Guys,
Money is of course important, but not the main consideration for me. It is in fact like Randy said - it is about the project; what I will learn through it, how it will teach me new things, or refine the few things I know, etc.. I usually strive not to just duplicate something, but try to improve it, or make (whatever it is) more suitable for how I plan on using it. Even if it will "cost" me lots of time, I usually prefer to make something than buy something, if my equipment and skills are up to it. I absolutely hate the idea of paying for somebody to do or make something for me that I "could" make, but I also recognize my limitations and still end up buying where is makes sense to me.
In fact I already own (all bought new):
- Rock Chucker, which I use for some operations, including cast bullet sizing with the Lee push through dies.
- Lee 4x die turret press that I use the most, and
- Dillon 550b which I use for some handgun rounds:
There are things I don't like about each one of them bullet presses, so part of my goal with this project is to try to incorporate some of the ideas/improvements I wish for. As a home machinist, I absolutely hate how much play there is in all of these off-the-shelf, mass-produced presses, so trying for something with less play, better alignment would be a nice by-product of making my own. I also hate that most of the presses are "fixed", with very little adjustment, regardless of whether I am using them for sizing or making rounds. Even if it does not make any difference in the quality/concentricity of the ammo, "I" would feel better being something "I" designed and built, and it will hopefully have some adjustability to make it more versatile to use. I am sure it will be a fun project to learn more about machining, welding, hydraulics, etc..
I guess I am "weird" like that on everything I do, including other hobbies, like LED flashlights - just a few of those prior projects/guides here:
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...ial&highlight=
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...hts&highlight=
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...ost&highlight=
http://www.candlepowerforums.com/vb/...ack&highlight=
Lastly, I like the single step reloading (Lee or Rock Chucker), but as I get older I am getting tired of swinging the press' arm, so I want to make this press so that I can use it with a hydraulic system with it. I of course considered for several weeks a retrofit of an existing press, but decided on a design variant of the thread I referenced in my first post, and instead of a retrofit, I am designing the hydraulic capability from day one. Even though swaging is not my "current" goal, I did research a lot about how much construction and how much PSI "power" I would need if I wanted the setup to be able to swage metal, and came up with a massive 4" diameter piston (about $80 shipped) - that is a 6" ruler for reference:
http://www.swage.com/ebooks/tb-4.htm
By the way, the good people from Amazon brought me the replacement pump - already installedI and ready to go
I hope to continue making slow progress this coming weekend
Will