Joy in an . . . 'Upside-down Sizing Press'

[MostlyOnThePaper]

I think it's actually something like ten of a kind.

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[Jailer]

I'm starting to feel left out now........

Why oh why can't I have a cool custom sizing press........

[JBinMN]

I'll post my results for sure.

The chrony is a great idea. Most of the ballistics calculators don't go below 500fps, so I know I'll be providing new and exciting data.

Probably going to set up a bucket and play bullet pong, too. Cheap indoor shooting, no hearing protection needed, fun for the whole family.

OK, I am gonna hold ya to it.. If beer or cocktails are involved ...please take pics or video.



Anyway...I still want the details when it happens. Don't be a slacker or selfish & keep things to yourself.
LOL


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I use a custom made press for sizing my powder coated bullets. Mine was made by a good friend who does aluminum castings as a hobby. He's also a top notch machinist.

I use a snug fitting length of rubber hose over the Lee die body and run it to the floor, into a bucket. Then...start chunking away. It beats the snot outta trying to mount a conventional press upside down.

Attachment 194753

LOL Well, that is mighty fine for You...

Not everyone has a friend who does aluminum castings as a hobby & is a fine machinist too..

You're a lucky feller..
LOL

[Jack Stanley]

I'm starting to feel left out now........

Why oh why can't I have a cool custom sizing press........

Don't feel like the black sheep of the family , with all that overtime you get you could buy ten of them

Jack

[jaysouth]

No Angel

How much would one of those cool looking sizing presses cost? where ever could you get one? i tried Google, but my google-fu is weak. From the photo, it look better than the stuff Lee and Lyman are shipping these days.

Do they come in UT Orange?

[JBinMN]

No Angel

How much would one of those cool looking sizing presses cost? where ever could you get one? i tried Google, but my google-fu is weak. From the photo, it look better than the stuff Lee and Lyman are shipping these days.

Do they come in UT Orange?

He already said where to get one... LOL


Ya have to "have a neighbor who is into casting aluminum as a hobby & is a top notch machinist" too.

Oh yeah, Color is optional, I'd bet. Just like the purple fonts.

LOL

[OS OK]

Lee should offer a press like this.

[JBinMN]

Lee should offer a press like this.

I agree, but until then... Lets have fun trying out our own doins, right?

Unless ya have a neighbor..... LOL



I am going back to talk to Dave( the Guy who is NOT my neighbor & who does not cast aluminum, nor does top notch machine work, but works for beer & a joke or two) about that design with the position of the Lee press to see what he thinks he can do tomorrow and I will post up what I find out.
Those who already have an upside down press or a neighbor that can make one for them, are welcome to join in on how to make things better when doing it as a DIY project.

Hows about that?


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ETA: perhaps some may not have noticed, but I sometimes have a strange sense of humor... I liken someone coming in to tell folks what they have, & how good what they have is, as compared the to other folks, while the other folks are in a conversation trying to work something out for themselves. Then the person telling about how they have it so good, offers NOTHING to add to the conversation, but to seem to gloat over THEIR situation...
I find that humorous now, more than irritated by it. I am "playing nice" in my attempts at humorous quips about "neighbors".
In person, I would prolly say , something like, Why don't ya Shut the F up & go away!", but of course in a nice place like this, that would be unacceptable.... so I won't do it.
I will just say, " If ya have a neighbor...." Smile or wink, & try to leave it at that..

[OS OK]

JB...you must be reading my mind over there...I've already been spitwadding/mulling how I could make one out of steel...getting the shell plate holder milled into the ram is kinda tripping me a bit.
That press is the height of simplicity.

[JBinMN]

JB...you must be reading my mind over there...I've already been spitwadding/mulling how I could make one out of steel...getting the shell plate holder milled into the ram is kinda tripping me a bit.
That press is the height of simplicity.

I like trying to do things & in the same way as going on a nature walk, I like to enjoy the trip as much as the destination. Some folks just want to get somewhere & the trip be dammned. They miss the stuff in between & what can be learned from the "doins" of something.

It is a nice press. I agree. But it doesn't help anyone by just showing it & saying ya have one without any details to help in the quest to make one... Unless ya have a neighbor...


I am a different sort of "dog", I guess... Thinking that a way..
{ Some folks would say, ^ "cat", instead of 'Dog", but I am allergic to cats & actually really dislike them anyhow & am a "dog guy". So , I use Dog instead of cat. LOL Sometimes I crack myself up... }

I should go hit the rack, before I laff myself to death.

[FrankG]

Hes a few states away kind of neighbor .

"Unless ya have a neighbor..... LOL"

[NoAngel]

Would 2,000 miles still be considered neighborly? ...no I guess not. I would certainly 'Flinch' at the idea of having to drive that far.

