Thinning Rims - What's your method? No Lathe

[rintinglen]

My drill press was purchased from Harbor Freight for $69.00. My file was maybe ten bucks. Takes a lot of "saving" to equal the difference between that and even the cheapest lathe, especially when the cost of tooling is considered.

[toot]

I also use a drill press and put a dowel of the tightest fit in the case mouth and chuck it up, and hold a 1 inch pine board about 6 inches in length on the left side to put presser o the case when i am filing. first a flat bastard then a smooth milled one. works for me every time.

[EDG]

When you get through all you have is a cheap drill press and used file.
If you know how to run a lathe you can actually make stuff (and money).

My drill press was purchased from Harbor Freight for $69.00. My file was maybe ten bucks. Takes a lot of "saving" to equal the difference between that and even the cheapest lathe, especially when the cost of tooling is considered.

[rking22]

I hear you about the lathe! I am getting ready to retire and lose access to the plant shop, looking at the 7x12 mini lathe right now. I did my 40-70SS on the drill press because it was there and I got it done in less time than driving back to work. I wanted to shoot the Sharps NOW, kinda like digging 3 post holes by hand instead of pulling the bush hog off the tractor and mounting the auger. Just “easier” to do it the hard way........

[EDG]

It is just the trade off between set up and run time. Sooner or later the real lathe catches up to your file and drill press.

I hear you about the lathe! I am getting ready to retire and lose access to the plant shop, looking at the 7x12 mini lathe right now. I did my 40-70SS on the drill press because it was there and I got it done in less time than driving back to work. I wanted to shoot the Sharps NOW, kinda like digging 3 post holes by hand instead of pulling the bush hog off the tractor and mounting the auger. Just “easier” to do it the hard way........

[barrabruce]

I just used a drill and a hacksaw blade.
Run a fine tooth hacksaw blade so the teeth are running running along the case into the rim.
That way you are not disturbing the primer pocket.
Works for 32-20 for 310 cadet cases anyway.
Even works with my new cordless drill.
O.k a bit slower and more trouble than a lathe but it still works!

[Jabber]

I just finished trimming a bunch of .405 winchester brass for my 40-70 sharpes. I mounted a v-block on my bench belt sander and sanded the rim to size. with primer pockets being now shallower I use pistol primers. Works really well.

[Drm50]

I have a big old South Bend lathe. I been getting close to pulling the trigger on one of those harbor freight $499 jobs but I keep hearing they are pure junk. I would dearly love to run into a jewelers lathe, cheap.

[Scrounge]

I have a big old South Bend lathe. I been getting close to pulling the trigger on one of those harbor freight $499 jobs but I keep hearing they are pure junk. I would dearly love to run into a jewelers lathe, cheap.

I've had mine since 2008. They're not pure junk. Older ones do often need a bit of TLC. Go to: https://groups.io/g/7x12MiniLathe and join up, see what the guys there are saying. Or https://gadgetbuilder.com/ or http://www.varmintal.com/alath.htm Varmint Al is a shooter & reloader. He does not think they're pure junk!

A few years ago I did find one Made-in-USA Mini-lathe similar in size to the 7x10. It was $10K. No way I could afford one. I've got well less than 10K in my entire shop. Even a 6" Atlas lathe is around a thousand dollars now. And there are people who say the same thing about the Atlas lathes, despite the fact that home workshops have been using the heck out of them since the 1930's. They've been out of business since the mid-80's, and there is a brisk market for them still. Look around hard, you can find one. I did, finally. After more than 35 years looking. Search "atlas lathe" on ebay, and see what they cost. And they're not exactly superior to the 7x mini-lathes. People who use lathes professionally call them "spaghetti lathes" because they're so flexible, related to a "real" lathe. Of course a "real" lathe weighs 10-20 times what an Atlas weighs. My 10x24 TH42 is listed at 267lbs. The baby lathe in my classroom is 2700lbs. My 7x10 is 115lbs of mostly cast iron. For it's size, it's sturdier and heavier than the Atlas lathes. Not as sturdy as the South Bend lathes, but those are not as sturdy as a Monarch, or even the Clausing Colchesters. If you want something that will sit on a desk or workbench, you need a smaller lathe. The 7x lathes are good lathes, if you realize their weaknesses, and compensate for them. Same as using a clapped out old South Bend. Smaller parts, or lighter cuts and slower feeds, and you'll get where you need to go. You could thin the rims on up to .50BMG rounds on a more-or-less stock 7x12, though 20mm might be a bit harder. I think I'd want a 7x16 if I were doing something like 30 or 40mm.

If I decide I need them, I could make brass for a .32 Colt on my 7x10 from scratch. Or .44 Mag, .45-70 to 150, et cetera, without a lot of fancy tooling that I didn't make for myself. I will be thinning the bulge at the base on some swaged down .32 S&W brass I was given to finish the conversion to .32 Colt. Any troubles I have doing this are going to be because I'm not the greatest machinist in the world, rather than a problem with the lathe.

Micro-Lux has a 7x16 minilathe on sale about $1100, Little Machine Shop has one for $1250 that's probably a little better package, or you can drop into the $600 range for the 7x12 from Harbor Freight. Most decent rifles cost more. Unless you're already a machinist you'll need to spend some time learning how to use it, but it's doable. If I can, you can. Ever build a kit rifle or pistol? Think of the lower end mini-lathes as a kit lathe, and it will make a bit more sense, maybe. You might have to do a couple of things to it to get it the way you want it, but mine worked better than I could right out of the box. I'm finally trained enough to get good work out of it because I know better what I'm doing with the measuring tools I have now.

[Drm50]

I just finished trimming a bunch of .405 winchester brass for my 40-70 sharpes. I mounted a v-block on my bench belt sander and sanded the rim to size. with primer pockets being now shallower I use pistol primers. Works really well.

I would have never though of thinning from the outside. When I have such work to do on cases if there is just a few I’ll turn them in drill press with file. If there is a lot of them I’ll make up a jig and use a parting tool anchored to drill press vise/ table to reduce from back of rim.