Machining Cavities (HEY BUCKSHOT, YOU GOT YOUR EARS ON?)

[No_1]

I have some Lee 6 cav bullet moulds that are gascheck design. I was wondering if there is someone out there that would be willing to machine out the gascheck area on 3 out of 6 cavities to make it a 3 + 3 holer? What do you think Buckshot?

Robert

[475/480]

I dont see how this could be done.
The GC area is on top of the mould where the sprue plate is.

Sean

[45 2.1]

A lot of guys do this with an appropriately sized reamer mounted in a drill press at very slow speed with the mold held shut and aligned by hand on the table.

[hornetguy]

I took out the bevel base on a lee mold by indicating it in on a mill and using a small boring bar to turn it out. It worked nicely. Turning out a gas-check shouldn't be any tougher than that.
On a lathe it might be interesting, being so oblong... I would suggest the mill.

[No_1]

475/480,
I was thinking along the lines of what hornetguy is talking. I can understand thinking of milling the top of the mould off. That would be the easy way but would reduce the weight of the bullet also. This other way you keep the weight pretty much the same.

Robert


I dont see how this could be done.
The GC area is on top of the mould where the sprue plate is.

Sean


I took out the bevel base on a lee mold by indicating it in on a mill and using a small boring bar to turn it out. It worked nicely. Turning out a gas-check shouldn't be any tougher than that.
On a lathe it might be interesting, being so oblong... I would suggest the mill.

[Buckshot]

.............The problem with doing it in a lathe (single pointing out the GC shank vs face milling the blocks) is that first, you'd have to be able to swing the blocks across the bed. Secondly you'd have to re-indicate each cavity and then bore.

Just to mill the GC shanks off in the lathe with a milling attachment is no big deal. In the photo's below they wanted the blocks cleaned up. You can see in the top photo some nebish has been abusive to the blocks.

http://www.fototime.com/26857D3EBA317D2/standard.jpg
Indicate the blocks perpendicular to the spindle axis, install the end mill or fly cutter, .................

http://www.fototime.com/6AF3BE634A683B4/standard.jpg
..............hit the power crossfeed then stand there and pick your nose.

http://www.fototime.com/AEF6DCA327A0F9E/standard.jpg
..............voila'!

If you had a milling machine boring out the GC shanks is easy as falling off a log. You clamp the mould in a vise, indicate it true top and side (final check on each cavity) then put the boring head in the quill and touch the GC shank with the tool, zero, then run it out the amount required to remove the GC shank and lower it into the cavity. Re-zero the boring head advance the table to the next hole, touch to confirm zero, feed out the boring bar and bore, repeat, repeat, & etc.

Issues would be if the 2 sides and the row of cavities were co-planer. Not a big problem via shimming but just a bit more fussing.

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