Faster way of seating cores ?

[ricklaut]

Here it is, with a twist. I decided to try attaching the fencing only to the upper tray. This simplifies a lot of things from the printing perspective, and it was a suggestion that came from a friend who was over looking at my reloading room yesterday. Since I had the pieces, and printing the flat sides was easy, why not try it.

Watch the video and give me your feedback (please ).. Really, I think the only downside is the possibility of forgetting the pieces aren't all attached and dropping the bottom tray.

You'll see that dropping cores is still the biggest problem (they're still catching on the lips of the jackets). I know how to fix that, but this copy doesn't have the fix. Even manually having to place many of the cores, it took just over 4 minutes. You'll also notice that it's the jackets themselves that are keeping the upper & lower trays aligned. I put 4 jackets into the corners manually to pin them together when starting.

[Sitzme]

Nice work. It seems you are making some upward flips. I suggest that you try one with only horizontal motion. More of a jiggle. That is what works best on my case feeder although it is a little different. You ALMOST have me motivated to print one but it has been a long week!

Also, if you didn't put the 4 in the corners, you might just hold the plates in position until some cases drop.

[ricklaut]

After some printer frustrations today (...operator error) I am on the cusp of getting version 2.0 done (crosses fingers). If the scaled up version works as well as the proof of concept (hole dimension change, funnel design change), you'll have to keep the jackets & cores at least 10' away or they'll jump in the holes on their own . Ok, maybe not quite that good, but it looks like a substantial improvement over how it worked in the video.

Sitzme - what kind of printer do you have?

[Sitzme]

One Reprap and One Repstrap that is not quite online yet. I print with PLA and mostly do specialized foundry patterns with it. The pattern work makes a little money and puts the printer on my table. I have been avoiding ABS since I print in the house and we have a bird (and a wife) so odors are an issue. Even though I have some experience, I am not an expert on 3D printing. I started with a .3mm nozzle but switched to .5mm because of print time and clogging issues. It meant giving up some resolution but that does not effect me too much.

[ricklaut]

Very cool!

I may have posted it elsewhere (can't remember) but I have a FlashForge (MakerBot Replicator legitimate clone). I haven't even printed in PLA yet (don't have any). Honestly, PLA would have probably been easier for this core shaker! Before I got mine, I wondered about the ABS fumes... I hardly notice it and my wife hasn't said a word. The acetone, on the other hand (when making ABS slurry, etc) is noticeable. I came in from outside the other day and realized it. This comes with a .4mm nozzle; I haven't had any clogging issues.

Had some real lessons yesterday (well - this whole experience has been a lesson!), but the outcome is paying off. If all goes as planned (what are the odds of that...), I'll know today and then will be able to send you the .stl files (or the FreeCad project files if you want).

Based on input from several different sources (Lon, Supe47 in particular), the holes are cones (tighter on the outside; wider where the plates meet) and the funnel was redesigned with a steeper angle and a little kicker (the bottom lip of the funnel) right above the position of the jacket.

[lcecil]

My printer is a mendlemax with 0.5 nozzle. It was reprap/homebrew and looks a bit kludged, but works well. I have another Mendelmax kit cooking from Ultibots. It started with a 0.3 nozzle, but that was impossible to get a good first layer. I drilled it to 0.42 and the prints look as good as the 0.3 did.

The trays should print in ABS or PLA from the same drawings, and PLA has a good chance of printing a 100 hole array in one piece. IMHO, that is going to be tougher in ABS, but ABS is just so easy to glue!

[Sitzme]

Good progress. What might be nice and also usefull to those without a printer would be a .pdf or .jpeg of the profile of your funnel and bottom hole. I will try to post mine for comparison but I have to go back to work shortly.

[ricklaut]

Good progress. What might be nice and also usefull to those without a printer would be a .pdf or .jpeg of the profile of your funnel and bottom hole. I will try to post mine for comparison but I have to go back to work shortly.

