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Thread: Making my own single stage press ...

  1. #41
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    nekshot's Avatar
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    This is better than going to the library! Did you buy the taps with the hole in end for using the pin to chuck or whatever your using?
    Look twice, shoot once.

  2. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by nekshot View Post
    This is better than going to the library! Did you buy the taps with the hole in end for using the pin to chuck or whatever your using?
    So far every tap I have has the alignment hole in the end. That alignment pin is spring loaded, so it maintains alignment while you tap

  3. #43
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    Yesterday (Sunday), I was able to work in the slightly tricky base, which is offset 30 degrees to the top. I started by marking the hole for the ram, which is on 4.600" centers to the support rods:








    Center with the laser, and drill a 1" hole (biggest drill bit I have at the moment):






    Then the very slow and tedius boring process, to open the hole to 1.500" to match the busing's OD:




    Not quite there yet:
    Last edited by wquiles; 07-30-2018 at 12:05 PM.

  4. #44
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    Eventually I "sneaked" at the right value for a great fit:




    Next, using "math" (teachers said it would "eventually" come handy, right?), I use the DRO to find the support rod's drill locations (3/8"):










    With the base nearly done, I finished threading the 2x support rods:






    And then the ram:


    Last edited by wquiles; 07-30-2018 at 11:05 AM.

  5. #45
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    Here is how things look like at this point. I am currently using a Lee Ram Prime on the ram, but I plan on replacing with a steel one, from Lyman or RCBS:






    I went back and trimmed the support rods to get them equal (goal is 0.001" or less):






    Last thing I did yesterday was start work on the supporting block/guide. I drilled and bored the hole to match the 1.250" of the ram, but it is not quite wide enough to hold the edge of the two outer support bushings, so I am making another one from another scrap aluminum piece:








    Will
    Last edited by wquiles; 07-30-2018 at 01:16 PM.

  6. #46
    Boolit Master Clark's Avatar
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    Wquiles great posts on flashaholics got me to buy my Precision Matthews 1236 lathe with DRO in 2009.

    Also 10 years ago my brother and I were at a gun show and saw an old homemade reloading press. It did not have the "modern Pacific" shell holders and we had to get an adapter.

    The machinist that made it must have been dead for decades. Since then we found a press that it may be cloned from.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Handmade Reloading Press.jpg  

  7. #47
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    The press pictured is a clone of the Easton Big Giant from 1949.

    Modern shellholders originated at RCBS in 1955.

    Ken

  8. #48
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clark View Post
    Wquiles great posts on flashaholics got me to buy my Precision Matthews 1236 lathe with DRO in 2009.

    Also 10 years ago my brother and I were at a gun show and saw an old homemade reloading press. It did not have the "modern Pacific" shell holders and we had to get an adapter.

    The machinist that made it must have been dead for decades. Since then we found a press that it may be cloned from.
    $25???

    I would have jumped on that just 'because'

    nice find
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  9. #49
    Boolit Master slim1836's Avatar
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    What's the chances of being the benefactor of the Jeep? I'll call you dad from here on out.

    Slim
    JUST GOTTA LOVE THIS JOINT.

  10. #50
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    Quote Originally Posted by Clark View Post
    Wquiles great posts on flashaholics got me to buy my Precision Matthews 1236 lathe with DRO in 2009.
    Well, as you can see, I am "still" using my PM1236 from 2006. With every project I learn a little bit each time

  11. #51
    Boolit Master Clark's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Pressman View Post
    ..

    Modern shellholders originated at RCBS in 1955.

    Ken
    You sure sound like you know.
    If feels like got the facts wrong, not misremembered them.
    http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...-shell-holders
    I think I can see how I went wrong.

  12. #52
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    Thanks Slim, I Mean "Son"

    I'll have my wife contact you after I croak.

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  13. #53
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    OP I do have one question,,, since you have put so much work into this project may I ask why you didn't start with some fresh pieces of metal?

    Also hot tip: When making top and bottom plates which have aligned holes, drill and bore them at the same time in the same setup. That way the holes are always aligned.

    keep up the good work

    Randy
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
    www.buchananprecisionmachine.com

  14. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by W.R.Buchanan View Post
    OP I do have one question,,, since you have put so much work into this project may I ask why you didn't start with some fresh pieces of metal?
    Good question. I feel the 3x main reasons are:
    - I do have a good amount of steel, either left-over from projects, given to me by others, bought for cheap when another welder retired (he used to make knives); even a large 14"x14" by about 3/4" steel plate that I found when doing a cleaning project with Boy Scouts (yes, heavily rusted!). So I "really" wanted to start using it, instead of just keeping to accumulate it. This self-imposed "rule" is forcing me to look and use what I have at hand.

    - I had not weld anything recently for myself or others, so I liked the challenge of welding/preparing the base made of individual thin plates. Granted, now that I have done it, I probably would not do a new base like this one - I would for sure buy a single piece of steel for the base!

    - I have never worked with something like this project, never bored for/installed metal bushings, not anything this size, so I felt better using materials I already had to minimize loses if/when I screw-up. I am looking at this project as a "prototype" of sorts, so to me it would had been a potential waste of money to buy new steel to try something new. Depending on how this press turns out, if I were to consider making another one, I would certainly save time buy buying some/most of the steel new.




    Quote Originally Posted by W.R.Buchanan View Post
    Also hot tip: When making top and bottom plates which have aligned holes, drill and bore them at the same time in the same setup. That way the holes are always aligned.
    I have been a little worried about messing each piece, let alone 2x or all 3x pieces at the same time, abut I do agree it would have resulted in even better alignment. At least the DRO has been very useful for this project this far.



