Recessing a pocket in rcbs I dies.

[alfadan]

I end up with a rough finish on my cast pistol bullet bases from time to time. I don't discover the problem until I have a whole pile of them. It causes them to not sit flat in the die and may cause an alignment issue. Ive heard of H and I dies that had a recess in the 'I' die. I'd like to do this to my .452 and .358 dies. I have a minilathe and minimill. Are these dies hard enough to need a carbide endmill, either plunged with the mill or held in the tailstock? Maybe trepanning in the lathe?
Any thoughts?

[Nueces]

I recommend you test one of the pins (bottom end) with a fine file. If a file cuts it, so will HSS lathe tooling. Or, you could use a center drill and take the cone part out to leave the rim you want.

[country gent]

Normally machining the die or the pin requires carbide tooling. pick up a 5/16 cemented bit and sharpen it up and hone to a sharp edge .003 - .005 a pass. If you have a carbide drill or end mill remove the center this saves having to cut the small point clear to center. In the mini lathe the problem will be rigidity of the set up may not allow carbide to hold up.

An easier way would be to bore and turn a small ring cut of in the lathe at .015 thick then glue in place. It could even be soldered in place. What I would recommend is turn up bore the size you want and od to match stem + .050 and .030 -.060. solder on then when cool turn down outside to match pin and then face ring square and to thickness. Gluin it in will work also here turn the ring to size and bore .06 wide wax die body several coats then insert from top down. push pin 1/8" below top of die body, mix epoxy and a thin coat insert ting onto it then set in lubrisize a bullet and weight of handle to clamp in place. when cured face to desired thickness. Go slow as to much force or heat build up will break the bond. The only reason for gluing / soldering is so the ring dosnt fall out when not in use or storage. When in use its captive.

[Bent Ramrod]

I’ve done a fair amount of reworking of Ideal, Lyman and RCBS boolit dies and have yet to find one that can’t be drilled, bored or turned with standard High-Speed tooling.

Maybe Star dies are hardened and ground (they look like it) and possibly Redding/SAECO are heat-treated (I haven’t modified any of those, though I’ve made replacements with The Perfessor’s excellent blanks), but everything else I’ve looked at seems to be regular mild steel. If you’re worried, heat the part to blue with a propane torch and let cool. The die will wear larger in use to the same degree your barrel will enlarge from shooting those sized boolits through it.

If you have a lathe, you should be able to grind a round nose tool and dish out the top surface so only the edge contacts the outer rim of the boolit base. Set your compound at a few degrees off vertical with the tool normal to the surface of the punch and move it from just short of edge to slightly past center. A very light cut should be plenty.

In my stash, I have a .429 H&I die that somebody drilled (by hand) a large, off-center hole all the way through the “I” plunger. Ugly as sin, but it still sizes boolits normally, and I never have to worry about lube on the boolit bases.

[alfadan]

Some good ideas fellas, thanks. I guess if I mess one end up I can always flip it and have another try!

[Nueces]

Some good ideas fellas, thanks. I guess if I mess one end up I can always flip it and have another try!

Shonuff, or make another one.

[alfadan]

Well I'd say they are mild steel alright. I used a HSS facing tool to cut a recess in my .452 and .358 dies. I will report when I do some sizing. thanks again everyone.

[alfadan]

update: These function as expected with the added benefit of excess lube collects in the pocket instead of on bullet bases.

[porthos]

OK: who is this Perfessor that makes die blanks??

[Mal Paso]

OK: who is this Perfessor that makes die blanks??

Keith had health issues. Has not been around here in quite a while.

[Bent Ramrod]

I’ve seen Keith the Perfessor’s posts on another forum, but I can’t for the life of me remember where it is. Perhaps Goodsteel’s?

He was training up some apprentice to make the blanks for him, last I read.

Maybe the CBA forum?

Supposedly, if you’re worried that your memory lapses mean you’re going senile, that means you’re not going senile. I hope to heck that’s true.