Making that Bullet Collator

[6bg6ga]

So, is it too late to solder the wires to the bed? If its not I can send you some nickle silver solder in which to do it.

Whew, 50 collators printed the right way.... that's a boat load of hours.

I would just like to purchase a 3D printer to maybe print up several more collators for myself to use. I'm thinking about a center shaft with bearing and slot and running it with a belt drive motor probably a small sewing machine belt of some type with a torque arm that when it moves too far due to a malfunction it shuts down.

[AmmoMike83]

Took a look at the first collator base that Tony sent me and it only mentions the motor and no mention of AmmoMike on it. Looked at the replacement base and no mention either. The first one had a problem as the wall separated from the base and I ground into it and it was hollow. The second base seems to be heavier and better made.

That picture was on facebook. I confronted him with that (in an unpolite way), no reaction.

Fitting the motor... I used dremel with a rotory file and slightly enlarged the holes well several holes were out of placement and I just made the threaded studs fit into the base, no nuts or nothing as its a tight fit and it hasn't come out yet. The first base with slight pressure started to pull out what seemed to be re-infored areas around the hole and I tapped them back in with a small hammer. JB weld came to my rescue and maybe it might be able to be used but I'm not sure.

Depending on the printer calibration, settings and material, it's normal that holes, e.g. 3mm are printed in 2.8mm and have to be drilled out. For that reason there are different drop tubes with differend inner diameter.

I'm still out the bullet dropper tube for the 45 cal which I really wanted. I may just put the one sent to me into a vice and try to drill it out and use it. On the bright side it does work for 44 mag but that wasn't my intention.

see point above. Normally .45 (11.43mm) should fit into the tube with 12mm. Wrong printer settings, it won't. Then you have to go with the 13mm tube, or recalibrate the printer, or tell the slicer to print it 5% bigger on each axis.

Received the two piece slide in assembly for the nose down and it seems to have two different heights. JB weld will probably be needed to make them work also.

exactly 6.51mm on both sides.

I tried to be really positive with the base and bullet collator wheels, different drop tubes, and slide in plates that were sent to me but its kinda hard to be positive when what I received just wasn't quite up to par.

I am really sad to hear that. Hatch turned out as a reliable and professional 3D printer. Maybe he can help you. I would send you some part, but the shipping fees from Germany to US are rediculous high.

In retro spect I wish I had waited and just purchased a machine to make my own collator. All I really wanted was one working one that would double for my 650 Dillon and my Star and Magma bullet sizer lubricator. I hope that AmmoMike83 will keep his files up so that the average guy wishing to make something that works at a fraction of the price of the commercial units can still do so for personal use ONLY. I didn't realize that the conditions of usage had been violated or I would not have purchased. Being older almost retired and not having any experience with 3D printing I really doubted that I had it in me to do so. In talking with Hatch he has explained to me that I would be able to run such a machine so there is still hope for old fools. Anyway, Mike I understand if you pull all of your files because you have been taken advantage of. I do hope you will consider letting the average guy use your files.

Great Idea!!! I will keep the files up.

In any rate AmmoMike83 a hearty thanks for the time you devoted to making a working machine.

You are very welcome. Hope you will also get such an awesome machine soon.

Mike

[HATCH]

Joe, and anyone else that bought from Tony, don’t worry.
It will take time but I will print whatever parts that are needed (except for base) to get it up and working. You will have to pay for the material and shipping.
Material cost is easy to figure because the filament is sold by weight and I can weigh the printed items to calculate cost.

[HATCH]

For reference, if my calculations is correct.
The base costs $7 in material and takes 38 hrs to print


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[jmorris]

My purpose is not making money with it. I just want to give the whole reloader community something back and make it affordable to have a bullet feeder without paying hundreds of bucks for it.

I really like and appreciate the collaboration here.

That is very generous and I too appreciate the collaboration.

The Anet A8 has several known problems.
Mostly due to crappy connectors on the motherboard and the heat Bed.

Any chance in your busy schedule you might start another thread just on the 3D printer “fixes”? Mine should be here today.

Also the 38 hour print, how much filimant does that use up?

[AmmoMike83]

40.5m of 3mm filament - 321 g @ 80% infill and 0.15mm layer height

see post #215

[AmmoMike83]

That is very generous and I too appreciate the collaboration.



Any chance in your busy schedule you might start another thread just on the 3D printer “fixes”? Mine should be here today.

Also the 38 hour print, how much filimant does that use up?

if you use cura as your slicer it will give you the information before print and it's **** accurate.

[Mark2215]

I went to the hardware store to get smaller screws for the motor. However, none of the screws that were the right thread fit in the holes so looks like I'll be drilling. Since I'm drilling I think it would be better to go back to the original mounting bolts and nuts. The main reason is there is a raised circle around the output shaft of the motor so I'd have to get some type of spacer between the base plate and motor to make up for it. I did check the studs that come on the motor and they are not too long for the plate.