[MostlyOnThePaper]

Would 2,000 miles still be considered neighborly? ...no I guess not. I would certainly 'Flinch' at the idea of having to drive that far.

Ha

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[JBinMN]

I was pondering on this & here is how I see it...

If a few fellers were discussing how to make up a load for a cast bullet, trying to decide how to go about it, and someone comes in & tells them they already have a load like that, shows us a picture of it, and tells us a good friend made up the load for them & why waste time on working up the load.
What would you think?

And it doesn't matter whether the "good friend", that made up the load is 2000 miles away, or a neighbor across a street. And it doesn't matter if the load works perfect for YOU or not, it doesn't help out the ones who are trying to work up their own load.

Showing the folks trying to work up the load a pic of Your load, & telling them something like, " It beats the snot outta trying to work up a load for that firearm...",{ or as it was really said, "mount a conventional press upside down."), isn't at all helpful.

Maybe showing the load & saying, " My good friend( or neighbor) worked up this load for me that does just about what you want, & would ya like to get a hold of my good friend for assistance, or can I give ya some hints on what "we" came up with?", Or maybe even, "Hey, I know a guy who might help out with getting ya what ya want."

But, no... All I see is someone who wants to gloat over what they have & not be of any use to the topic except draw attention to what they have & others don't have. Who does that help?

Here is a compliment for ya, even though I already said it once before...:

You have a nice press there. And a good friend that made it FOR ya...


Now I am moving on... I have better things to do...
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For any who still might be interested...

I am still going to go see Dave today if I can, and hopefully I will have some pics to show soon of what was done to make a press that can not only work right side up & do ALL of the reloading steps & not just some of them, but can also be turned upside down do try to do things in a more convenient way in that position & have the option do do it either way, rather than a press that is limited to only one or some tasks in one direction. {Making one tool do things in multiple positions, rather than 2 tools in different positions limited to what they can do. Try to load a cast bullet into a press set up upside down is not gonna be easy as the powder may not cooperate when gravity takes effect... unless of course ya want to add a filler wad like dacron to hold it in., but that adds an extra step.} I am gonna try to make something more versatile, since OS OK got me started on this lil project, I plan to finish it, regardless of what other folks & their good friends do.


Have a great day!

[frkelly74]

jmorris...I looked up the manual on this press and they didn't mention why this second threaded hole is in the cam block.
Do you know why?
Possibly rearrange the block and then the lever pushes up with the ram?
It seems like there would be a purpose for it...threaded holes cost money.

The extra threaded hole in your linkage is so that you can reverse the linkage and have the power stroke be an upstroke rather than a down stroke. The handle, at rest with the ram down, will be hanging straight down. Swing the handle up and the ram comes up. I have mine set this way and use it to bell and prime brass. Raise the handle, bell the case, lower the handle with a primer in the primer arm, pushed in , and prime on the down stroke. It works well for me.

[ulav8r]

An aluminum casting should work fine, as that green one implies.

A few years ago I made a ram extension after grinding a lathe tool to make the recess to take a standard shell holder. Don't know where it is now.

The easy way to come up with a ram is to get a replacement ram for a commercial press, such as a Lee, Lyman, RCBS, or whatever you can find. The body could be a weldment of plate and barstock. I would start with barstock with a hole drilled about 1/8" undersize for the ram. Use another piece of barstock to hold the holes in line while tack welding them in place. Then remove it and linebore the holes to size and alignment on the lathe. The lineboring would be the same for a casting as a weldment.

[OS OK]

You are pretty much describing my thoughts for the press body, the line boring I hadn't thought of...I was stuck trying to figure a way to tack it all up without distorting it too badly. Buying the ram...duhhh! At times the obvious sneaks right by me!
I keep having the thought that there is a press out there somewhere that could be remodeled very easily...I dunnoh, it doesn't really matter cause I have so much to do around here this summer I ain't got time to pick my nose or build another upside down press.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

you guys are hilarious

[jaysouth]

Mr. Flinchbaugh
I understand you have a special relationship with the guy who makes these sizing presses. Could one be had with a St.Louis Cardinal logo.

If you have the developer send me a free one, a friend and I can automate the thing with a couple of eccentric cams and a vacuum cleaner motor. We would give him the drawings and patent rights in return.

Hmmm............with the right extrusion die, we could make pasta or stuff sausage with the automated version.

[winchester 71]

Look on the bench in the first photo!!!!!!!!!! see the red Lee die container??????? it is for catching bullets being pushed through the sizer die............it works without this upside down contortionist **** of a upside down press and a bullet catcher on a chair.........Re-inventing the wheel can make people fools.............