Making that Bullet Collator

[Jakenheimer]

Exchange walls for infill. 45% is crazy too much. 25% max. I think mine was down in the 20 range..maybe 18? Go with like 5 walls and 5 top and bottom and you will have a pretty tough unit.

Can I get some clarification on this? I made some creative changes when printing mine and got the time down, but I still use quite a bit of infill for strength as a rule. The idea of using a thicker shell is intriguing as my print times are pretty long and use a liberal amount of filament.
Are you saying to make the "shell thickness" and the "fill top/bottom" 5mm and reduce the "fill density %" to something around 20?
Would you recommend this for the collator plates as well?
I am just finishing a .223 plate that will be 20 hours and about 220 grams of material when done.
Thanks for the knowledge people! =]

[TylerR]

Can I get some clarification on this? I made some creative changes when printing mine and got the time down, but I still use quite a bit of infill for strength as a rule. The idea of using a thicker shell is intriguing as my print times are pretty long and use a liberal amount of filament.
Are you saying to make the "shell thickness" and the "fill top/bottom" 5mm and reduce the "fill density %" to something around 20?
Would you recommend this for the collator plates as well?
I am just finishing a .223 plate that will be 20 hours and about 220 grams of material when done.
Thanks for the knowledge people! =]

He is saying 5 walls, not 5mm thick. Wall thickness is generally .8mm by default. I think I was doing 6 walls and 30% on the main body, and they are very strong.

Honestly with the collator plates, I wouldn't bother with more then 4 walls and 15-20% infill.

[Jakenheimer]

He is saying 5 walls, not 5mm thick. Wall thickness is generally .8mm by default. I think I was doing 6 walls and 30% on the main body, and they are very strong.

Honestly with the collator plates, I wouldn't bother with more then 4 walls and 15-20% infill.

Thanks Tyler.
I would like to check my understanding of what you posted. Please correct me as necessary as I am still learning all this fun stuff and I appreciate the knowledge. Also, I am using an old version of Cura as I find it easier to manipulate the objects. I should probably update it but I am putting it off. Anyway, this version has a mm setting for the top/bottom and the sides.
If I were using the default of .8mm and planned to do 4 walls, the wall and top/bottom thickness should be set to 3.2mm.
I don't see a setting for number of walls or what not, just shell thickness measured in mm.
Again, please forgive my ignorance and thank you all for your patience!

[AR-Bossman]

Thanks Tyler.
I would like to check my understanding of what you posted. Please correct me as necessary as I am still learning all this fun stuff and I appreciate the knowledge. Also, I am using an old version of Cura as I find it easier to manipulate the objects. I should probably update it but I am putting it off. Anyway, this version has a mm setting for the top/bottom and the sides.
If I were using the default of .8mm and planned to do 4 walls, the wall and top/bottom thickness should be set to 3.2mm.
I don't see a setting for number of walls or what not, just shell thickness measured in mm.
Again, please forgive my ignorance and thank you all for your patience!

Yeah all my stuff is wall numbers not thickness. So 5 walls is 2mm... but 5 floors is 1mm I've printed off alot of these and lots of other stuff as well as youtube videos show that infill is not where the strength is at, but in wall counts. The infill does add strength, but it's not proportional to anything like added walls. The body sees a low amount of stress.

[Jakenheimer]

Yeah all my stuff is wall numbers not thickness. So 5 walls is 2mm... but 5 floors is 1mm I've printed off alot of these and lots of other stuff as well as youtube videos show that infill is not where the strength is at, but in wall counts. The infill does add strength, but it's not proportional to anything like added walls. The body sees a low amount of stress.

Interesting! Thank you for the reply.
So it seems like when we are talking about walls (and floors/ceilings?) we have 2 different factors. The walls seem to be a multiplier of the nozzle size (e.g. 1 wall =.4, 2 wall =.8 etc.) and the top/bottom is a multiplier of the layer height which in my case is .2.
It looks like I have likely been overbuilding and wasting a lot of time, energy, and material.
Thanks a bunch for sharing. With this new info I will be able to cut my time and material usage by almost half!

[n10sivern]

Anyone know where I can get the scad files? I need to make changes for my motor and accept a bolt for the shell plate

I have it. I played with it and can’t figure it out. I don’t know what values to put in.

[Lloyd Smale]

so without having to read 52 pages of posts is there anyone on here thats selling bullet feeders complete that will work with a lee processing press?

[Jakenheimer]

so without having to read 52 pages of posts is there anyone on here thats selling bullet feeders complete that will work with a lee processing press?

The only place I know of is Karl Bibb's reloading stuff on Facebook. He seems to have permission from Ammomike to sell the design. If memory serves, he had to make a modification to the design to avoid the latest lawsuit from DAA.

[n10sivern]

Can somebody please post a picture of how you are securing the LED and photosensor to the bullet drop tube?

[Michael303]

I found 2 walls, 2 bottom layers, and 3 top layers with 10-15% in-fill to be sufficient. I only go to 3 on top because it looks better. I printed the base in around 16 hours.

[TylerR]

Can somebody please post a picture of how you are securing the LED and photosensor to the bullet drop tube?

[n10sivern]

Is anybody incorporating fuses? What size?
Getting there. Still waiting on items to arrive and still printing. 5 bullet feeders!

[TylerR]

Is anybody incorporating fuses? What size?

I did yes. I used these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[n10sivern]

I did yes. I used these:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I saw where others were running something like 250-300 mA slow blow fuses to prevent motor burn up if it gets stuck.

[gnafin]

Well i did order it, when it comes in i will let ya all know how it is.

Well the motor came in. it looks good but now i have to try to drill that hard shaft to put a roll pin in it.
i will send pictures soon.

[n10sivern]

Well the motor came in. it looks good but now i have to try to drill that hard shaft to put a roll pin in it.
i will send pictures soon.

Or use hex couplers and design your plates to accept them. That’s what I’m doing.

[gnafin]

Or use hex couplers and design your plates to accept them. That’s what I’m doing.

that is what i did with the smaller one. i just made the big one with the FC-555 motor. might just go with a straight coupler with cut off screws on either side.

[TylerR]

that is what i did with the smaller one. i just made the big one with the FC-555 motor. might just go with a straight coupler with cut off screws on either side.

How well does the motor fit to the body hole spacing? Any adjustments I need to make?

[gnafin]

How well does the motor fit to the body hole spacing? Any adjustments I need to make?

Nope, all was good.
i will send picture.

[gnafin]