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Thread: Making reamers?

  1. #1
    Boolit Mold
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    Making reamers?

    For those of you making your own dies and the reamers to make the dies, is there anyone out there that makes these reamers commercially? I would think that the reamer itself would be one of the most important parts of the die making process since it and the laps determine the final shape of the bullet. I was just thinking that someone like PTG, who has the experience and equipment to make reamers to a high degree of accuracy would be a good source of reamers. Any thoughts?

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
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    I know a tool and die maker that may be able to help. The only problem is I do not think that he has made reamers for this purpose. However I do believe that he is a great maker and very competent.
    "Consequently we move away from other shooters to remain focused on our passion, as our ideas are quickly dismissed or misunderstood by others. Sharing does not come easily for swagers, not because they are necessarily selfish, but because they have been whittling away in their only little world for so long, that being able to relate to others what they understand is no simple task."

    ​Mentor



  3. #3
    Boolit Buddy
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    Bryan27,

    I would think that PTG would make you anything you want as long as you provided them with appropriate drawings.

    I, like several others have made my own "D" reamers. This was partially because I did not want to wait nor spend the money. Also there was enough information out there that it was not a major undertaking.

    Martin

  4. #4
    Boolit Buddy jixxerbill's Avatar
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    skip thru the thread till you come to the part about making the reamer, ive made several like this and they work great......http://madmodder.net/index.php?topic=2265.0
    PMI pistol range USMC 85-89

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    barrels i have-->.221 fireball,7-30 waters,7tcu,.357 herrett,.44 mag,6.5tcu

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  5. #5
    Boolit Master

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    jixxerbill,

    thanks for the link. good pictures and info over there. Also look at the link in the thread to the other discussion.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master

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    I have had a little luck doing that but am not happy with point form for my .257 bullets. it came out to rough?
    When I think back on all the **** I learned in high school it's a wonder I can think at all ! And then my lack of education hasn't hurt me none I can read the writing on the wall.

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
    NoZombies's Avatar
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    Most people make the reamer .001-.002 smaller than the finished diameter, and then lap to final size.
    Nozombies.com Practical Zombie Survival

    Collecting .32 molds. Please let me know if you have one you don't need, cause I might "need" it!

  8. #8
    Boolit Man


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    Shaping Ogive's on the reamers

    Is there a trick to shaping the ogive tip for the point forming die? I am a novice with a lathe and am still learning the finer aspects of turning steel.

    I would be willing to pay a pro for a point forming die reamer so I can get on with other die making tasks and spend more time learning how to make my own...

    I have gone to the comercial market for standard size reamers (ten thousanth increments) for the core swage and seating dies. My next challenge is making the Ted Smith design hone to lapp the dies after I ream them.

    Thanks to everyone for the advice in all the die making threads - it helps.

    Hammer

  9. #9
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    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...t=75201&page=8

    post 145

    KTN doessome good looking work. Ofcourse you would need a mill too. So many tools to buy not enough time

    A file and sandpaper is your friend

    BT
    Last edited by BT Sniper; 06-23-2011 at 08:40 PM.
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  10. #10
    Boolit Master


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    Thanks for the link BT.

  11. #11
    Boolit Man


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    Thanks bt!

    I knew I had seen these somewhere and I plan on using his design and process. I figure after I have tried fifteen or twenty times, I ought to be able to get close......



    My garage used to be a woodworking shop.... now it is a machine shop AND a woodworking shop. I need more room to store and play with my bad habits.... Tools? Time?

    I can alway count on you BT. Thanks.

    Ed

  12. #12
    Boolit Mold
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    Quote Originally Posted by BT Sniper View Post
    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...t=75201&page=8

    post 145

    KTN doessome good looking work. Ofcourse you would need a mill too. So many tools to buy not enough time

    I file and sandpaper is your friend

    BT

    I like the idea and KTN is obviously skilled at this, I just wonder how repeatable and measurable it is?

    I spoke with a die maker a few years ago and got absolute sticker shock at what a set of high quality dies costs. He was nice enough to talk to me for the better part of an hour about what makes a good die and what he thinks makes a bullet accurate, I can't disagree with him because he has the results to back up his claims....and it just makes sense. He said that the most important thing is that the bullet is concentric with its center line and the base is perpendicular to the center line. Consistancy of weight is something that can be controlled after the bullet die is made, but if the die drops bullets that aren't concentric within the slightest of measurement, when the bullet is leaving the bore at 150,000 rpm's the accuracy is going to be effected on every bullet. Being off a grain on weight won't make that big of a difference in most cases.

    All that just gets my wheels to spinning on how the reamer could best be made consistant, measurable and repeatable in a home shop enviroment. Repatable because you'd want the laps to be the same shape. Best ideas I've come up with I can pick apart and keep coming back to the idea that to get a higher level than I'd be able to perform would take farming it out. Grinding it out would, imo, be the most accurate way to do it. I keep coming back to the idea of using a rotary table with a tool holder to get a consistant ogive, but I don't know that you can get a rotary table close enough to the chuck to avoid work stickout issues. For us home shop guys KTN's method looks great.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master


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    A radius cutter is what is needed in the lathe, do a search for Steve Bedair's page and you will see a nice one.

  14. #14
    Boolit Buddy
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    Better than a radius cutter, is to add a radius grinder attachment, to achieve a repeatable radius on hardened materials.

    Once you understand the concept, you can play with it a bit and end up with a pretty wide variety of capabilities, limited out only by your imagination, and capability to measure accurately.

    Stuff like grinding a repeatable radius on a carbide blank, then lapping it to size...
    Diamond compound is pretty cheap and available, as is cast iron to make laps from, for example.


    Cheers
    Trev

  15. #15
    Boolit Master


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    Radius grinder is a really specialized animal and would be tricky to fabricate one in the home shop environment.

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
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    No.

    Nothing more complicated than adding a grinder to the radius turning attachment that was referenced above.

    The complicated part, is beginning to get an understanding of what is possible.

    Once one gets past the beginning stages of understanding, then it is pretty clear.

    It can be as simple as a holder for a Dremel tool, to mount it in place of the cutter, or as complicated as building an integrated variable speed motor, with a spindle integral to it, and adding CNC controls. Those are pretty much the extremes, anyway.

    Mounted points are cheap and available, as are diamonds to dress them true with.

    Any guy that can get his head around a radius cutter, has the ability to do the grinding as well.


    Cheers
    Trev

  17. #17
    Boolit Master


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    The bearings in a Dremel tool are not suitable for close tolerance work.

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy
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    I have ordered a number of custom chamber reamers from PTG and thought they would be the 'perfect' place to get some swaging die reamers made. I had a short conversation with Dave Kiff at PTG regarding him making some bullet swaging reamers for me. The 'long' answer is: "No. I don't do that." He was rather emphatic in his assertion, so I didn't ask him why.

    Paul

  19. #19
    Boolit Man
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    Reamer radius grinder

    My answer to a home made radius gringer.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails DSCF0799.jpg   DSCF0800.jpg  

  20. #20
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    Nice!
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