Ogive cutting on a lathe

[teddyblu]

06 tool steel
http://www.peerlesssteel.com/productlist/toolsteel/

[Cane_man]

looks like they got it, but it seems like they are more oriented toward selling larger quantities to businesses and not so much geared for the smaller consumer like me... i.e. they got no shopping cart and if you want to buy something you fill out an RFQ... have you bought from them ?

[sprinkintime]

Cane man Just use Enco for you tool steels or McMaster Carr.

[teddyblu]

Sprinkintime
Does Enco or McMaster Carr supply 06 Tool Steel?

[customcutter]

Cane, I know you ran your bullet through a sizing die. Did you mic it afterwards? Also was wondering what the inner dimension is of the sizing die, and if you got any spring back???

thanks,
CC

well i got proof of concept today... took one of those swaged bullets above and sized it with a sizing die that i made today and compared it to the factory bullet:



a shootable bullet, imo, not perfect but usable... you see the d reamer, swaged bullet, factory bullet, and the point forming die that i made which needs to be scrapped because it flares the base... but like i said this was proof of concept to see if it could be done at home with a small hobby lathe, by someone who i consider myself not much of a craftsman... i am pleased and see the light at the end of the tunnel on this project

[Cane_man]

^^^ cc, i mic'ed it after it went thru the sizer and it was 0.224, i don't know the ID of the sizer as i only check dimensions when lapping by running a bullet thru and measuring but the sizer is supposed to be 0.224, so as far as i can tell there was no spring back but i dont know for sure since i dont know the ID... i just have a caliper so i didn't really "mic" it, so i decided to get one and it should be in tomorrow... i figured it is a good investment as i am getting deeper into this addicting hobby and maybe it will prevent a Kaboom

[deltaenterprizes]

This issue of the Home Shop Machinist has an article about using the compound as a radius turner

[customcutter]

Cane,

Didn't mean for you to buy a mic, caliper measurements were good enough. I don't have ability to measure inside of a die either. I know what you mean about ordering accessories though. I just sent in an order to Enco this AM for $200 worth of items. They have a 20% off everything code and free shipping code that ends today at midnight.

Codes are TW625 for 20% off and SHIP625 for free shipping. Codes are good even on sale items and shipping on everything except equipment IIRC.

CC

[customcutter]

This issue of the Home Shop Machinist has an article about using the compound as a radius turner

Delta,

Need to do a search on Home Shop Machinist. There's probably a thread in the Shop Made Tools on how to make a "ball turner" or "radius turner". I know I've seen plans on one of the forums that I've looked at in the past couple of years.

CC

[Cane_man]

no worries cc, been wanting to get a mic for a while and this just gave me the excuse

learned a new skill this afternoon, how to remove a stuck bullet from the point forming die:



flip the die upside down, screw in a dry wall screw in the stuck bullet, flip the die back over and grab on to the screw head with some pliars, then tap tap tap with a hammer on the pliars and it comes out! what a relief, its time to call it a day and have a bud light

[deltaenterprizes]

Same way I did it but I used a fulcrum to pry it out with the die gripped in a vise

[Cane_man]

this instrument is fantastic, takes all the guess work out of it... a little pricey, but its a one and done type of tool, i am sure the wife won't mind when she finds out




i am starting to think that 12L14 will be fine for the point forming die... this is not a high pressure/stress die like the derimming and core seating dies are... it is so easy to cut and polish, i know it is a low strength/wear steel but i will not be making thousands of bullets per year, and if it does wear it is no biggie to make a new one once you get the spoon reamer dialed in, and they bullets will be run thru a sizer anyway...

i made a point forming die yesterday with O1 and a 4 flute reamer, didn't turn out so well and the stuck case above was from that attempt... making a new spoon today and new die, using the 12L14

[Idz]

Looks like you're making great progress with your dies. Any thoughts on a two-piece die with a body section and a point section? It sure would eliminate the stuck bullet problem. The only thing I can't figure out on a two piece die is how to hold the two pieces together for reaming and polishing. Maybe solder would be sufficient?

[customcutter]

Heat treated and tempered the D-reamers this AM. Apparently I missed either on the "cherry red" color or the small toaster oven was way warmer than 450*. I tried making another die, (because I thought part of the 4 flute reamer was still stuck in the first die) and broke the 3/32 bit with about .010" to go through. I finished threading it and cut it off a little short, and was able to punch it out from the other side. It's almost exactly the length of the bushing in the top of my reloading press. Tried reaming it with the second reamer and the die (4140PH) started cutting into the reamer.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure out some way to use one of my two QCTP as an ogive cutter. Can't be done, the geometry just isn't there. So finally I pulled the compound off to see how I could attach a radius cutter. I've got a piece of 1" Al that's 4"X8", I can cut it in half and make the base. All I've got to do now is figure out how to get my 3 jaw off and install the 4 jaw, so that I can bore out the center pivot hole. That or I can go buy a 22mm drill and reamer.

CC

[customcutter]

Cane,

You made the 4 flute reamer and the die from O1. You're not making the reamers out of 12L14 are you? Sorry, I forgot you can case harden it. I'm going to read a few more articles on heat treating W1.

CC

[deltaenterprizes]

Delta,

Need to do a search on Home Shop Machinist. There's probably a thread in the Shop Made Tools on how to make a "ball turner" or "radius turner". I know I've seen plans on one of the forums that I've looked at in the past couple of years.

CC

I have a couple of them, OP was asking if it could be done that way.

[Cane_man]

Cane,

You made the 4 flute reamer and the die from O1. You're not making the reamers out of 12L14 are you? Sorry, I forgot you can case harden it. I'm going to read a few more articles on heat treating W1.

CC

i made the reamers from W1, it turns and files easily, heat treats well and quenches fine in water, does well with tempering at 350F for 1 hour... i heat the W1 to orange in my little coffee can oven and map gas torch and hold it there for 2 minutes rotating 90* every 30 seconds then quench in plain water (as opposed to brine water)

i am not going to even case harden the 12L14 point forming die, i think it will be fine

edit: forgot to add after tempering i use some diamond hones that i have to put an edge on it, not a razor edge but it is fairly sharp, need to leave some meat under the edge to give it strength

[Cane_man]

Looks like you're making great progress with your dies. Any thoughts on a two-piece die with a body section and a point section? It sure would eliminate the stuck bullet problem. The only thing I can't figure out on a two piece die is how to hold the two pieces together for reaming and polishing. Maybe solder would be sufficient?

i have thought about a 2 piece die, and fooled around with one for point forming 10mm... what would happen is the case would catch on the seam for the die halves and either wrinkle or crumple, so i ditched the idea as being beyond my skill set... when i turned them i did the two halves separately in the lathe

[customcutter]

i made the reamers from W1, it turns and files easily, heat treats well and quenches fine in water, does well with tempering at 350F for 1 hour... i heat the W1 to orange in my little coffee can oven and map gas torch and hold it there for 2 minutes rotating 90* every 30 seconds then quench in plain water (as opposed to brine water)

i am not going to even case harden the 12L14 point forming die, i think it will be fine

I think I would have done better by heating to orange. Seems I read on one site last night to hold for 1 hr/in of thickness, or alternatively to heat slightly hotter for a few minutes, if you didn't hold temp for the required length of time. I used the small propane torch this AM instead of firing up the acetylene torch. Propane is probably hot enough, I just tried to hold it at cherry red instead of going on to orange.

[customcutter]

I have a couple of them, OP was asking if it could be done that way.

Delta,

You're right, when I first read his post I was trying to visualize what he was doing. Now that I went through all the motions myself this afternoon, I see it. I did a google search last night and there are tons of them that come up.