Bored, So I made a tool

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

While sitting around trying to get rid of the crud, I had a look at edsmiths book on a gas check maker.
Ventured out to the shop today, starting whittling. Combined his ideas with my own
And came up with a one stroke check maker for 30 cal.
Here's the results.
I'll have to take the camera back to the shop to photo the tool

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/GC.jpg

They seat on my NOE 314299 rather nice and hold tight.
I have to cast some more and head to the range and see how they fly

[plmitch]

Very nice Sir. Look forward to some more pics.

[slinger35]

Mighty nice checks there Pard

[longbow]

Excellent! Those do look good.

What thickness is the aluminum?

[arjacobson]

great design isn't it? I have a modification that runs three at a time. I am also looking at making inserts for the different shank sizes. Basically it allows a leeway on shank size.. Nice work

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

The multi insert idea is a good one. I made this to fit my NOE 314299 bullet, which I size to .313.
These checks will not stay on a Lyman 311299, so a different shanks sizes would be ideal, adn very easy to change with edsmiths design.

Longbow,
.014 Amerimax flashing

[ubetcha]

Jim were can one get Ed's book?

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

ubetcha,
right here
http://www.datafilehost.com/download-c7a0815b.html

Upper left corner says "click here"

[jmsj]

Jim,
great looking checks!
If I may ask, what modifications did you make to Ed's plans?
I have made a few from Ed's book but I would like to remake my .308/.312 Plain base check maker. If you could post up your mods, that would be great.
Thanks, jmsj

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I'll try and get some photos tomorrow.
Basically, I made the main body from a 7/8-14 bolt, so it will screw into my Rockchucker.
The ram / cutter bar is made so it mounts like a shell holder in the ram. I need to make some room on the top of my ram for the checks to fall out the bottom into the spent primer tray.
I took me lots of fooling around to get the check the right size for my NOE 314299.

[Idaho Sharpshooter]

nice looking checks. What is the ID?

Rich

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

OK, here's the photos of the checkmaker I made

First is the 3 main components, from left to right,
the forming arbor, main body and punch rod
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1219615.jpg

Close up of how the arbor fits the main body and its retention w/ set screw
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1219616.jpg

General idea of how the 3 pieces fit together.
The punch rod mounts in the press ram
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1219614.jpg

Everything mounted in the press
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1219618.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1219619.jpg

I wanted the checks to fall free out the bottom and collect in the spent primer tray.
I had to modify my press ram by enlarging the slot normally used for the primer arm.
I do not prime on my press, so no big deal to me. Some folks might not like that part,
new rams are available from RCBS if I ever want to replace it, or I can make one:bigsmyl2:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v313/James64/P1219620.jpg

So far the checks are just a touch small at a .275 ID. I'll tinker some more when i get more ambition but they do stay on my NOE 314299 bullets good.
I'm also gonna play with annealing the aluminum and see what effect it has.

[plmitch]

Heck of a nice job done on that!

[longbow]

Pretty slick alright. I like it.

[nanuk]

can you post a pic of the nose of the punch? I have to assume it is hollowed.

is that correct?

[arjacobson]

I have figured out if you make the forming spud right at .002 under what your shank size is it will usually come out great when formed. Little bit of springing when it comes out of the die. This is with .014 aluminum though. Will probably change if using something else. Here is my newest 30 cal set I made this weekend41220

41221

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

can you post a pic of the nose of the punch? I have to assume it is hollowed.

is that correct?
Yes it is hollow all the way through, the very top 1/4" is the diameter of the OD of the check, the rest of the tube is oversize to allow the check to drop on through.

For those who have PM'd about getting me to make you some, sorry, I have to pass.


Arjocobson, that's a nice looking unit there as well. Would work great in an arbor press I bet

[RG_86]

I have figured out if you make the forming spud right at .002 under what your shank size is it will usually come out great when formed. Little bit of springing when it comes out of the die. This is with .014 aluminum though. Will probably change if using something else. Here is my newest 30 cal set I made this weekend41220

41221


I dont suppose;-) you would be interested in selling one of those would you??

[Swede44mag]

How did you cut the slot for the aluminum to go into?
I did mine with a hacksaw but it came out crooked both times.
Tried to find a slitting saw for my Jet Mill Drill but no luck too thick a blade.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I used my band saw. I got an older craftsman band saw at auction a few years ago, built a jack shaft to slow down the blade and increase the torque. Works perfect :D
Yeah, I kinda crafty

[Tar Heel]

sweet.