    Quote Originally Posted by W.R.Buchanan View Post
    keep up the good work

    Randy
    I still struggle and stumble along the way (like when I realized I needed a wider guide "after" I drill & bored the hole for the ram ), so I know I still have a lot to learn. Thank you for your kind words

    Will
    Last edited by wquiles; 08-02-2018 at 06:31 AM.

  15. #55
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    He's frugal, and... you also feel better when you make something nice out of the junk (I mean treasures) you have lying around.
    Sure wish I had the tools and technology to do stuff like that.

  16. #56
    Boolit Master DaveInFloweryBranchGA's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wquiles View Post
    Thank you guys. I got a little bit more done today before my lathe's coolant pump died

    So before coolant stopped, I was able to start work on one of the guide rods on the lathe:

    And just as I was going to part the rod to size, to then drill/tap the other hole, the pump stopped. After trying several things, I decided to go ahead and open it:



    Yup, the internal capacitor exploded:




    4140 steel is a little tough to machine without the coolant, so I stopped for today. The replacement pump arrives during the week, so hopefully next weekend I can continue making progress.

    Will
    Will,

    The bad capacitor at the top of the pic is a 15 micro-Farrad Capacitor, 5%, 250 (can't see it well, for 220V under loads) Volt Alternating Current that has failed. You can very easily get a new one and likely repair your old pump so you'll have a backup. All the specifications are listed on the capacitor and it's what is causing your motor not to work, they often fail with age and need to be replaced, similar to the ones on Air Conditioner compressor motors, cabinet saw motors, etc. Do a web search for Digi-key or electronic parts, motor capacitor and you should find one you can purchase for much less than the pump. If you have questions, please feel free to pm me and I'll help you.

    Dave
    Last edited by DaveInFloweryBranchGA; 08-02-2018 at 07:02 AM.

  17. #57
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    This one was pretty old and when I got it out of the coolant tank I noted it was "very" hot, so it likely over-heated. I didn't even consider trying to fix it, but that is a great idea if/when it happens again. Thanks much

    The interior volume was sealed with two o-rings and had some special "oil", which of course was lost then I got it open. Do you know what type of material/fluid would be the proper replacement?

    Will

  18. #58
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    Will: Nothing wrong with learning,, Everybody has to do it.

    I have found that if the stock costs more I tend to be much more careful.

    I recently made a fairly complex dash board for my Jeep. The piece of aluminum plate was cut to size for me and was 9x57". It wasn't cheap and I had to make a bunch of holes in it. I spent a considerable amount of time planning that job and it came out almost perfect,,, except for some changes I had to make mid stream.

    I actually sweat some blood on that one because I could afford to screw it up.

    Ya Kinda gotta wanna.
    "It's not how well you do what you know how to do,,,It's how well you do what you DON'T know how to do!"
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  19. #59
    Boolit Master BigEyeBob's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by wquiles View Post
    Good question. I feel the 3x main reasons are:
    - I do have a good amount of steel, either left-over from projects, given to me by others, bought for cheap when another welder retired (he used to make knives); even a large 14"x14" by about 3/4" steel plate that I found when doing a cleaning project with Boy Scouts (yes, heavily rusted!). So I "really" wanted to start using it, instead of just keeping to accumulate it. This self-imposed "rule" is forcing me to look and use what I have at hand.

    - I had not weld anything recently for myself or others, so I liked the challenge of welding/preparing the base made of individual thin plates. Granted, now that I have done it, I probably would not do a new base like this one - I would for sure buy a single piece of steel for the base!

    - I have never worked with something like this project, never bored for/installed metal bushings, not anything this size, so I felt better using materials I already had to minimize loses if/when I screw-up. I am looking at this project as a "prototype" of sorts, so to me it would had been a potential waste of money to buy new steel to try something new. Depending on how this press turns out, if I were to consider making another one, I would certainly save time buy buying some/most of the steel new.





    I have been a little worried about messing each piece, let alone 2x or all 3x pieces at the same time, abut I do agree it would have resulted in even better alignment. At least the DRO has been very useful for this project this far.




    I still struggle and stumble along the way (like when I realized I needed a wider guide "after" I drill & bored the hole for the ram ), so I know I still have a lot to learn. Thank you for your kind words

    Will
    Your project is every day stuff for me ,Ive been doing this type of work for 48years ,
    You know , I still make mistakes . Ive never used a dro until last year ,when I bought a new lathe , dont have one on my milling machine ,just use old school methods to find centers etc .Your laser center finder is interesting ,wonder if you would share its details .I have a project in mind to make a centering scope ,using an old fixed power rifle scope ,it has no windage or elevation adjustments on it .Seems to work ok looking backward down the objective lens ,I need to do some more research and spend more time checking it out.Just on a long list of projects .Your press project is coming along nicely .
    Last edited by BigEyeBob; 08-03-2018 at 04:35 AM.

  20. #60
    Boolit Buddy
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    Quote Originally Posted by W.R.Buchanan View Post
    Will: Nothing wrong with learning,, Everybody has to do it.
    Thanks much, and pretty nice work there on the Jeep!


    Quote Originally Posted by BigEyeBob View Post
    Your project is every day stuff for me ,Ive been doing this type of work for 48years ,
    You know , I still make mistakes . Ive never used a dro until last year ,when I bought a new lathe , dont have one on my milling machine ,just use old school methods to find centers etc .Your laser center finder is interesting ,wonder if you would share its details .I have a project in mind to make a centering scope ,using an old fixed power rifle scope ,it has no windage or elevation adjustments on it .Seems to work ok looking backward down the objective lens ,I need to do some more research and spend more time checking it out.Just on a long list of projects .Your press project is coming along nicely .
    Thank you for the encouraging words. I hope to make good progress tomorrow Saturday

    As to the laser edge/center finder, here are a couple of photos:





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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check