Automated Master Caster

[Tazza]

I read the exact same thing about hardening and softening of lead. You need the arsenic to be effective at hardening if memory serves.

I have a few before and hope to get some during ones as well. It will hopefully look like a new Frankenstein casting machine soon

[ProfGAB101]

Do your sprues stay dry with this setup?

Update: THe ME students have done their final project presentation. They still have a few requirements they have to polish off before I get MC#1 back. No real rush on that as I still don't have the power drop in the garage. The weather finally did warm up enough for me to finish off the tile. The floor sure does look a lot better. Guess we'll find out just how well composition vinyl tile stands up to the occasional hot sprue. Now I can got onto the power drop and the water line for the sprinkler system.

It will really be nice when I'm finally down to just making bullets.

Yes the spures stay dry - but on the odd chance any water did splash in I don't dump them back into a hot furnace the same day. I have maybe 2 gal worth of sprues so I add to the pot from prior sessions that I know are dried out.

Main reason for the water drop is to cushion the fall until the bullet is solid enough to not get minor surface imperfections on impact with the can or existing bullets.

[hagel]

That actually seems like a really good procedure. Hatch has commented, and I should think quite correctly. that the design speed for the MC is around 480 bullets/hr with 600 being the practical upper limit. From what I have seen of the student runs on MC#1, which is running at just a little over 700/hr, a gentler landing for the bullets wouldn't be a bad idea.

Lots to learn. Lots to try out.

Update: got the meterbase/disconnect and the first 10 ft of the mast mounted to the side of the garage today. With a little luck I should be able to call AEP by mid week and get on the list for my 200 amp power drop.

[wymanwinn]

That actually seems like a really good procedure. Hatch has commented, and I should think quite correctly. that the design speed for the MC is around 480 bullets/hr with 600 being the practical upper limit. From what I have seen of the student runs on MC#1, which is running at just a little over 700/hr, a gentler landing for the bullets wouldn't be a bad idea.

hmmmm....i am using the "Hatch" program and cast at 10sec intervals witch translates to 720 bullets/hr if everything runs smoothly....

[Tazza]

I found that in manual mode i got leading between the sprue cutter and the mold if i tried to go too fast. What issues do you get when you try and run the automated machine faster than it should? do you just get 'wet' projectiles dropping? The machine and mold i have are well used, so i'm not sure if it's just due to wear or if it was normal.

720/hour seems like a pretty good production rate. Commercially you always want more, but for home use it's more than enough, especially being automated.

[wymanwinn]

I found that in manual mode i got leading between the sprue cutter and the mold if i tried to go too fast. What issues do you get when you try and run the automated machine faster than it should? do you just get 'wet' projectiles dropping? The machine and mold i have are well used, so i'm not sure if it's just due to wear or if it was normal.

720/hour seems like a pretty good production rate. Commercially you always want more, but for home use it's more than enough, especially being automated.

i agree that in manual the rate of pulling the handle speeds up....sometimes making a mess....but with the Hatch program set at 10sec and use of sprue lube on the top of the mold, under the sprue plate and on the guide rails, i have near zero issues with smears....

and yes, 720/hr is a good rate...i load for two friends so when i cast i also lube/size....then i can load up about 600/hr on my 550b with case feeder.....

wyman

[Tazza]

Thanks for the details wyman, I'll have to see what is available over here. I read that others have used synthetic oil with good results.

[hagel]

Wyman, you are indeed one gem of an informational resource. MC#1 does smear a little at 720 rounds/minute. I'll try your approach to lubing a little more and hopefully get the same results as you do.

Sometime in the future we will have to discuss you 550b. Starting to get some requests for reloading and my current equipment, two Lee single stage presses, don't really make that a practical commercial consideration. I have looked at one of the real commercial loader machines that most people are supposedly using. They run over $5000 and thus are out of my price range.

I have a question for you on the Star luber/sizer: Magma sells caliber specific bullet feeders for this machine for $120 a piece. Are they just talking about the little piece of bar stock with the chamfered hole drilled through it that slides back and forth carrying one bullet at a time from the feed tube to the die? If that is the case then I could buy a lot of aluminum bar stock for $120 and mill my own. What are your thoughts on that? Anyone else made their own bullet feeders for the Star?

i agree that in manual the rate of pulling the handle speeds up....sometimes making a mess....but with the Hatch program set at 10sec and use of sprue lube on the top of the mold, under the sprue plate and on the guide rails, i have near zero issues with smears....

and yes, 720/hr is a good rate...i load for two friends so when i cast i also lube/size....then i can load up about 600/hr on my 550b with case feeder.....

wyman

[jmorris]

Starting to get some requests for reloading and my current equipment, two Lee single stage presses, don't really make that a practical commercial consideration. I have looked at one of the real commercial loader machines that most people are supposedly using. They run over $5000 and thus are out of my price range.

If you already had an auto caster built for you, you just need to have an automated press built too.

Here are two different styles of drives that I have done. Either will out load what a single MC can produce though.

http://s121.photobucket.com/user/jmo...O0114.mp4.html

http://s121.photobucket.com/user/jmo...fb858.mp4.html

Magma sells caliber specific bullet feeders for this machine for $120 a piece. Are they just talking about the little piece of bar stock with the chamfered hole drilled through it that slides back and forth carrying one bullet at a time from the feed tube to the die? If that is the case then I could buy a lot of aluminum bar stock for $120 and mill my own.