[kbstenberg]

Jim when making a check maker after all the parts are made do you have to heat treat all the parts for long life? If not what grade of steal do you use?

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

The die body, was made form a chunk of 7/8-14 grade 8 bolt.
The rod part that does the cutting and forming was made from a piece of 1/2 steel that started out life as a lug wrench from a car. It was tough but not hard. I did heat it and oil quench it, dunno if it helped or not. Cutting that thin aluminum I doubt it needs to be real hard anyway.

[Buckshot]

How did you cut the slot for the aluminum to go into?
I did mine with a hacksaw but it came out crooked both times.
Tried to find a slitting saw for my Jet Mill Drill but no luck too thick a blade.

...........Simply check ENCO, MSC, McMaster-Carr or most any other outfit carrying machine tools and supplies. This from MSC:


Blade Diameter (Inch) 2-3/4
Blade Thickness (Decimal Inch) 0.0160"
Connection Type: Arbor
Arbor Hole Diameter (Inch) 3/4
Straight tooth right hand cutting
$17.66

Of course if you don't have, or can't make an arbor you'll need to buy one. They have slitting/slotting saws from .004" to .375" thick, of various OD's and mandrel OD's.

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

[arjacobson]

I have found out if you heat treat the forming spud everything works much smoother. My first dies were made out of stressproof and are still going strong. The other dies I built were made out of w2 tool steel with o1 drill rod for the forming spud and cutting tube. A buddy of mine is going to heat treat my new set but I really don't think it's going to make that much difference. My original 357 die has 6k checks made on it and there is very little if any wear

[arjacobson]

How did you cut the slot for the aluminum to go into?
I did mine with a hacksaw but it came out crooked both times.
Tried to find a slitting saw for my Jet Mill Drill but no luck too thick a blade.

I used my elcheapo bandsaw(horizontal) for the slot. Just clamp it in the vice and watch how far you are cutting through the hole. Works great everytime. After cutting fold a pc of emery cloth on your gas check material. Run this into the slot a few times and it will clean up nice. BTW if the slot is a bit ragged it really doesn't make much difference. It actually seems to help in the punching process.

[arjacobson]

I dont suppose;-) you would be interested in selling one of those would you??

I might do one to help out a fellow forum member. What caliber are you thinking??

[Mugs]

I'd love to buy one in 7MM if you get to making some.
Mugs
IHMSA 5940L

[arjacobson]

Mugs send me a couple bullets for a sample and I will see what I can do:bigsmyl2:

[emrah]

I'm confused as to how the checks fall through. Do they fall through the entire length of the punch rod and fall out the bottom of the shell holder part? What are the dimensions of the cutter, arbor, etc.?

Emrah

[bandit7.5]

ubetcha,
right here
http://www.datafilehost.com/download-c7a0815b.html

Upper left corner says "click here"

this does not work for me comes out all scrambled

[pistolman44]

I commend you guys that make your own check maker. I wish I knew about these check makers before I retired from US Steel 9 yrs ago. The machine shop we had was huge and I could of had these check makers pumped out in no time. And wouldn't have to waite over a year now for one. At my age (66)can't be waiting too much longer.

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

this does not work for me comes out all scrambled


Are you clicking the "click here" in small letters? Works fine for me. clicking the big
"play now" or big "download" buttons results in a mess

[Pigslayer]

I commend you guys that make your own check maker. I wish I knew about these check makers before I retired from US Steel 9 yrs ago. The machine shop we had was huge and I could of had these check makers pumped out in no time. And wouldn't have to waite over a year now for one. At my age (66)can't be waiting too much longer.

You don't have to wait over a year. Order a FreeChex III from Charlie. He'll get it right to you.[smilie=w:

[Jim Flinchbaugh]

I'm confused as to how the checks fall through. Do they fall through the entire length of the punch rod and fall out the bottom of the shell holder part? What are the dimensions of the cutter, arbor, etc.?

Emrah

Yes, the cutter / forming rod is hollow, only about 1/4 inch of the top is the size for the check (bullet base dia -.002)
The check gets formed, and once through the tight spot, it drops on through the base (not really a shell holder, but machined to fit where the holder would go)
I do believe the design that arjacobson is making is better, using an arbor press. Eliminates having to mod the press ram