There may be a better way to show this out of FreeCAD, but I haven't found it. Here's the drawing and a photo of the actual thing:




You're looking down the funnel in the top tray. The hole starts off as a cone; the wide end of the cone is on the bottom & you're looking into the top end, with a slightly smaller opening (prior to the chamfer). In the CAD program, the hole is 7.4mm on the bottom and 6.7mm at the top - but - I had to oversize them because the size of the hole shrinks at a ratio I haven't figured out. I tested and found what worked. The "base" of the cone (that you're looking into) has a 3mm chamfer applied; then the top and bottom of the chamfer each have a 1mm filet applied. So, the funnel actually has 4 different profiles, two of which are rounded. Does it need to be that complicated? I don't know for sure - I didn't test every possibility, but I wanted to eliminate a sharp lip in the funnel, and get the core falling at a steep angle.

[Sitzme]

This is the funnel that I used. It seems that there is a lot of leeway and that the most critical dimension is the diameter at the top. Very similar except the straight section. I did that to make tip more before dragging on the funnel. It works but I need to finish the build. Need those 25 hour days to catch up!

[ricklaut]

This is the funnel that I used. It seems that there is a lot of leeway and that the most critical dimension is the diameter at the top. Very similar except the straight section. I did that to make tip more before dragging on the funnel. It works but I need to finish the build. Need those 25 hour days to catch up!

Very cool - thanks for sharing.

Yes, more 25 hour days needed... I'm losing beauty sleep with this printer by my side (...and if you looked at me, you'd realize how much I need that beauty sleep).

[monmouth]

That's an awesome shaker tray! Can you please add me to a list of prospective purchasers when you're ready to roll it out?

[ricklaut]

That's an awesome shaker tray! Can you please add me to a list of prospective purchasers when you're ready to roll it out?

Will do - thanks for your interest!

[ricklaut]

Today, I finished a fully assembled 2nd unit with the improved funnel / tray height. The cores just WANT to drop into the jackets now . Also, because of how the fence is hard mounted to the top tray, this version will have a plastic strap that clips to the fence and spans the underside of the bottom tray. It's a little challenging getting the strap to print right (more warping / shrinking), but I'm very close. A bit more fine tuning - perhaps another day or two - and I'll be confident enough to offer it for sale.

In my the Swaging Accessories thread, I officially kicked off selling some of the 3D printed stuff. If you're interested, be sure to check there too. In the mean time, here's the latest photos of the core shaker:

[ricklaut]

Before I call it a day, here's a video of the production version in operation. The problems with the strap are resolved

[ricklaut]

I'm ready to take orders for the .224 core shaker! I've fully tested it and am confident in my process.





This saves TONS of time, compared to manually placing cores into jackets. And, they're all standing up ready to go, 100 units at a time. For those who haven't followed the whole thread, this is adapted from Supe47's design and built using a 3D printer. Also, it's used with Supe47's express permission (and with his encouragement, and cajoling ). The video in the post above shows just how simple and effective this is. The video is 5 minutes long, but I'm talking... As I've tested it, it takes about 2 minutes from start to finish.

Like Supe47's version, this is priced at $75.00 per completed unit (domestic shipping included, includes the upper tray, lower tray and strap - as pictured above). The pricing reflects the amount of time (about 26 hours of printing(!!)) and assembly (12 pieces glued into precise alignment) required to complete a finished unit. PayPal accepted; other forms of payment are fine as well (check, money order).

To order, send me a PM or e-mail (rick@reloadingcreations.com). Paid orders will have an order# associated (which I'll reply with); order status can be checked here: http://reloadingcreations.com/?page_id=218. I will respond to all PMs / e-mails; if for some reason you don't get a reply within a reasonable amount of time (24 hours), double check with me.

Depending on demand, and because of the amount of time it takes to print these, it could take time to fulfill orders (so order early!! ). But, with the 'Order Status' page, you'll know where you stand and can track current production. My desire is to be as transparent and efficient as possible.

For more information about this item (and the others I'm offering), visit my ReloadingCreations site.

[ricklaut]

Now, I'm wishing I had a jacket & core separator! When I'm testing these, it's easy enough to get the cores into the jackets; now the harder part is getting batches of 100 cores out of the jackets & separated to test again!

[MTSWAGER]

Well I got my tray today from Supe47. I have to say it is NICE, drops jackets in a hurry!!!! WELL WELL WELL worth the money, He also is a stand up guy!!!

Thanks alot Supe!!!!!!

[supe47]

De nada.