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

[EDG]

Nearly all the old presses of the 1960s with that configuration linkage could be set to work on the upstroke.
I had an old Bair C press that was a copy of a Pacific that did the same thing. Before hand priming tools became available everyone had to prime on the press.
Guess what? Priming on the press was much better with the linkage reversed because the primer was actually pressed into the case on the down stroke of the handle.
This meant you were not trying to lift your work bench off of the floor and you could just lean on the handle a little to press in the primers.

There were some bullet swaging tools that were supposed to work with the reversed linkage but I never owned or saw any out side of a magazine.
The very early RCBS A press linkage only worked on the upstroke from what I remember. The A2 linkage can be set either way to work on the up or down stroke.

Ancient Pacific press with upstroke linkage

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.

[OS OK]

^^^ . . . I like your press. After so many years of pulling down on the handle, I wonder if my brain would flip-flop?
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________

OK, back to mullin on the press mount...
I had it all figured out with a materials list in hand when I walked into the welding shop in Auburn but...when I got back to the scrap corner everything came to a halt...

I spied this 6" X 6" X 1/4" square tube about a foot long...all of the sudden I get this vision and see it as a press mount that wouldn't require any welding. Uh oh...there goes all that mullin I've been doing!

Next thing was to get an expert fabricator (and his plasma cutter) to cut this vision out of the tube...This is my pard Sam Houston, another 'brass stuffer'...steady hands at work here...

After the cut-out Sam broke out a variable speed 4" grinder with a 80 grit flap sander disc and proceeded to clean it up for a paint job.
Here it is temporarily mated with the press...just to see if it'll work...yeppers!

After Sam and I admired his handiwork and finished off a 12 pack of cold beer I moseyed off through the woods to my house to see if this new creation was actually going to work on my bench...

This looks about right for where I want to put it so later this morning I'll have to get her all primed and painted up red to match the other mounting hardware...move a few things around and get some lag bolts ready...

I almost want to buff it up a little more and go after it with some Lacquer.

[15meter]

"OMG! How embarrassing!"

Be careful what you put on video...it'll always come back to bite your butt!
Thom Finks (old fart friend and brass-stuffer) and I were trying to make Lee aware of this little 'brain fart' but Lee is not the easiest people to work with about things of this nature.
They had some incoming size restriction on video attached to E-Mail so we had to fit all that into a very short clip...and, after all the effort? Lee never said thanks, kiss our butt or anything else. It sorta left me with a sour taste in my mouth for the idgits I had to deal with.

Dealing with Lee is kind of like dealing with the government, I bought an Lee 8mm die set from them, it has a big burr hanging inside where the vent hole is. I wrote an email explaining that the die was defective and explaining that the burr was large enough to see with your eye. They sent me back an email lecturing me on lube dents in the shoulder. I responded that I absolutely understood what lube dents were and I would not have wasted their time. Then they emailed back asking for photos--you ever try taking photos of a scratch on a well polished case? Emailed back that that photos wouldn't work. They responded back that I should send the die, 1 scratched case and 1 unsized case so they could try it. I responded that by time I boxed it up paid the postage back and wasted my time to go the post office I would be further ahead buying one from someone else. They responded with a request for 2 scratched cases, 2 unsized cases and the die. I resent my email with the comment that I would be further ahead to buy someone else's die and that after 40 years of reloading I had never been treated like that by any other mfg. Haven't heard back from them. With Lee you get what you pay for. And this is not the first time of no response/run around.

[15meter]

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/882...s-and-w-45-acp

This is the only answer I'm aware of regarding cases and fixing the ones that have been 'Glucked-up' . . . Maybe another mfgr. like NOE has what you need.

Try this from Redding: G-RX Base Sizing Die Kit

Pricier that Lee but Redding is always first rate quality in my experience.

[Budzilla 19]

OS OK, that is a heck of an idea! I will make one now! Thanks for the pictures. It amazes me the stuff I learn here!

[kmrra]

"OMG! How embarrassing!"

Be careful what you put on video...it'll always come back to bite your butt!
Thom Finks (old fart friend and brass-stuffer) and I were trying to make Lee aware of this little 'brain fart' but Lee is not the easiest people to work with about things of this nature.
They had some incoming size restriction on video attached to E-Mail so we had to fit all that into a very short clip...and, after all the effort? Lee never said thanks, kiss our butt or anything else. It sorta left me with a sour taste in my mouth for the idgits I had to deal with.

Well I will thank ya , that is a great Idea , now off to the hardware store to get an assortment of springs, tell Fink thanks too.this forum is full of interesting and good ideas.

[OS OK]

That's a wrap...paint is on and dry...lags are in the table...I ran some .452" SWC-HP's and it's comfortable to use and easy to feed. This is going to cut my time at sizing considerably. I'm not sure yet how to feel about a press upside down at the table but that's the way it's got to be...

I screwed on a rail under the table edge to hang this Acro bin on to catch the boolits coming out of the sizer...they only fall about 6" so I hope that won't be an issue with dinged casts.

Sorry for the sideways picture...this software we use aggravates me sometimes! I give up...it wants the dang pictures sideways so that's the way they are going to go!

