Making that Bullet Collator

[Gillie Dog]

Oh wait no. The 18mm would be for the 16mm adapters. If memory serves me correctly the 14mm springs match up with the DAA output chute spring.
https://www.doublealpha.biz/us/doubl...ute-and-spring

With a little massaging of the first coil the DAA output chute springs works quite well with #12 and #13 adapters but is to small OD for the #14 adapters. Also the 44 mag case does not like the DAA output chute spring very much. DAA output chute spring runs about 13mm ID and almost 15mm OD. But the 44 mag case is 13.06 nominal with a -.25mm tolerance.

Anyway I will order up something to try. Have received three good suggestions here, Aliexpress, McMaster Carr and The Stop Shop as sources, and will check dimensions and pick one.

Many thanks

GD

[Gillie Dog]

My question is how do I integrate the jst connectors? Does anyone have any photos or diagrams that have the connectors integrated? I am using a proximity sensor.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

I use the JST 3 wire connector for the prox sensor but I customized my electrical box without all the holes, just one with a grommet and strain relief.

I solder and shrink tube the wires to the prox and the wires coming out of the box.

I went to different connector for the motor and power but I am sure they would work fine. This is what I did, soldered and shrink tubed. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P8M44ZX...roduct_details

Not much, but maybe a little help, but what I do.

GD

[GWS]

I use the JST 3 wire connector for the prox sensor but I customized my electrical box without all the holes, just one with a grommet and strain relief.

I solder and shrink tube the wires to the prox and the wires coming out of the box.

I went to different connector for the motor and power but I am sure they would work fine. This is what I did, soldered and shrink tubed. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07P8M44ZX...roduct_details

Not much, but maybe a little help, but what I do.

GD

That worked. I answered him and got your attention. Never used such fancy connections.....solder? Yes when the need arises. Inside the box wire nuts work just as well, and are fast. Yes they make wire nuts even for 18 gauge wire.

[Gillie Dog]

That worked. I answered him and got your attention. Never used such fancy connections.....solder? Yes when the need arises. Inside the box wire nuts work just as well, and are fast. Yes they make wire nuts even for 18 gauge wire.

Yea, you know how it goes. Solder/shrink tube connections, ferrules on stranded wires in terminals, cable ties, wire routing to prevent rats nests, etc......... My OCD won't let me use wire nuts on controls, but 120 volt residential yes............ The older I get, the worse it gets.

GD

[calgarysparky]

So after a year with my machines I've decided to do a few quality of life upgrades to make the machines just that bit better. Here is the first of them, a new designed clutch. The OG design was nice but if you needed to adjust the clutch it was a pain to remove everything from the bowl, pull the plate, and then tighten the screws. The handle tended to be a touch weak also due to the way it was printed. Now you can adjust the clutch tension from the top without having to remove anything and the handle is more robust. The other bonus is that everything prints flat and there is no need for supports. More tiny things to come but I thought this would be a good start!! You will need 2x 3mmx25mm screws ans 2x 3mm locknuts. Enjoy!!https://github.com/calgarysparky/3dprinterprojects

[GWS]

Ah, another divergent like me.....I knew I couldn't be the only one. My alternate state was this:



More than one way to skin a cat (or print flat without supports)

I do build one for each plate.....so I only have to adjust the clutch on the first run. I don't care to share them....only more work with every plate change. Also I only print one size that I use thick or thin.....so yes, they stick up on rifle shell plates....and I don't care a whit.

TylerR likes to be efficient in storing them. I'd rather always have them ready to drop in. Not kidding when I say "sticking up on rifle shell plates". Below:

[GWS]

I downloaded your STL's so I could study what you did. Reversing the nut keeper to the bottom does have merit, for the reason you mentioned. Just have to be sure the bolt can never protrude out the bottom when tight. I like it. Can it work without variation for thick or thin plates? The #11 rifle bullet plate is 25mm high, 22mm at the clutch area.....think it's the tallest one. Rifle plates are only 8mm thick.....big difference.

