy enough. It’s the end where they drop into the tube that I’m most curious about. Maybe if the hole was drilled at a slight angle back toward the ramp it would help them to fall straight without catching

Both the Camdex and the Italian job seem to have a very large bowl diameter, larger than seems necessary. The Italian one also has a lot more ramp length than seems necessary, the flipper portion is only at the very end anyway. I wonder why they put so much ramp in.

In my head I picture a rotating disk that picks one primer at a time from the flipper tray and drops them straight over the tube.

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Originally Posted by L Erie Caster

In my head I picture a rotating disk that picks one primer at a time from the flipper tray and drops them straight over the tube.

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Like a bullet feeder collator? It really only has to keep up with the pace of my loading rate on the progressive, so speed requirement is not terribly high.

3D printing Bullet collators is common today and I cannot see why a primer version could not be printed too.
If anyone could do it, it would be @jmorris.
:bigsmyl2:
Edit: I have seen jmorris vids of him using a Frankford primer loader so I doubt he would be interested in printing one. [smilie=b:

Take a look at a ponsness warren shotgun loader. You may get an idea or two from them. They use a slanted loading chute with a clear cover that will not allow the primers to flip once in it. You may use a vibrating device to get 98% of the primers flipped and then correct the other 2% by hand before they enter the slanted chute.

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Originally Posted by Kenstone

3D printing Bullet collators is common today and I cannot see why a primer version could not be printed too.
If anyone could do it, it would be @jmorris.
:bigsmyl2:
Edit: I have seen jmorris vids of him using a Frankford primer loader so I doubt he would be interested in printing one. [smilie=b:

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Yes wells talented and driven as he is, JMorris probably can’t pull off THIS feat of engineering. That’s why he uses the frankford unit! (Do you think that will motivate him enough to show me up?)

Mr. Morris is a REAL thinker, and he puts the ideas into practice quite well!

For me, the Frankfort version worked, took some practice with getting the angle just right...
I also found tacking a thin sheet of plastic in the lid helped with some primer brands.
I made a little adapter for Dillon tubes, and it took a week messing with the transition angles to get it right, but I have about zero turned primers now.

Treat the transition area (falling primer) like a fluid flow issue and it will get easier...

What you want is a Bair Primer Tube Filler . One came with my Bair press about 1972 .
It has a plastic hopper that holds a box of primers , turning the knob fills a tube or drops a primer in your hand . it will not drop a primer in the inverted position and is designed to be mounted to you bench or mounted to a stand and clamped in place. It's blue plastic .
I would go and get it but it's raining cats and dog's and my reloading building is detached...
I'll see if I can find it tomorrow... that can turn out to be an adventure... I know it's out there someplace...us hoarder's have trouble finding things . I still have the box it came in but have never used it to fill primer tubes . Started using the Lee hand held priming tool and you know our hoarders motto ... Keep even the useless stuff !