Drilling holes in luber/sizer die

[bpost1958]

I have the old Lachmiller luber/sizer. I bought a RCBS .401 sizing die for 40 cal boolits and the lube holes are too low in the die. I get a huge mess on the bottom of the boolit and no lube in the groove no matter the depth adjustment setting.

I want to drill holes higher in the die body and seal the ones there now. On my older dies the holes are a lot higher and work great, this die not so much.

QUESTIONS;
Are the lube dies hardened?
Can I drill these holes with a drill press? They are #30 in size and I have the bit.
Got any suggestions for sealing the old holes?

[DougGuy]

You will likely ruin a good drill bit. You could try filing a bit off the edge at the bottom if a file will cut it a drill bit will. If the file doesn't cut it neither will the drill bit. A piece of lead shot can be peened into the existing holes to plug them.

[Winger Ed.]

You could drill a new hole, but those hardware store bits probably won't get into it.

You'll need a 'good one' from Brownell's or a machinist supply place. And don't be surprised if they'll $5-10 each.
I'd get a really good center punch there too, and use it so the drill won't skip off the round surface.

Those expensive bits are harder than Chinese Algebra, but don't flex, they'll snap off like a glass rod.

I've had to use a few --- with plenty of oil, turning sort of slow, and didn't let it get too hot to touch.
They did a good job for me.

[country gent]

Im thinking this may require a carbide drill bit not sure if those dies are fully hardened or case hardened. The other thing will be removing burrs and sharp edges from drilling. You might have to anneal the die before drilling.

For plugging the holes off permanently small brass pins turned to press in will work. Leave short so when pushed in flush the insides are clear if the edge. How many holes do you need to drill?

For a rigid set up consider a carbide center drill. A number 3 might be close a short point and angled cutting section very short flutes makes it less likely to walk and shift.

[beagle]

It depends on the make and vintage of the die. On a fairly new RCBS, you may be able to. The ones I have tried to modify had a surface hardening applied. Once you get through this, it's soft. I had some RCBS dies that had an extra ring at the top about 1/8" wide. I was able to rig a chuck for an electric drill and turn this off with a flat file.
I don't think most of the dies made nowadays are hardened at all. I know my machinist buddy made some and at first heat treated them and finally just made 'em out of tool steel. They worked just as well as the hardened ones and still do. Give it a shot./beagle

[Bazoo]

Well after giving it some thought, the description sounds like you're not able to push the bullet in far enough due to running out of handle movement. If this is correct, perhaps just a lengthened top punch would suffice. Maybe put a short piece of rod on top of the top punch to make it stick lower would give you just enough?

[Larry Gibson]

As Bazoo mentions......

Is the top punch diameter smaller in diameter than the sizer size? It could be what's not letting the bullet go farther into the sizer regardless of the bullet stop adjustment. Just had that problem the other day sizing some 358156s. Discovered I had the wrong punch..........correct punch solved the problem immediately.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I tried drilling a hole in Lyman lube-size die one time...I was unsuccessful...broke my bit. I'll never try that again, I am not a machinist and don't play one on TV

If Bazoo and Larry's advice doesn't help you, then it's time to buy a different Die that will work for your setup.

[dimaprok]

I had one that had 4 holes, I think it was Lyman, I tried machining a lube groove like RCBS and it didn't give any resistance. The die looked like older production.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[Blanket]

find a shop that has an edm drill, it will be cheaper in the long run

[Huvius]

A good tip to everyone here is to look for a circuit board maker in your area.
They use a variety of 1/8" shank carbide drill bits, some so small they look like a twisted wire and some surely as big as you need.
They change them out regularly to avoid breakage or hole finish issues and usually send them to scrap.
I bought a coffee can full at the recycler and have drilled some pretty hard stuff - of course I've broken plenty too...

[BigEyeBob]

You may need to normalise the die by heating to cherry red and let it cool off slowly in dry sand or lime .Then drill your hole/s ,and re harden by heating to cherry red and quench in oil then polish back to nice n shiny .I done this with loading dies to madofy them .