Lets make a Swage press

[ANeat]

Taminsong; The press looks great, the washers shouldnt matter one way or the other

[taminsong]

Aneat, sorry for a delayed reply. I was busy in the reloading room trying to make some 40SW bullets out of 9mm case and the press makes the work so smoooth! There's a huge difference when I compared it to Lee Classic Cast and the RCBS!




I'm so happy with my press! And thanks a lot for your effort and goodness of your heart for sharing it to all!
GOD BLESS YOU MORE!

[GASwager]

Hey guys. First post but have been lurking for a bit. I have a machine shop and am going to build one of these presses for myself. I was wondering, while Im at it, how many would be interested in buying one if I made a few?

Absolute props to all you guys who helped this thing come together. Mechanically it looks very sturdy and efficient!

[BlondeBimbo]

Hi,

New to the forum, in fact it was this thread which “made” me join!

Lurked for quite a bit, but now having decided to build this press, we thought we would join, and ask a couple of questions and thank those whom contributed/designed this press – in the UK getting swaging presses is neigh impossible!

So, the problems in building in the UK is the odd – very old fashioned imperial sizes, clearly we can cut the material to any length/size etc. but obtaining imperial sized stock means specialist suppliers, and if we go for the UNC/UNF threads the price just goes out of this world - the raw materials look to be around £350 – about 560 dollars along of course with a long delivery time. (Plus tax at 20%)

Using modern metric, this cost becomes around £140 – 220 dollar, (including taxes) but a reasonable compromise is circa £160 – which is mainly metric – stock and fixings etc., but with UNF sizing in critical areas. Unfortunately this means re-designing the press for metric sizing, so before we re-design we thought we would ask those who have built the press if there are any changes which would improve the design

So….

The press appears very high – the guide rods are 12” long – is this really necessary? Would reducing this to 11” or 10” impact its use – does it really need to be so big – even for 50BMG dies?

The width of the press – mainly dictated by the centres between guide rods – resulting in a 3” gap between the rods – does the press/dies need to be so wide? – I would have thought the dies would be less than 2” dia, so could the 4” between centres be reduced to say 3 ½” – giving a more compact design?

The guide plate is 3” wide, is there any issue with this being 4” wide – I can’t see an issue, but concerned I may have missed something – but basically using the same size material as the top plate would save around £30 - or quite some time milling it down to size!

Any other points/changes which would help the design – obviously as time goes on every design can be improved, so no disrespect to the original design, just the more a design is established, the more improvements come along.

Thanks all

BB

[mactool]

Hi i have made the Press model with Metric measurements, but havnet made the drawings yet. Pm me if you Want the drawings

[BlondeBimbo]

Hi i have made the Press model with Metric measurements, but havnet made the drawings yet. Pm me if you Want the drawings

Thanks PM sent

Would still appreciate any recommended changes/suggestions from anyone as well

BB

[ANeat]

Hi,

New to the forum, in fact it was this thread which “made” me join!

Lurked for quite a bit, but now having decided to build this press, we thought we would join, and ask a couple of questions and thank those whom contributed/designed this press – in the UK getting swaging presses is neigh impossible!

So, the problems in building in the UK is the odd – very old fashioned imperial sizes, clearly we can cut the material to any length/size etc. but obtaining imperial sized stock means specialist suppliers, and if we go for the UNC/UNF threads the price just goes out of this world - the raw materials look to be around £350 – about 560 dollars along of course with a long delivery time. (Plus tax at 20%)

Using modern metric, this cost becomes around £140 – 220 dollar, (including taxes) but a reasonable compromise is circa £160 – which is mainly metric – stock and fixings etc., but with UNF sizing in critical areas. Unfortunately this means re-designing the press for metric sizing, so before we re-design we thought we would ask those who have built the press if there are any changes which would improve the design

So….

The press appears very high – the guide rods are 12” long – is this really necessary? Would reducing this to 11” or 10” impact its use – does it really need to be so big – even for 50BMG dies?

The width of the press – mainly dictated by the centres between guide rods – resulting in a 3” gap between the rods – does the press/dies need to be so wide? – I would have thought the dies would be less than 2” dia, so could the 4” between centres be reduced to say 3 ½” – giving a more compact design?

The guide plate is 3” wide, is there any issue with this being 4” wide – I can’t see an issue, but concerned I may have missed something – but basically using the same size material as the top plate would save around £30 - or quite some time milling it down to size!

Any other points/changes which would help the design – obviously as time goes on every design can be improved, so no disrespect to the original design, just the more a design is established, the more improvements come along.