[calgarysparky]

They are the exact same dimensions as the OG ones so they should work fine. At 25mm length on the bolt you souldn't be touching anywhere. The captured nuts are what make this a little easier to adjust when needed. I don't like locking up the clutch that much and actually have some grease in there to keep them from sticking. Hope you like them.

[Walnut]

First of all, thank you Tyler, I have built several collators for my Lee APP, and Dillon presses. I use the bullet down and bullet up feature, it is a great design!
I use the the "search thread" function before I posted this, so hopefully I won't waste your time. I recently got a Lee 38 cal 105gr SWC mold and been using your collators for sizing and feeding. The bullet works great in 380 auto and 9mm, but doesn't like the spring adaptor drop tube. The bullets get wedged in sideways and mucks up the works. I have found the 12mm spring adaptor drop tube has the right spring size, but the funnel is to wide. I have it tried 35 degrees to 55 degrees of tilt, but haven't been able to find the sweet spot for the bullets feed 100%

I took some double stick tape and reduced the diameter from approx. 16mm to 14mm and it seems to work much better, but not 100%.
Here are the bullet specs if that helps. .357" Diameter, total bullet length is 13.35mm and the bearing surface is 7.80mm
Any help or advice would be great Thanks again for everything you have done for the 3D printing community.

[Gillie Dog]

Here are the bullet specs if that helps. .357" Diameter, total bullet length is 13.35mm and the bearing surface is 7.80mm
Any help or advice would be great Thanks again for everything you have done for the 3D printing community.

I hope I am understanding correctly, and you are using #12 spring adapters and 12mm ID spring for a 38/9mm bullet, I believe you are using too large of spring adapters and spring. For that diameter bullet, nose up is all I do, I use #10 drop tube, #10 spring adapters with Double Alpha Academy output spring small (~10mm ID). I intended to test #9 spring adapters but since this is working property, have not done so.

Edited to add: just tested #9 and are to small for 38/9mm bullets

GD

[RightAngle]

Need to modify a couple APP brass inserts. Is there a quick and dirty way to make the top of the inserts accept 9/16 or 14mm tubing on 223 and 300blk?

Also any way to make 380, 44spl, and 10mm brass inserts?

Thanks for all the hard work in this thread. This project has been a fun challenge and glad to have feeders up and running!

[rogerandre]

Dear Team
Most of us are using the collator to feed our progressive presses (Dillon 650 and up), but sometimes it would be nice to be able to use the collator with singe stage presses, or like Dillon 550 by utilizing a ”manual hand pickup station/die”. So a station where bullets/brass is dropped and then picked up by hand. Anyone that have been tinkering with something like that ?

[GWS]

That's what a Lee APP is......and I agree that a collator is great used on a single stage, so I created hybrid setup to do the same on my RCBS Summit Press, back a few pages (and months) using Lee APP shuttle and of course a TylerR quick-change!

https://youtu.be/gyegqlNLMM8

[Walnut]

Thanks for the feedback, I went back and I tried the recommend spring adaptor. This is what I found - #10 offset and spring is too small/tight to drop reliably with the flat base bullet unless I ran the feeder pretty slow. I would get hang ups in the transition from drawtube to spring or in the first turn towards my XL750. If it had a beveled base, I bet it would work pretty good, but this Lee mold leaves a sharp 90 edge on the bullets that hangs on every tiny crack or obstruction. When I used the standard wide #10 spring adaptor, had the same problem of the bullet dropping sideways as the picture above.

The #11 has the same wide mouth as the #12 so I will get the bullets going sideways as my picture shows. I do not have an offset #11 file in my downloads, so I can't try it. The #11 spring is slightly larger than the #10, it might work, but I do not have enough to do proper testing, hence using the #12 spring adaptor and spring. I can run the bullet feeder at nearly top speed and its reliable. Spring is small enough in diameter to keep the bullet from flipping/tilting, but large enough to prevent the flat base grabbing at the spring coils. When I get several bullet stacked up in the spring, they don't lock together in my experience.

