Lets make a Swage press

[Methuselah3]

Really nice work.On your press design I notice that it takes a very long top punch holder. What is the reasoning behind that as it seems the longer they are, the harder it would be to machine hole thru them and also make them more flexible..

[kombayotch]

Nearly done! I've threaded the top plate and created the adapter plug since taking this pic. Just need to bend the handle and finish machining the ram.



If I make a second press, I think I'm going to use bolts to assemble the toggle assembly. My mill is the smallest knee mill and it barely fit. I had to cut the 1/2" drill bit down and had to keep moving the table back and forth to change bits. Everything aligned in the end though. Would also use ground shaft instead of stress-proof as it required a lot of polishing.



Still no luck finding a spring...

[kombayotch]

Done!

[MIBULLETS]

Looks nice...do you have any dies for it?

[kombayotch]

Thanks!

No, I haven't made any yet for it. I had just started toying with a few things on the Co-ax before I came across these plans. I made a simple de-rimming die for it:


.22 WMR de-rimmed and sized, lead fishing sinker, sinker after being pushed through the die, one that I trimmed the flash off of and copper plated.

I made a spoon cutter from a carbide glass drill bit I picked up at the hardware store by grinding one side off of it with a diamond Dremel cutting disk I got at Harbor Freight.



Tested in in a piece of scrap material, then pushed a sinker into it with a piece of bar stock. It was undersized and lead flowed around it, but I ended up with a nicely shaped ogive and the finish was pretty good. No polishing was done to the "die".

[stealthshooter]

Where do you get the 1 1/2-12 and or 1 1/4-12 to 7/8-14 reducer bushing?

[mactool]

Thanks!

.22 WMR de-rimmed and sized, lead fishing sinker, sinker after being pushed through the die, one that I trimmed the flash off of and copper plated.

How did you copper plate it

[Buckshot]

Where do you get the 1 1/2-12 and or 1 1/4-12 to 7/8-14 reducer bushing?

............Probably made it himself. Or you can get them from CH-4D. Maybe even Lee, RCBS and Lyman ight offer them. They all have presses that use them.

...............Buckshot

[Linstrum]

For the bushing, check out Lee Precision, they use 1.25"-12 to 0.875"-14 reducer bushings on their .50 BMG Classic Cast press so the standard 0.875"-14 dies will fit. The Lee Breach-Lock bushing is not that size, though.

rl 1018

[W.R.Buchanan]

TRG22: I am impressed that you were the one that figured out to knock all the sharp edges off your press parts. Well done. Tools made from steel, especiallly heavy pieces of steel ,do tend to bite, and running your body into a sharp corner while working just ruins the experience. Also well done on the Torrinton rollers bearings,,, nice touch.

I have a Burr-Beaver chamfering machine I use on stuff like this, but the radius' are a better solution, and a corner rounding end mill is not a great expense.

This is the most complete and informative thread I have seen on this board, and the level of information on the subject is incredible. Anyone with the machinery can make this stuff as it is simple and strait forward. Especially with the excellent drawings provided.

I had not even considered making swaged bullets for a long time as cast do pretty much what I want to do. I was interested a few years ago, but the tooling costs and amount of tooling was prohibative. But I can build a press (when I get a chance) and since I printed the drawings for the Press along with the Revs, and the drawings for the dies as well, I might just get to this sooner than later.

Thanks to all contributors.

There was a guy on Ebay this week 11/22/11 that was selling a new made copy of what appeared to be a Dunbar Reloading Press, so the idea of producing a swaging press for those who don't have the skills or resources could work as a low volumn money maker.

Randy

[OneShotNeeded]

In my area, buying materials in small bits is a problem. While twenty foot lengths is way over the top, I can do much of the machine work, grinding, reaming, drilling and tapping, painting or power coating.

I submit that it could be made available at several levels and cost points:

1) a cut materials package - perhaps in the 200 dollar range?
2) a milled and drilled package
3) fully machined, drilled and tapped, polished, etc. ready for paint or powder coat
4) fully assembled ready to mount and work - probably 600 dollars or more
5) additional options - powder vs. paint vs. chrome, roller bearings in the toggles, could be additional cost to stage 3 and above


Depending on our individual DIY skills and personal funds we all would have it available in one form or another. While some will be "prettier" than others, pretty is as pretty does.

Not having production grade machines, I'd be among the first to send off a deposit on a #1 or #2 package above. Whoever does it, BE SURE to cover your time - if it becomes a burden, it will be just one more short lived project which benefits no-one.

I love this site!
Bob

Has anyone come up with figures?

or a kit of sorts?

Would somone be willing to do some machining?

Didn't kow if anyone had followed this up. If not I wil hit the local machine shop up and see what they would charge for doing the top plate, center plate and cams along with the ram. Basically a kit that would need some diy and maybe a few bolts or bushings.

[DDriller]

u.p. north is selling them
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=129479

[OneShotNeeded]

thanks. I must have missed that thread

[toolz568]

Everything is in and I am starting, but I'm not sure why I would cut a 1 1/2-12 instead of a 1 1/4-12 ( In the top Plate). I have found the reducer for the 1 1/4-12 but not the other. I figured I could use the Hornady LAL conversion kit for reloading and the Lee bushing for swaging. Does anyone see anthing wrong with this logic?

I only want to cut this once.

[Reload3006]

sounds like a good plan to me its always easier to make it bigger than smaller. You can take metal out but its pretty tough to put it back when its gone.

[Ozarklongshot]

Ok I know zero about swaging, had no idea anyone made a press to make jacketed. Still don't understand some of the nomenclature. BUT... This is now on my list of incredible things to do. Just spent hours reading the the whole thread, bookmarking sites, printing cut lists and plans. Most of my machine time is repair and replace parts on farm equipment and making obsolete gun parts. This is an incredible thread that may well have gathered another convert on the merit of the thread alone!!!

[20nickels]

Is there enough steel in the top of the rams diameter to thread 1-1/4" -12? Considering LNL conversion bushing for the ram. Looks like it would make it mighty thin at that point but should be fully supported right???
EDIT; Hornady's description for the conversion bushing was incorrect. It is actually 1-1/2" so no, it won't work.

[kombayotch]

How did you copper plate it

Root killer solution, a copper electrode and a power supply. It's fairly easy to do. There are some youtube vids of people doing it in a really crude way. To do it accurately, you need the correct current density, which is to say a certain amount of current per surface area. The figure I got from a chemist friends was 3.7-5.4 A/dm^2.

[toolz568]

Ok,

I keep looking at the guide plate and was wondering if I should reduce the diameter of the top 1" of the ram by a 1/16 to give the guide plate a shelf to sit on or is the 3/8" bolt enough to keep it from slipping. I know there is not pressure on this, am I over thinking this?

[20nickels]

Ok,

I keep looking at the guide plate and was wondering if I should reduce the diameter of the top 1" of the ram by a 1/16 to give the guide plate a shelf to sit on or is the 3/8" bolt enough to keep it from slipping. I know there is not pressure on this, am I over thinking this?

Neat idea, I don't see how it could hurt. It's just another machining process and may reduce any unseen movement.