Impressed with FreeChex

[Mykos]

I just thought I'd throw out a positive review for Charlie because I'm very impressed with his product and service. I ordered a .30 caliber FC III on Sunday evening and he had it in the mail Monday morning. It arrived on Friday to me in Canada, which is pretty amazing.

Included was a sample of aluminum sheeting and a sample of gas checks made with the tool. The tool itself is great and has worked flawlessly in the little I've tried it. I'm going to machine up an adapter to make it work in my loading press, but it does work fine in a drill press so far.

Anyway, just thought I'd let everyone know that Charlie is great to deal with and anybody looking to make their own gas checks would be pleased with the FC III.

[arjacobson]

It is a great design isn't it?? I have never met the man but have made a few dies patterned off his design. It doesn't have the ability to change material sizes too easy but who cares? If it works on the bullet you are using that is good enough. When everything is running right you can really crank out the checks too..

[Sagebrush7]

Charlie makes great tools! I change the mandrels and material thickness myself and make different size checks to fit the many boolits shanks. Just a note the dies are harden in a furnance and will shatter if you drop them on concrete floor. You will get pieces of carbon that will sometimes give you jams. Blow them out with an air hose.

[edsmith]

charlie is going to start making the freechex III with a removable forming mandrel.his dies are first rate.

[yonky]

I to must agree the freechex 111 is a first class piece of tooling,professionly engineered,
To give flawless gc,but you must stick to the thickness stated otherwise you will jam the tool.
I had a 30 cal tool ordered and delivered in two weeks to the uk,top class bloke .

[Pigslayer]

I have bought checks from sagebrush7 on several occasions and they work well. I know sagebrush7 uses Charlie's equipment and sagebrush moves a lot of checks.
I had some money put away for checkmaking equipment but I went to a gun show last week. Need I say more? I spoke to Charlie several weeks ago & asked about a .45 caliber FreechexIII. He noted that it wouldn't be a problem & that he could get it right out. Now . . . to save some more money . . .

[Pigslayer]

Charlie makes great tools! I change the mandrels and material thickness myself and make different size checks to fit the many boolits shanks. Just a note the dies are harden in a furnance and will shatter if you drop them on concrete floor. You will get pieces of carbon that will sometimes give you jams. Blow them out with an air hose.
Could the mandrels be annealed so that they didn't shatter & still maintain integrity?

[Mykos]

I'm sure they could, but then they'd wear out and dull faster. I just don't use mine over a concrete floor and try not to drop it :)

It's no different than using carbide tooling, just be careful with it and treat it like it's glass.

I'm storing my FreeChex in one of the plastic two part drill bit boxes since I have lots of them.

[skeet1]

I am also impressed with Charlies product and service. I had mine in three days from CA, very quick service. Since I have had the tool I have made about 1000 30 cal. checks, it works great. I'm very satisfied with the FreeChex III.

Ken

[pistolman44]

If only he would start to make a tool to make Plain Base gas checks. That would be great since he has a quick turn around time.

[edsmith]

the forming mandrel does not need to be hardened, I make mine out of brass.

[TJF1]

Do you have a link to charlie?
Terry

[Mykos]

http://www.freechex.net/

[Sonnypie]

I am no more likely to drop a FreeChex III than I am to drop my guns.
It just doesn't happen.

I have met Charlie and he is a really nice top rate guy!
Lots of fun, laughs, and intelligence.

You can't go wrong with his tooling.

[Mykos]

Managed to fit in a couple of hours in the shop today and came up with an adapter that works. Just thought I'd post some photos in case anyone else is looking for inspiration. I know I usually am.

http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii570/mykos0/fc3_adapter_01.jpg
http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii570/mykos0/fc3_adapter_03.jpg
http://i1260.photobucket.com/albums/ii570/mykos0/fc3_adapter_02.jpg

I just position it so the chute dumps the formed gas checks into the spent primer catcher on the Lee press. I can then put a bucket underneath and start to horde gas checks like they treasure :D

[JeffinNZ]

Nice work but I still prefer an arbor press. I really don't feel comfortable with the way a reloading press goes "clunk" and the load it is subject to.

[Sonnypie]

Nice work but I still prefer an arbor press. I really don't feel comfortable with the way a reloading press goes "clunk" and the load it is subject to.

I agree, Jeff.
The shock loading of the sudden pressure release when the metal shears has got to be akin to a hammer blow to the pins, ram, and frame of any press.
Although, I did try it as well, based on one of your old posts, with my Herter's Model #3 C-press.
None of the reloading presses, in my opinion, were ever designed nor intended for such shock loading.