Thanks for the input, I hope someone in this thread has walked this road and has a answer. There is a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience.
JW

[rogerandre]

That's what a Lee APP is......and I agree that a collator is great used on a single stage, so I created hybrid setup to do the same on my RCBS Summit Press, back a few pages (and months) using Lee APP shuttle and of course a TylerR quick-change!

https://youtu.be/gyegqlNLMM8

VERY creative - Supercool !
Will take inspiration with TylerR quick-change as base

Huge thanks !

[GWS]

Need to modify a couple APP brass inserts. Is there a quick and dirty way to make the top of the inserts accept 9/16 or 14mm tubing on 223 and 300blk?

Also any way to make 380, 44spl, and 10mm brass inserts?

Thanks for all the hard work in this thread. This project has been a fun challenge and glad to have feeders up and running!

Look at the video I just posted in my last post on my RCBS APP hybrid...... You will notice that the rifle inserts I use have 9/16 tubing running directly into the top of the inserts on both. I can't remember if that's how TylerR's are done stock, or if I used a drill and drilled a 1/2 " down thru the top to make them fit. But he can tell you. Pretty simple. You can drill out any size you want, but make sure the transition at the end of the hole is smooth and tapered with no place to catch and stop a case.

[TylerR]

That's what a Lee APP is......and I agree that a collator is great used on a single stage, so I created hybrid setup to do the same on my RCBS Summit Press, back a few pages (and months) using Lee APP shuttle and of course a TylerR quick-change!

https://youtu.be/gyegqlNLMM8

I know I saw that video when you first posted it, but dang that is a cool design.

Are the clear tubes the same as what you get with the APP or something else? My inserts were designed around the APP clear tubes.

[GWS]

I know I saw that video when you first posted it, but dang that is a cool design.

Are the clear tubes the same as what you get with the APP or something else? My inserts were designed around the APP clear tubes.

Those in the video are 9/16" D, same as the Lee tubes that go in their universal four tube setup. So yours are probably 9/16 too. Where I've gotten confused is when I printed some .357and 9mm inserts modified for smaller tubing....but I'm wondering if that was necessary...I've slept, but am wondering if I had experienced tilting cases hanging on edges somewhere. Maybe yours for the small pistol was made for the "other" Lee tubing that's smaller so less tilting in the tubes. I just don't remember.

To RogerAndrea: For the Summit Press, I had to modify two things from normal Lee APP. First the Caliber insert Support had to be lengthened a little, and still had to add a coupler nut. Two, the spring is 1" longer, for the longer stroke, and so I had to surround it with clear tubing to prevent bending during the "push" stage.

[rogerandre]

Those in the video are 9/16" D, same as the Lee tubes that go in their universal four tube setup. So yours are probably 9/16 too. Where I've gotten confused is when I printed some .357and 9mm inserts modified for smaller tubing....but I'm wondering if that was necessary...I've slept, but am wondering if I had experienced tilting cases hanging on edges somewhere. Maybe yours for the small pistol was made for the "other" Lee tubing that's smaller so less tilting in the tubes. I just don't remember.

To RogerAndrea: For the Summit Press, I had to modify two things from normal Lee APP. First the Caliber insert Support had to be lengthened a little, and still had to add a coupler nut. Two, the spring is 1" longer, for the longer stroke, and so I had to surround it with clear tubing to prevent bending during the "push" stage.

Way cool. Where did you order the longer spring ?

[rogerandre]

Dear Team !
Sometimes I feel that the JGY370 motors I have purchased (not identical to the one TylerR have linked to due to limited availability) are a little to weak.
Anyone that have fiddled with 5840-31ZY motors ? similar design (but larger footprint) with alot more torque.