Mike, I really appreciate everything you have done so far and definitely don't want to sound like I'm whining but is there a reason you didn't design it to fit washers and nuts to use the factory bolts? Was it because your bolts were too long to use anyway?

[AmmoMike83]

I went to the hardware store to get smaller screws for the motor. However, none of the screws that were the right thread fit in the holes so looks like I'll be drilling. Since I'm drilling I think it would be better to go back to the original mounting bolts and nuts. The main reason is there is a raised circle around the output shaft of the motor so I'd have to get some type of spacer between the base plate and motor to make up for it. I did check the studs that come on the motor and they are not too long for the plate.

Mike, I really appreciate everything you have done so far and definitely don't want to sound like I'm whining but is there a reason you didn't design it to fit washers and nuts to use the factory bolts? Was it because your bolts were too long to use anyway?

Dear Mark. I changed the design to enable the usage of nuts. Another tip is: Cut off the upper thread and make a slot in it with the Dremel and use it a screw. That’s the way it did it.

Mike

[HATCH]

Not the best pictures but those are three different bases that were printed with 3 different code versions

One is base down only.
One is original
One is a modified (larger motor holes)

As you can see the quality is all different

3D printing takes time.
If you want to rush it, it comes with a price.
Quality and durability is that price
One took 12 hrs
One took 24 hrs
And one took 38 hrs

Btw one is 100% usable
One requires some minor work and may be usable
One is trash

[Mark2215]

Charles, the first picture looks horrible.

I assembled mine today. I modified the flipper and the base wall in front of the flipper. What I did was shorten the flipper considerably and put a notch in the base wall so the flipper could move further. What was happening was the flipper was holding the bullets in too long not allowing the nose down bullets to drop through the plate. By modifying the flipper the bullets were clear of the flipper by the time they reached the hole. Once I did this I had 100% success with the 2 different 9mm bullets I had, one was a flat nose and the other a round nose, both bevel bases.

[AmmoMike83]

Charles, the first picture looks horrible.

I assembled mine today. I modified the flipper and the base wall in front of the flipper. What I did was shorten the flipper considerably and put a notch in the base wall so the flipper could move further. What was happening was the flipper was holding the bullets in too long not allowing the nose down bullets to drop through the plate. By modifying the flipper the bullets were clear of the flipper by the time they reached the hole. Once I did this I had 100% success with the 2 different 9mm bullets I had, one was a flat nose and the other a round nose, both bevel bases.

Thank you for that advise. Will test that tomorrow. Glad to hear it’s working for you with that fix! Please post a “I made one” on thingiverse

[6bg6ga]

Ok, I measured both plates and got 6.75 mm and 6.96mm for the other. I have .082 mm difference in height. I would have thought they could have been a better tolerance than that.

[HATCH]

I really don’t get it as they are printed side by side.


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[6bg6ga]

I really don’t get it as they are printed side by side.


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Could his printer bed be off? I double checked my measurements. Its like they were printed separately.

[Mark2215]

Could his printer bed be off? I double checked my measurements. Its like they were printed separately.

I just printed the 2 piece nose down plate. Both are exactly the same thickness. I would think if his bed was that unlevel he'd have a hell of a time printing anything else without warping. My bed was barely out of level (less than the thickness of a piece of paper) but it was enough to cause my bullet plate to warp.


I did find a new problem. A 9mm flat nose bullet is getting jammed every once in a while. When it drops through the hole in the turning plate and entering the spring housing the flat nose of the bullet gets caught on the spring itself and starts a jam. Would it be possible to have the spring mounted in a recessed area the diameter of the outside of the spring and the rest of the spring housing be the same diameter internally inside as the spring and widen out from there? Basically a step in the last part of the spring housing that would hold the spring. I could always drill out a small housing to hold a large spring and give it a test.

[6bg6ga]

Could his printer bed be off? I double checked my measurements. Its like they were printed separately.

I can put both plates in the collator base and you can see the height difference with the naked eye. I can grind them so they are equal provided they are solid enough.

[HATCH]

He was suppose to print them solid


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[jmorris]

My machine came in today and thanks to Hatch I have a better than good starting point. Somehow I got the machine before the filimant so I ran a supposedly better fan shroud for the extruder with the little spool that came with the machine.

I’ll try and catch up soon....

Edit: Oh, no! The dreaded rotated left photos...

[AmmoMike83]

My machine came in today and thanks to Hatch I have a better than good starting point. Somehow I got the machine before the filimant so I ran a supposedly better fan shroud for the extruder with the little spool that came with the machine.

I’ll try and catch up soon....

Edit: Oh, no! The dreaded rotated left photos...

GREAT!! ... jmorrisPLASTICS