[Pigslayer]

Sort of like putting a concrete breaker on a backhoe . . . very hard on wrist pins.

[arjacobson]

I too like an arbor press. You can find a 1/2 ton elcheapo arbor press for $30 or less. Even with shipping you are looking at under $50. You can also run your material as wide as you want to. You just dont have much room on a reloading press.

[Mykos]

While a dedicated arbor press would be great for making checks, that's not really an option right now. My reloading gear lives in a rubbermaid tub and gets bolted to the kitchen counter when my daughter is asleep and my wife is out for the evening. I live in a 100 year old farmhouse with 5 rooms, the kitchen, living room, our room, daughters room and the bathroom. No place for a dedicated reloading bench.

I have to keep things compact and this allows me to do one more thing with the gear I already have. It would be great to have another press just set up for bullet sizing too... and a turret press... and a case tumbler... and you get the picture.

[Sonnypie]

Is a shed, or lean-to on the side of a garage any foreseeable possibility?
Everybody grows at different rates. You will one day have a corner somewhere to reload in.

[Pigslayer]

While a dedicated arbor press would be great for making checks, that's not really an option right now. My reloading gear lives in a rubbermaid tub and gets bolted to the kitchen counter when my daughter is asleep and my wife is out for the evening. I live in a 100 year old farmhouse with 5 rooms, the kitchen, living room, our room, daughters room and the bathroom. No place for a dedicated reloading bench.

I have to keep things compact and this allows me to do one more thing with the gear I already have. It would be great to have another press just set up for bullet sizing too... and a turret press... and a case tumbler... and you get the picture.

I hear ya buddy! I was fortunate enough to build a small (8' x 12') heated shop on the back of my lot. I multi-task in there. I even built a Chopper in there. Yep, a real chopper. We all make do with what we have & can afford.

[lead chucker]

I have a free checks II in 30 cal really like it small compact and works real good. Charlie is a real top notch guy, he even called me to see how it was working and how could anneal aluminum if I needed. Now that's costumer service.

[Duckdog]

I have one of the first tools Charlie made and he sure has come a long way. He also called me one night to see how things were working out.

There were a lot of guys ripping on his tools at the time, but I was happy, but it is incredable slow by the standards of todays check makers.

They were also very picky about the material that you could use and still get the checks to stay on the bullet.

[Dthunter]

I got mine three weeks ago.
I tried two different materials, (Aluminum,Brass),all produced great checks.
Ranging .010",.014",.015", .016".

Now I have to shoot some of them to see if they are functional as well.

[yonky]

and of course the beauty of the freechex 111 is you dont have to have a set width for the strip,to make my 30 cal gc i use 3/4" wide x.011" thick in coils .from a foot long strip i can get 42 gc,with very little scrap.

[25ring]

Guys,I have an unlimited supply of .011 lithographic press plates.Will the Freechex work with this thickness for 30 cal gas checks?---Thanks,Mike.

[yonky]

mike, as i have said =, i use .011" litho coil, it makes great checks

[JKH]

can't beat Charlies tools or service! He recently made a special .22 FC III tool with 2 mandrels, one specifically built for my .008" lith plate (THE best material for checks bar none!) and the second made for .011" +- material, fabulous tools :-)
I started working with Charlie getting some bugs out of his then new FC II tools & have kept in touch sice then he is a consumate gentleman & always ships his product the next closest business day and even Saturday's on occasion, and he stands behind his tools 100%

I typically use my .30 cal FC III on a 50's vintage Pacific C frame press, the leverage is considerably different form other press's I have tried and much smoother although still "abrupt", many people have poo poo'ed Charlies claim that a loading press has the wrong leverage but he is correct and has applied his considerable engineering skills & knowledge to the equation & proven it, YES a loading press will do the job but rather unsatisfactory especially compared to a drill press or arbor press (both use the same rack & pinion system).
Of course the versatility of the FC III tool is what makes it particularly appealing, it the ONLY gas check tool available to hobbyist's that has been ver successfully adapted for commercial production, check out James Sages web page sagesoutdoors.com (dont trust my spelling!) & look up his videos showing his pneumatically actuated FC III's in action to see an impressive sight, he has amply proven how tough Charlies tools are and after making tens of thousands of checks per tool none of them show any wear on the cutting and forming surfaces, that shows exceedingly good engimeering, manufacturing and proper heat treatment of top quality steel, makes you wonder how he can sell them as cheap as he does and certainly makes me grateful!

