Lead core cutter

[Cane_man]

I made one like the Ammosmith, search or google "ammosmith core cutter" . Wire cutters with a post and flat washer. cheap, fast and accurate enough for me as the difference on weight is bled off in the core swage die.

i saw that, what a great simple design! i think if you are just cutting smaller diameters you really wouldn't want anything more than this...

[Cane_man]

had a fun day in the shop, weather cooled down some so i could rough out a "core cutter"... not really a core cutter as most of you guys are using lead wire or something similar, where all i need to do is trim off the ogive of a cast boolit to get the desired core weight i need... here is the business side where you can see the boolit ogive sticking out ready to trim to length:



i set it up so i can use different inserts for different size of boolits, and adjust how much of the ogive will stick out with an adjustment screw... here is the back side where i just clamped it to the top of my press, there is the insert with a tiny ejection punch... trimming this way initially had my boolits within 1 grain of each other, before i was using tin snips and getting 5+ grain variations so i am very pleased with this setup:



i will explain the details this week in my swaging thread, i have a few more details to finish up on, but thanks everyone for your help on this, could not have done it without you!

[customcutter]

Looks professional, good job.

CC

[Utah Shooter]

Looks Fantastic Cane_Man!

[Cane_man]

hey CC you are just the man to know this... i want to heat treat the blade part of "chopper", all i have is a small map gas torch, can i heat up just the blade area to red/orange and then quench it oil? do i need to temper after hardening? any suggestions as i dont have a fire or heat treating oven...

edit: the steel is 1018 cold rolled

[customcutter]

Cane,

1018 is a low carbon steel, and can not be heat treated. If you need a harder edge, you could try case hardening. If you are just cutting soft lead, I doubt that it would need to be hardened. I'm assuming you are using this for cutting cores? If the cutter gets dull try sharpening it at a blunter angle. Like a metal chisel vs a wood chisel. I've never cut any lead yet, but don't know how quickly it would dull the cutting edge. I'm in the lawn care business so I've got a ton of old lawn mower blades available that I'll make mine from. You could also try attaching an edger blade to your cutter, they are hardened.

hope this helps,
CC

[Cane_man]

well i ended up case hardening using Cherry Red... i tellya what, that Forrestr aint no gump and his tip to use ceramic insulation when torching up the part worked like a charm... i just wrapped the blade/handle part in the insulation like a taco, hit it with the torch and in about 5' the cutting edge was orange... then did the case hardening and it turned out awesome

i took a course and then fine file to it, probably spent more time that i should but i was having fun, it cuts like a knife cutting cheese:

[Utah Shooter]

What kind of cheese? I tell ya that Munster stuff sure is delightful just not easy to cut!

That really is a nice looking cutter.

[Cane_man]

hahaha, thanks Joe... i really like sharp cheddar with gobs of sea salt sprinkled on it... and an icy cold bud light