making copper tubing jackets from soft copper.

[ratboy]

everyone says that making jackets from the rolls of soft copper tubing that is available from your local box store is either not possible or the result is unusable. so i decided this sounds like a great idea.

i dont listen well sometimes.

i made a set of dies to make copper tubing jackets for a 50bmg.
it has a 45 degree point as that is what the pictures always show for the interior of the die shape.
i have reached a point tho that i am not sure of.
i cannot get the open end swaged down past
.180 or so.
i accept that. its soft copper and the strength just isnt there to apply more force to close them up farther.
the more curious problem is ejection. which is i dont have to. they stick to the punch.
i have checked the punch for straightness and it is less that .0005 out.
i have polished it down to about 600grit finish. lube the punch. still sticks.
i made the punch and die from 1144 stressproof.
the punch was made from hot rolled as the seller
admitted he had sold me cold rolled and found out he didnt have any so he sent me hot rolled to play with until
he could restock and fix me up with what i had originally wanted. now that is an upstanding business man but i digress.

doesnt stick really bad, take out punch, put on wood block, couple of taps with 6oz copper mallet
and they slide off. taking the punch in and out for each jacket is not acceptable. has anyone
else been down this road and care to shed some light on what might be a solution?

[MUSTANG]

Try using a heavy duty washers with the hole sized to barely fit over the punch, then an insert/cut pvc pipe/or.. to slide under the washer after the down stroke, so you can pull the copper jacket off the punch on each "Up-Stroke". Similar to how RCBS forces the case off the Primer Punch on their Primer Swage Die set.

[ratboy]

there is a shoulder on the punch that must go into the die. it is what pushes the tube down to force it into the forming end of the die and there is not room to insert a washer after the jacket is formed. cant put the washer on before as it will stop the shoulder from entering the die.
might use your idea in a modified sense. make a sliding collar instead. hmmmm.

[uncle dino]

ratboy..i do notice with my tubing jacket maker the wall thickness grows a little..like .002, maybe punch is too tight. D

[ratboy]

with the force needed to round over the end i was concerned that the tube might just shrink until it ran out of room and compressed. i will try a smaller punch and see what happens. it will either work or the jacket will get thicker.

ratboy..i do notice with my tubing jacket maker the wall thickness grows a little..like .002, maybe punch is too tight. D

[uncle dino]

after re reading your first post, my tubing end closing die is rounded not on a 45 degree angle..almost like a 1/2e profile. it may be pinching on end of punch. punch has flat end with shoulder for specified length..

[ratboy]

update

got a tubing punch holder from richard corbin. with a quarter turn and pulling the pin the punch holder comes out of the housing. this allows me to set up the punch and die yet be able to remove the punch without disturbing the adjustment. i modified it a bit by putting some handles on it to make it super easy to use. that solved the taking out the punch each time problem. i played with a couple of different punch dimensions which didnt help. i finally figured out that the punch mush be very smooth. i can now simply remove the jacket from the punch with a twist. it is interesting that they dont stay in the die but this works. much more to do but now i am making jackets. huzzah.

[ratboy]