Jeff

[Sonnypie]

can't beat Charlies tools or service! He recently made a special .22 FC III tool with 2 mandrels, one specifically built for my .008" lith plate (THE best material for checks bar none!) and the second made for .011" +- material, fabulous tools :-)
I started working with Charlie getting some bugs out of his then new FC II tools & have kept in touch sice then he is a consumate gentleman & always ships his product the next closest business day and even Saturday's on occasion, and he stands behind his tools 100%

I typically use my .30 cal FC III on a 50's vintage Pacific C frame press, the leverage is considerably different form other press's I have tried and much smoother although still "abrupt", many people have poo poo'ed Charlies claim that a loading press has the wrong leverage but he is correct and has applied his considerable engineering skills & knowledge to the equation & proven it, YES a loading press will do the job but rather unsatisfactory especially compared to a drill press or arbor press (both use the same rack & pinion system).
Of course the versatility of the FC III tool is what makes it particularly appealing, it the ONLY gas check tool available to hobbyist's that has been ver successfully adapted for commercial production, check out James Sages web page sagesoutdoors.com (http://sagesoutdoors.com/) (dont trust my spelling!) & look up his videos showing his pneumatically actuated FC III's in action to see an impressive sight, he has amply proven how tough Charlies tools are and after making tens of thousands of checks per tool none of them show any wear on the cutting and forming surfaces, that shows exceedingly good engimeering, manufacturing and proper heat treatment of top quality steel, makes you wonder how he can sell them as cheap as he does and certainly makes me grateful!

Jeff

There, eye fickzt it fer Ya, Jeff.
And I like that engimeering.
I often call them engine ears.
Most of them burn the hair off the top of there heads because they run so hot. :holysheep

[JKH]

thanks Sonny! My spellchecker is on hiatus, turning 50 doesn't help either :-)
My dad was a self educated mechanical engineer and had more hair than Ted Kennedy, bald engineers are the ones that scratch their heads too much ;-)

[Sonnypie]

I always liked the Engineers I worked with.
Them college boyz can be a lot of fun!

Scratch their heads too much. [smilie=l:

[edsmith]

JKH, I looked for the videos on sagesoutdoors.com on the pneumatic FC III ,but could not find them, where could I find them ? Thank you

[JeffinNZ]

Jeff touched on a very valuable point in post #29. Having a tool made to fit the material you intend to use. That way you end up with a tool tailored to produce EXACTLY what you want. Charlie has been making .22 FC tools to my specs lately based around 8-10 thou material but of course if you have a source of 6 thou material then adaptation may be needed to produce a premium product capable of premium accuracy.

[Roger Ronas]

I too looked for the videos with no luck, Help.

Roger

[JKH]

I thought James had links on his site but there should be some on youtube, I'll see if I can find links for you.

[JKH]

Hey Guys,
My apologies! I cannot find the vid's but have seen his setup, I willl try to e-mail Jame's to see if he has any still, were there any pics on his site?

[Roger Ronas]

I did not see any pics.

Rog

Ps: I have thought about automating an arbor press with either an air cylinder or electric solenoid. So seeing video or pic of something automated may help.

[JKH]

hey Guys,

Hope to have some pics up soon and a video later as James has time, be patient it's worth the wait! ;-)

The FC III design is the best, why in the world would ANYONE want to buy another check tool that takes two separate operations to make one check? And I include Charlies FC II in case anyone thinks I'm bashing PM's 2 stage check tool! And to put that into perspective I personally own FC II tools!

More food for thought; a single stroke check tool by it's very nature HAS to produce more consistent checks, once you pull the lever and punch through the strip of stock the EXACT operation happens each time, there is nothing you can do by accident or design that can alter the forming process as it can only be changed by altering the tool, so whether you go slow or as fast as possible like James Sage does, the end result is ALWAYS the same, isn't that precisely what will deliver best accuracy potential in the end? YES!
With a 2 stage forming operation there is room for error in punching and then forming the checks, slight misalignment at any time will produce a check that differs from the rest, even if the difference is minute it is just like shooting a bullet that weighs a few grains + or - it WILL have some effect on the group, maybe not a huge amount but it's there none the less, plus dealing with handling all those parts and all those steps to make ONE check when you could own a tool that makes ONE for ONE! That's why I have upgraded my FC II tools to FC III with the exception of my 8mm tool which WILL be next ;-)

Jeff

[tjones]