Thanks all

BB

BB you can certainly scale the press down, or up even if you like. If you look at the first post you will see the press next to a Walnut hill press, The walnut hill is a bit smaller.

When I fist built the press I wanted something bigger, bigger than the Walnut hill. So thats what I ended up with, its awesome.... Its probably overkill for 99% of what I do.

There have been several variants born from this and I think they are great. Take the basic design and build one to suit your needs. What may suit one person may not another.

[RJOY]

see cad file for a home made press


https://grabcad.com/library/dundar-r...g-presspress-1

[RJOY]

see files for a swedge press

https://grabcad.com/library/swage-press-1/files

[jimbull34]

I'm new here, been reading it for a while and really like the press, infact I liked it so much I build a hydraulic press mimicking the hand operated one. I make dies and got real, REAL tired of swaging .45acp cores by hand, gets old quick. I had to start making my own dies because you just can't get them anywhere. I did order some from H-G firearms up in MI, what a mistake that was, I order them in April and Gilbert said he would have them for me in 5-6 weeks, its now the end of Oct and still no working dies!!! Word of warning, don't deal with H-G Firearms!!! Real bad experience for me....

[ohnomrbillk]

I'm new here, been reading it for a while and really like the press, infact I liked it so much I build a hydraulic press mimicking the hand operated one. I make dies and got real, REAL tired of swaging .45acp cores by hand, gets old quick. I had to start making my own dies because you just can't get them anywhere.....

I think we'd all appreciate if you could share some info on that hydraulic press.

[Vander Donckt]

planning on building a shorter metric version.
A quick question: how are the bronze bushings fitted in the plates.
How to keep them in the plates, without that they can shift.
Cant see it on the plan.

[dalep]

They should be a light to medium press fit into the plates, and a sliding fit on the shafts. The hole about 0.0003 to 0.0007" smaller then the bushing OD.

A light press fit with loctite is better than shaving off metal from the bushign when installing it.
If they slide in by hand it is best to use locktite to keep them from moving. Probably loctite 603 per http://www.useloctite.com/filephotos...ions_Guide.pdf

[jimbull34]

Sorry it took so long to get back here, been busy. The hydraulic press is basically a over built hand press that operates from a hydraulic cylindar run by an electric hydraulic unit. I will try to put a pic on here if I can figure it out!!! LOL..not real computer savy. The difference between hydraulic press and hand press is the hydraulic press never gets tired! I load .45s and 50 cal black powder rounds and doing cores by hand gets old real quick. I have been doing lead from batteries and fish sinkers and they both have tin in the lead and by hand its almost impossible to do. I also made a "squirt" die for making 1/2" round lead into .199 wire for doing cores for .223's and this you cannot do by hand. just won't work but on the hydraulic unit, no problem. One three inch piece of lead will give me about 8" or so of .199 lead wire. Works for me!!!

[Vander Donckt]

Thanks Dalep,

I will probably have to make them, Can not immediately find them here.
Axes i use are 0,98"
I will use steel plates of 0.75 ", the only thing I have immediately available .

[dalep]

Check places that sell bearings, bronze bushings are very common. Or just try buying internationally thru places like ebay or amazon. If it is easier for those outside of the US, substituting shaft and bore sizes with the closest metric equivalents will have no noticeable effect on the build strength. The same for plate thicknesses.

[barryjyoung]

I have built a bench specifically designed for this swaging press. You can see it at

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/show...56#post2480456

Now I just have to build this press.

Thank you for the inspiration Aneat.

Barry

[castormd]

Interesting thread!

[Blublister]

I have been following this thread for years. This is my first post so please correct me if I'm doing something wrong. Really cool thread. This one really helps all the new swagers out there. I have started building my press about two weeks ago. I finally got the cam mechanism done and welded as well as the links. Things take a little longer on a 3in1 hobby lathe.

Just a question about the press. Sorry if it has been answered before but couldn't find it in the thread.

You mentioned that you have a bush at the bottom of the ram where one would change the pin between swage mode and reloading mode. Is this also a brass or bronze bush or just a steel sleeve. I would imagine if it was brass or bronze it would see a hell of a lot of force on the bush.

I plan on using vescanite for the bushes. Except for the bush in the ram which i am still unsure of. Was thinking of just making a steel sleeve. Unless I'm missing something.

I made a third hole in between swage mode and reloading mode just in case i ever need something in between.

Thanks for sharing all your build plans and experience. Without this forum i would have never got interested in swaging or casting.

[dalep]

Any place there is much sliding or rotating motion (especially while under pressure) it is better to use a bushing to reduce wear. Regardless grease or oil lube will extend the life of the parts a lot.