I don't know about the star sizer but the feeder I built for my homemade sizer works like a child's gum ball machine, just motor driven. The part that shuttles the bullet from the feed tube to the die is just plastic.

http://s664.photobucket.com/user/qvi...1a12f.mp4.html

[hagel]

Wow! Do you build rockets in your spare time? You are just flat amazing.

OK, let me get all the stuff I'm gnawing on right now chewed up and we'll talk some more.

If you already had an auto caster built for you, you just need to have an automated press built too.

Here are two different styles of drives that I have done. Either will out load what a single MC can produce though.

http://s121.photobucket.com/user/jmo...O0114.mp4.html

http://s121.photobucket.com/user/jmo...fb858.mp4.html



I don't know about the star sizer but the feeder I built for my homemade sizer works like a child's gum ball machine, just motor driven. The part that shuttles the bullet from the feed tube to the die is just plastic.

http://s664.photobucket.com/user/qvi...1a12f.mp4.html

[wymanwinn]

I have a question for you on the Star luber/sizer: Magma sells caliber specific bullet feeders for this machine for $120 a piece. Are they just talking about the little piece of bar stock with the chamfered hole drilled through it that slides back and forth carrying one bullet at a time from the feed tube to the die? If that is the case then I could buy a lot of aluminum bar stock for $120 and mill my own. What are your thoughts on that? Anyone else made their own bullet feeders for the Star?

there have been instances where a bullet cocked on the feeder, then the ram came down on the bridge at the end of the feeder bar.....being steel it survived....i would think aluminum would have been damaged.....that said, i only have two feeder bars, one for up to .40/10mm and another for bigger....

being automated i have found that the 1-1/2" roll pin and the return spring on the feeder bar have relatively short lives (on the order of 2500-3000 bullets) so i keep a supply on hand for a quick change/repair....thinking about increasing the roll pin size from 1/8" to maybe 5/32....1/2 again more strength...

wyman

[kayak1]

there have been instances where a bullet cocked on the feeder, then the ram came down on the bridge at the end of the feeder bar.....being steel it survived....i would think aluminum would have been damaged.....that said, i only have two feeder bars, one for up to .40/10mm and another for bigger....

being automated i have found that the 1-1/2" roll pin and the return spring on the feeder bar have relatively short lives (on the order of 2500-3000 bullets) so i keep a supply on hand for a quick change/repair....thinking about increasing the roll pin size from 1/8" to maybe 5/32....1/2 again more strength...

wyman

Wyman,
I was thinking of changing the feeder bar to be run via a small air cylinder. If I want to not have it feed a new boolit but instead let me put a pre-lubed one in I can't. I find that once I start putting pre-lubed ones in the drop tube it gums up the works and things stop dropping in.

I am also having a lot of wear in the feed system where the punch bolt pushes on the lever.

Does anybody see a down side other than the little extra air usage and the cost of a cylinder I already have a few extra solenoids kicking around.

[wymanwinn]

Wyman,
I was thinking of changing the feeder bar to be run via a small air cylinder. If I want to not have it feed a new boolit but instead let me put a pre-lubed one in I can't. I find that once I start putting pre-lubed ones in the drop tube it gums up the works and things stop dropping in.

I am also having a lot of wear in the feed system where the punch bolt pushes on the lever.

Does anybody see a down side other than the little extra air usage and the cost of a cylinder I already have a few extra solenoids kicking around.

i do not feed lubed bullets.....with the exception of ones that did not get fully lubed....but if the feed bar gets goobered it does cause bullets to "stick"....i do not think an air cylinder would solve this and only complicate the process....

i grease the top of the bolt that actuates the feed system and had little problem there...

wyman

[kayak1]

i do not feed lubed bullets.....with the exception of ones that did not get fully lubed....but if the feed bar gets goobered it does cause bullets to "stick"....i do not think an air cylinder would solve this and only complicate the process....

i grease the top of the bolt that actuates the feed system and had little problem there...

wyman

I was thinking that with the feeder run separately from the sizer I could toggle it to be able to run the star without having the feeder put a new boolit in then I could drop a pre-lubed on in have it sized then re-enable the feeder.

That way I could keep the feeder clean and not have to worry about the special punch nut and circle/bold on the punch.

[HATCH]

Wyman, i use a roofing nail instead of the roll pin. They are cheap and they will bend prior to breaking. Its a weak link that fails first

[hagel]

Oooh, I like that! Roofing nails are cheap. Good thinking!

Wyman, i use a roofing nail instead of the roll pin. They are cheap and they will bend prior to breaking. Its a weak link that fails first

[sdharley]

Hi Hatch have you had time to do any work with the relay timers yet?

[Tazza]

Jmorris - you never cease to amaze me with your contraptions. Do you just work from a plan in your head or do you need to draw it out first? Most of the things I do, I generally have the idea then just start building from there. Mostly it works out as I had hoped it would. Currently building a bench for my mc, not really fast but getting there.

[jmorris]

Generally just an idea the rest comes from what material and other "stuff" I have collecting dust.

[Tazza]

I have a collection of 'stuff' some call it junk, I see it as potential stock for my next project. Your collection and ability to construct things is far more impressive. Keep up the projects and of course showing us them