Air-Mite Devices makes the air operated presses, automation I think is just a switch. It was on this site where I saw one or two of them in stills.
TJ

[Sagebrush7]

I have four Air-Mite presses. What I have found is the two major types to consider. The AP and DAP models. The AP have spring return shafts and the DAP have air return shafts. I get more miles out of the air return before problems crop up. The DAP7-2 for small calibers and DAP12-2 for .0167 material up. The DAP12 takes a lot of air. The four inch cylinder will cycle an 80 gallon 220 volt air compressor every 6-10 minutes. The hand operated 4-way switches work best for me. The mounting shaft is ajustable. You must set your FCIII up where it will not bottom out the spring and shatter the die. I will try to answer anybodys questions James

[Sonnypie]

Air Mite Presses. (http://airmite.com/airpress.htm)

Like some of these, James?

[edsmith]

I think that will be my next project. air powered check maker. I think the cylinder will be not too hard to make.I am thinking that pvc pipe may make the cyl. body. I will want to keep it as simple as possible.I will fool around to get the smallest dia. as I can.I am open to any and all ideas.:hijack:

[JKH]

Hi James!

I'm a bit tardy with your pics but it seems that at least for a few there is no need, there are a lot of very good minds lurking around here who have already visualised what you have accomplished (no disparagement to those who wish to see pics! The folks who had an inkling as to James equipment work with machinery and knowy what will do what. There are a great dealy of smart people here from many fields that gives our community a well rounded collective mind akin to cloud computing :) so we all benefit and grow in knowledge, an awesomet thing to behold!).

They greater my physical issues become the more I am interested in devices to assist in completing tasks that were once easy, I am very intrigued by your Idea Ed of a homemade air actuator that could be built from simple materials in anyones garage withy modest tools :) how about a piston siimilar iny design to a Coleman lantern pump with an oil soaked dense felt skirt/ring to effect a good seal in the. Bore? Sandwhich the felt between 2 fender washers of appropriate size captured with opposing nuts. Yon a bolt which would act as the piston rod, etc? Just a thought ;)

[edsmith]

JKH, that is a great idea, easy to make,cheap to make.the more off the shelf parts the better. I want something that can be made without a lathe. I have two lathes and a milling machine, but not every one has one.:goodpost:

[perotter]

Hi James!

how about a piston siimilar iny design to a Coleman lantern pump with an oil soaked dense felt skirt/ring to effect a good seal in the. Bore? Sandwhich the felt between 2 fender washers of appropriate size captured with opposing nuts. Yon a bolt which would act as the piston rod, etc? Just a thought ;)

I'd try using leather instead of felt. That is what was used in the pneumatics I've worked with that existed before modern seals were used.

The leather covered the face & the sides of the piston. The leather was of course oiled.

[JKH]

Hey Ed,

I do construction management for housing rehab on typically 100 + year old homes so there is a lot of "creative" adaptation I delve in to ;) So I tend to look at problems in a different manner.

Of course Ed I don't think you really need my ideas, you have amply exhibited a very deep talent and I appreciate a complement from a man like you!

So please keep us posted on your progress :)

[melter68]

Not got a freechex yet but going to order one, this is a great thread and very intresting, cheers guys:lovebooli

[truckmsl]

Has anyone had success with the 30 cal FreeChex 3 using .014" aluminum?

[edsmith]

I use .014 in my homemade single stroke 30 cal. it works great.

[truckmsl]

I just received a Freechex III from Charlie. 3 day delivery! I set it up in a drill press and using .014 aluminum (30 caliber) I cranked out 500 in just a few minutes. What a fabulous tool! If anybody wants a used Pat Marlin checkmaker in 30 caliber, I've got one on ebay for sale, under gas check maker 30 cal.

[Sagebrush7]

I have made in excess of 100,000 30 caliber checks. Disgusted with that tool , I sent it back to Charlie to sharpen it a touch!

[arjacobson]

Yeah I have no idea how you could make a better designed checkmaker. I have made 5-6 sets for myself and did make a custom one for a guy who needed an oddball for a different bullet mold and couldn't get one anywhere else. Charlie has one heck of a design there and I would love to meet the man!! I have made around 15k checks with my homemade dies and they are still going strong with just good steel.. great design that cannot be beat:D

[JeffinNZ]

I have made in excess of 100,000 30 caliber checks. Disgusted with that tool , I sent it back to Charlie to sharpen it a touch!


I think that is the tool Charlie measured and found it had worn a whole 1/2 thou inch.