Different homemade dies from 7/8 x 14 bolts ?

[Dutchman]

Best money you'll ever spend on books for your home machineshop.

The Making of Tools
by Alexander G. Weygers
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Tools-A...xander+weygers

Buy all the books he published.

[littlejack]

CW:
That is nice work. Thank you for sharing.
Jack

[Explorer1]

You can buy reloading die blanks, but I don't recall where at the moment.

Its all about time and money, how much are you willing to spend?

[Any Cal.]

I tried using.7/8 for threading, but out-of-round and curved stock made it difficult to get full height threads.

I have been threading 12" at a time to have stock ready for die projects.

[Clark]

I made a long decapping die.
I made a neck die.
I made a mouth belling die.

This was all from 7/8-14 threaded rod, and is just pennies per inch.

[wquiles]

Love the mouth belling die - simple & elegant. I am using .432" cast bullets in my 44Mag and I need to make me one of those as that is a more gradual/gentle way of opening the case mouth

[hpdrifter]

For all of you that use threaded rod or bolts, Tractor Supply has 7/8 X 14 hitch pins. They have a blank shank on part of it.

Just an idea for alternate sources.

[oldred]

When I saw your compression die I thought ut oh.... its steel, yes? Steel can arc static electricity to the blackpowder causing it to IGNITE (blow up). Compression plugs should be non-ferrous, brass, aluminum, bronze.

Dutch

What has non-ferrous got to do with it and why would these materials/metals be any less susceptible to a static discharge than iron/steel???????

[Clark]

Google "non-sparking tools"
https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...sparking+tools

[wills]

When I saw your compression die I thought ut oh.... its steel, yes? Steel can arc static electricity to the blackpowder causing it to IGNITE (blow up). Compression plugs should be non-ferrous, brass, aluminum, bronze.

Dutch

http://www.ctmuzzleloaders.com/ctml_...ks/sparks.html

[superc]

For what it is worth last year I made a crimping die for caliber .442 Webley (before realizing a shortened .44 Special die worked just as well) out of 7/8" all thread rod. What I found to be the most annoying part of the project was keeping the drill hole centered. I sheathed the rod in the chuck with some nuts I had turned round. Amazingly simple Locktite green worked well to eliminate wobble. My problem was the drill bit tended to wobble off center while making the hole. It took 3 tries before I had a 13/32" hole that was within an 1/8" of center at the far end. Close enough for Webley work. I reamed one end to 7/16 and the other (bottom) end to 29/64 to a depth of 0.07". I milled a pair of 3/4" flats on the up end so my wrench would have something to grab. I heated it to yellow and the locktite vanished. I also ran a die the length of the die to clean the threads. It wasn't beautiful, but it worked well.

[flounderman]

I have a handful of jet dies if you need one, yet.

[KCSO]

Face before you center drill. I don't like threaded rod as it doesn't finish up as easy as good stock.

[Traffer]

I have been using grade 8 bolts to make 22lr reloading dies. Here are some of the problems I have run into:
They don't last long. A typical resizing die will resize maybe 200 to 500 cases by the time it is too large to use anymore. The hardness of the bolts is not consistent through the whole bolt. (I have no lathe. I use a drill press and dremel type tools with diamond bits, burrs, cutting wheels and diamond impregnated rubber wheels etc.) I may be drilling, cutting through like butter and hit a hard spot in the bolt. Often creates a gouge inside where all of a sudden I get a chunk of harder steel stuck on the bit and spinning into the softer metal.
But all in all, I find it pretty easy to work with grade 8 bolts. HSS drill bits will cut it well as long as you keep them sharp. I just have to sharpen my bits more often.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

What has non-ferrous got to do with it and why would these materials/metals be any less susceptible to a static discharge than iron/steel???????

Brass-barreled muzzle-loaders have fallen from favour too, and it looks like the steel ramrod is here to stay. I have frequently reloaded in a dimly lit room, and never noticed any sparks. Has anybody? The non-sparking tools we have been shown are used in oil and gas installations etc. to prevent a different kind of spark, caused by the tool striking something hard.

[Ballistics in Scotland]

Well, I got my Volvo truck wheel studs, and here is a thread I just started on their use. Mine cost me £2.39 each in the UK.




These are wheel studs with a 7/8-14 UNF thread for Volvo trucks, 97mm. in overall length although there are longer ones and other threads. As there would be hell and a half to pay if a truck's wheel falls off, they are probably better steel than many bolts and threaded rods. They are hardened, and so far I have annealed but not machinedied mine. A file test suggested that they would have been drillable with a carbide drill for sure, and perhaps HSS if a size suitable for the risk of bluntening was suitable. With bolts I have found that a drill slightly undersize, followed by the right one with the corners stoned rounded, gives a finish good enough for bullet sizing. Use of a special gunsmith's reamer would surely require annealing.

The authentic Volvo part may be expensive, but mine are pattern parts, and seem of good quality. They are made from individual forgings, with a forged-in 60 degree centre which isn't as accurate as one drilled on the lathe, but then neither is the loading press to ram alignment in many press and shellholder setups. At a pinch could be used to make your die with a drill press. Prices are still very variable, and at least in the UK this is one of the few things in which I have found eBay a long way from the best deal. It pays to shop around.

I don't believe any kind of loading die really requires the enlarged diameter above the 7/8in. threads, but it looks the part, and the diameter and fine splines give a good grip.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...13#post3733613

[leebuilder]

Do it all the time, like Clark made a few decapping and flaring dies. Made a sizing die with different sizer bushings and specialty sizing dies. I gave up on threaded rod, never tight enough or lacked toughness so I screw cut drill rod for them takes longer but worth it in the end. Trimmed dies for sizing and modified Lee crip dies too.
Be well

[Ballistics in Scotland]

I've just learned on another thread that Pacific Tool make and will supply the undrilled die blanks used by RCBS, which more or less settles the question of their being a good metal for the job. At $19.99 each, at least for people within range of comestic postage, that about settles the question of what to use.

http://pacifictoolandgauge.com/reloa...ed+&results=13

[TRX]

I bought a 3' length of 4140 threaded rod from Zoro Tool. McMaster also carries it.

[Clark]

I have a lot of 4140 lying around from some scrapyard deal. If I drill it too fast, the tool gets wrecked and the 4140 gets hard.
Cut slowly with coolant.