Making Boolit molds ~ Suggestions??

[Zaneiel]

I just wanted to give an update: i am replacing part of my machine. Parts are on order and this should take care of the accuracy issues. I should be able to have parts installed and do some testing this weekend

[Schnizel_fritz]

I have to pass on my mold since i just bought a similar from Miha

[Maximumbob54]

Still in it for the long haul. And I guess a bump to see if anyone else is interested.

[Zaneiel]

I got the machine partially putback together, still have to make a new mount for the stepper motor. Hopefully can do the testing this weekend and see if i got the accuracy i need.
I'll post an update if i get any results before then.

[jcren]

Still following, looking forward to seeing g what you can do.

[Zaneiel]

I just wanted to give an update on this. I havent forgotten about this just yet. Something about working a full day and then coming home and working 8 to 10 hours drags you down rather quickly. I still need to finish the stepper motor mount on my mill. I got an adapter made this past weekend. Slow progress but moving along just the same. Taking it easy for a couple weeks then digging in again if i can get the mill to do what i want it to. Thanks for reading and all the advice!

[Cowboy_Dan]

Just wondering if there was any updates on this project in the last month.

[Dragonheart]

I am tooling up next week to make some molds after i finish service on my CNC machine.

A few things come to mind:
1.) Slab wall molds for the powder coating folks out there (myself included).
452-200
310-155
224-060
[I can do others if you have something in mind]
2.) 200 or 230 grain TC style 6 or 8 gang boolit for my .45 1911
[452-200]
[452-230]

Anyone have suggestions for what they think may be good sellers?
Anyone need a mold made?

I can also do 1,2,4 or other Cavity Counts.
Thanks for the help

I started a thread "Possible Light Weight Hollow Base 9mm Bullet Mold"
under "Group Buy Discussions" . I think this might be of interest and at least something different.

[Zaneiel]

Sorry no updates. The inaccuracy of the milling machine has me working on machine tools again. I hope to get back to this project before summer. A friend and i are building a couple of larger lathes 3 ft between centers and 12 inch swing to give you an idea of the size. Hopefully the build of these new cnc machines doesnt take more than a few months.

[xfoxofshogo]

I use to make some slab side molds for PC and yes they all shoot good in sub sonic but only a few above that GC did help in testing

[Zaneiel]

Update time:
It is well before summer and project is back in the works.
Milling machine is fixed and dead on the money now. (only had to tare the whole X axis apart and replace the screw, make new stepper motor mounts and dial it all in).
My son is now helping me with the project to make extra money while he goes to college so I am teaching him as we go
We are making new boolit mold cutters this weekend and will be running some test pours checking dropped boolit size and adjusting CNC programs accordingly.
First 2 cutters are going to be Keith and TC styles followed by Spitzer for some 300 blackout fun
I refer to the cutters as styles because I plan to cut all calibers within a given style with a single cutter thanks to Cap'n Morgan for introducing me to helical interpolation!
For example: once i make a TC style cutter, i can cut any size boolit mold with it within reason. .357, .45, .44 etc etc and change the depth of cut to increase or decrease the bullet weight.
I got fixtures and a whole bunch of tooling made already so it is looking good.

More updates to come!

[jcren]

Still with ya. Have at least 3 molds I would like to have.

[Zaneiel]

Got a cutter made for .308 - .312 today. turns out the laws of physics won't let the nose profile fit on a cutter as small as .200 that would cut a .223 through .454 so 1 cutter for all calibers just plain won't work for the styles I want to do at least but there is some overlap so that is good news. for instance i can make a cutter that could cut .356 through .359 or .429 through .453 and so on. Anyway some nice progress today. Tomorrow I will be cutting test cavities and see what kind of damage we can do

[Zaneiel]

Update:
Cutters made for Keith style traditional lube groove and powder coat 300 blackout.
I was successful cutting mold cavities on the CNC mill but it was taking so long that I abandoned that for now.
I ended up making a fixture for the lathe and it is working out quite nicely.
Finishing some setup on the lathe and I hope to be cutting some molds this weekend.
I am also making cutters for Powder coat TC style boolits next. should be covering .380 through .45

[country gent]

What you might try is a roughing cutter/drill with close to nose profile and smooth sided at just under grease grooves dia. With this you could drill the cavity close to where it has to be. then a true form cutter ( I would try gringing it on a end mill 2 flute HSS cobalt with grooves and nose profile to what you want and use this for a circle pocket type cut. The 2 flutes with a solid flow of coolant should clear chips well and allow for clean cuts. In this way your form cutter is only cutting .030 or so out of the cavity. By pre drilling the cavity with a formed drill your removing most of the metal quick and easy. Leaving the rough .010-.015 under smallest dia allows for all surfaces to be cleaned up and true with the finish form cutter. With a form for the nose and slightly under smallest dia a cutter similar to a woodruff key cutter could posibly be used also. It would need to be a dia to fit into hole and as wide as the driving bands,

[country gent]

Oh and when grinding the cutters remeber to back of so the edges are truly sharp and capable of cutting. just grinding a form leaves a cylindrical form with no relief to allow the edge to cut

[Zaneiel]

Thanks for the tips, i'm using 2 different size drill bits to remove most of the material but a form drill would be allot better.

[Zaneiel]

Oh and when grinding the cutters remeber to back of so the edges are truly sharp and capable of cutting. just grinding a form leaves a cylindrical form with no relief to allow the edge to cut

When you say back off, that is the part i'm not getting i think.
Everyone casually says "with proper relief" or "relieved".
I Have been having trouble getting the proper relief on the form. if it were a straight reamer it would be easy

I have quote requests out to a few companies that grind tooling.
I am going to order an expensive custom ground cutter and either continue doing so or try to copy what I get.

At some point you have to ask yourself....Do i want to make the hammer.... or just buy the hammer so i can drive that darn nail!

[country gent]

Backing off the cutter is relieving the back of the sides so there is a sharp cutting edge that dosnt rub behind the cutting edge. Look at the sides of an endmill under magnification they are below the cutting edge on the sides. A simple fixture and hand stoning can accomplish this. A cherry or form cutter needs to be backed off to allow cutting otherwise it simply rubbs