[kmrra]

you got a lazy susan on that table

[HangFireW8]

Dealing with Lee is kind of like dealing with the government, I bought an Lee 8mm die set from them, it has a big burr hanging inside where the vent hole is. I wrote an email explaining that the die was defective and explaining that the burr was large enough to see with your eye. They sent me back an email lecturing me on lube dents in the shoulder. I responded that I absolutely understood what lube dents were and I would not have wasted their time. Then they emailed back asking for photos--you ever try taking photos of a scratch on a well polished case? Emailed back that that photos wouldn't work. They responded back that I should send the die, 1 scratched case and 1 unsized case so they could try it. I responded that by time I boxed it up paid the postage back and wasted my time to go the post office I would be further ahead buying one from someone else. They responded with a request for 2 scratched cases, 2 unsized cases and the die. I resent my email with the comment that I would be further ahead to buy someone else's die and that after 40 years of reloading I had never been treated like that by any other mfg. Haven't heard back from them. With Lee you get what you pay for. And this is not the first time of no response/run around.

I've noticed that those who wish to deal with Lee on their owns terms have the least luck with Lee.

I never call, email or just write. I return the die or mold with a short clear explanation and a sample case or boolit. This has never failed in getting me back a new or repaired item.

Those who take the "I have XX years of reloading experience so send me new stuff and treat me like you are RCBS" never get anywhere with Lee... even if they are 100% right. Their refusal to take any other approach has clogged many a forum with their complaints.

In the customer service world there are expressions for customers like this, none of them complimentary. They have to have their BJ, uh, their customer service THEIR WAY or Lee is a BAD COMPANY.

Lee is cheap. Lee has 0% replacement rate without a return first. Deal with it or go elsewhere, and leave it at that. Complain about that? Zero sympathy from me. Pay more to somebody else.

-HF

[VHoward]

It's weird how a thread can morph into a "let's bash Lee" thread and then into a "let's bash the bashers" thread.

[bedbugbilly]

I haven't read through all the posts here but I have a couple of Jr3s and a Jr2. I believe the pivot block has two holes in it so that it can be reversed to change the arbor raising up by either pulling down on the lever or pushing up.

I love those little presses and they sure come in handy. Pretty neat set up the OP has!

[EDG]

That is definitely NOT true.
I had a broken Ergo Prime. In this case the lip that held the shell holder broke just like the first die casting supplied on the Auto Prime.
I only needed the die cast shell and they send me a complete new assy in the box without the return of the old Ergo Prime.
I have also written them letters describing a problem before the net and before digital photography and they sent me new parts at no charge.
So far Lee has done well with customer service for me. I know they do have some problems and they are Lee problems not mine. The 7.5X54 French MAS dies sold by Lee are engineered all wrong. You can pay less for Lee and get worthless dies in that caliber.

Lee is cheap. Lee has 0% replacement rate without a return first. Deal with it or go elsewhere, and leave it at that. Complain about that? Zero sympathy from me. Pay more to somebody else.

-HF

[OS OK]

ok . . . To heck with this thread...from here on out...it's . . . "lets all kick . . . L e e . . . In the nutz!"

on the next page we can kick the kickers and maybe throw in another brand to 'nutstomp'...have at it morons.

[6bg6ga]

So why not incorporate a air cylinder to the RCBS press?

[GhostHawk]

Not a Lee basher here. Without Lee I would not be reloading, or casting, or shooting.

If you don't like them, buy something else and pay 2 to 5 times more for it. Your choice, no bashing required.

In my experience 80% of all problems with Lee gear are direct result of the User not knowing what he is doing. Myself included. YMMV

[OS OK]

So why not incorporate a air cylinder to the RCBS press?

I'm going to stick with this 'manual version' . . . I'll leave the 'auto sizers' up to fellas more qualified than me...people like Jmorris.

[r1kk1]

OSOK is the table top a lazy Susan? I too wonder if it turns.

take care

r1kk1

[OS OK]

OSOK is the table top a lazy Susan? I too wonder if it turns.

take care

r1kk1

No...actually I never thought about something like that. I have to move around the table.

The center pole is a separate stand that the yellow shelf is connected to, it's not touching the press table. My digital scale use to have a fit when it was on the table because of vibration. That shelf moves up and down and will turn to face any of the presses I'm working at.

It's handy to verify throws on the LnL quickly but it excels at the Rock Chucker where the RCBS auto powder throw makes up a load for rifle rounds...I run it a bit short and trickle up to my set point.

[JBinMN]

I am planning to try to get a fella I know, to make up one of these mounts you showed in the Pics, OS OK.
I like the idea & although I only have just the one old RCBS S3, I would like the option of being able to reverse it.
What would even be better is a mount with a swivel, like my old vice has, so I can just swivel it one way for one thing & then swivel the other way for another.


Thanks for showing an option that was right in front of most of us, but not considered by many & to actually do it like you did.


Very cool!

[OS OK]

Your vise idea is brilliant...or even a mount that the press could be pulled/slid out of and turned over and re-clamped for use. That doesn't sound very hard and it's a great 'minimalist' way to stay efficient in the press room...some fellas don't have 30' of bench space to devote to presses.

You ought to start a thread on this idea and see what others can come up with...you may have started something here! No kidding!

I'm already thinking of something like a trailer hitch receiver modified...?