Drill press trimmers

[Jack Stanley]

Do any of you use either the Forster or Lyman model that attaches to the drill press ?

The Lyman collet looks like it would deal with brass chips better than the Forster but practical experiences with this type I'm lost .

Thanks , Jack

[paul h]

You can use the lee trimmer in a drill press, cheap and full proof.

[ReloaderFred]

I've had one of the Lyman Drill Press Trimmers for about 20 years or so. I've used it so much I wore out the collet jaws on my original one, and had to buy one on ebay just for the jaws.

The key is setting the depth stop securely. If it slips, so does the length of the trimmed cases. The pilots will also sometimes bind as the case is trimmed, due to the brass shavings. It depends on how much you're trimming, though as to whether this will be an issue or not. I also use the slowest speed my press is capable of.

I find it handy when trimming a large amount of brass that I don't have a die for in my Dillon Case Trimmer. If you already have the drill press, then it's worth it.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Jack Stanley]

Fred , that helps greatly thanks . My thought for this project is for trimming 303 British and possibly 7.62 Mosin ammo . Neither one gets a lot of use so I thinking this type of trimmer would work better for me than buying a Giraud to do the job . I had a regular Lyman trimmer years ago that was a pain if you had a lot of brass to remove . It would bind at the cutter like you said .

I hadn't thought about ebay for one , I looked in the Midway catalog and didn't see it . i saw a new Forster but that one looks like the chips might bind the collet . Again I don't know , just thinking out loud .

Jack

[r1kk1]

I use a compressor on the Forster also. I trim 375 SuperMag, 357 Herrett as we as the 30 versions from parent cases. Slow speed, patience and a little water soluble oil works for me. The depth stop must be working well or you have problems with trim length being consistent.

Take care,

r1kk1

[bobthenailer]

Ive usd the forrester trimmer in a bridgeport mill ! excellent !!!

[John J]

I love lee case trimmers in a drill press...to slow of an rpm and the brass snages so turn up the rpms as fast as you can and it makes quick work of trimming brass...try it and you will love it too

John J

[skeet1]

I have used the Lee trimmer in my drill press for some years now and have been very satisfied with it. Very quick to set it up, quick to use and no short cases adjusting it. What more could you ask. I think I'll sell my other trimmer.

Ken

[Wayne Smith]

I got the Lee chuck and the adapter that allows it to be used in a drill motor. That speeds up the process greatly. In fact I am trimming 40S&W down to be used as half jackets, taking not quite half of the length off. I cut down a Lee 40 pilot and it works great.

[dragonrider]

I have the trimmer base if you want it, no pilots.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0603/PaulGauthier/trimmerbase.jpg

$15.00 shipped.

[FUBAR 6]

Good info on the drill press, anyone have a pics of their setup?

[Jack Stanley]

You fellas using the LEE cutter head , what is a diameter of the cutter head ? If it's less than half inch I think I have an idea .

Thanks , Jack

[oldscool]

Jack
They are .495

[oldscool]

dragonrider,
If Jack does not take the trimmer base, I would like to purchase it to try out for a project.

[kbstenberg]

Could I ask a side question? If I switch over to a lee trimmer from my Forster trimmer. What do I need for each caliber to be trimmed? and would it be faster an simpler using the Lee trimmer? I do have a drill press I can use.

[Jack Stanley]

Thanks Oldscool .

Jack

[dragonrider]

Jack is going to take it.

[oldscool]

Don't want to hijack this thread to answer kb's question, but do not want to open
another thread for the lee bashers. Seems it is perfectly acceptable here to bash some
equipment, just do not say you are unimpressed with others, or the big dogs will hound you.

For use in a drill press, you need a cutter and a case gage. You can use the same cutter and
just swap the case gages if you want, or have a dedicated cutter and case gage for each caliber,
they are not that expensive, and you can cement the gage to the desired cut length with a
little trial and error. Many gripe about the gage cutting cases too short, but as they come,
they will cut within saami specs.

Below is a representation of the Lee trimmer parts, and what you need to trim different
calibers:

http://www.hunt101.com/data/556/leetrimmer.jpg

#1First, you need the cutter, it comes with the lock stud as shown. There is a larger
cutter for 475 to 50cals available.
#4 you can also get the cutter with a ball grip all by itself .

#2 For each caliber, you order the case length gage and shellholder. They come as a pair.



#3 shows a caliber specific trimmer set. Notice the shell casing is off center in the
shellholder. This is a common problem when spinning the shellholder in a driver and not
having it torqued or tightened enough. I like to spin the shell in the holder and hold the
cutter/gage static, then use a deburr tool and a steel wool packed socket to finish the case
mouth off while the case is still in the shellholder. If you put the cutter/gage in the drill
and hold the caseholder static, you will not have any problem with the case loosening in the
shellholder and wobbling.

#5 shows the universal 3jaw chuck, and the case spindle with round drill shank which are
sold seperately. This holder works well, but takes a bit of getting the hang of.

#6 is a discontinued shellholder set that had aluminum shellholders and a round shank lock
stud.

#7 is a custom made wildcat gage to fit redding or rcbs cutting heads.

#8 is a magnetic socket adapter to hold the short hex shank lock stud in a cordless screw
driver. 600 to 800rpm is just fine for cutting. Put pressure on while cutting, don't chip
away. You will feel and hear when cut is done.

I have used a lot of different trimmers, and the Lee will hold tolerances as good or better,
and be quicker, cheaper, and easier to use than most all others.

[r1kk1]

I don't think anyone was Lee bashing.

Lee doesn't do subcalibers and there are limitations due to shellholder sizes.

http://leeprecision.com/custom-services.html
http://leeprecision.com/custom-case-length-gauge.html

I use a drill press for wildcats that require trim lengths to be shortened radically from the parent cartridge, i.e., 30/357 Herrett's, 375 SuperMag from 375 Winchester, etc., etc. It would require several case length gauges to go from 2.039" to 1.600." Drill press or a lathe makes short work of it. I do not own a lathe so I have a bench mount drill press.

The Forster works good in this application and they can do custom collets and pilots. It can get spendy if you have a ton of different calibers to do.

I have and use three different trimmers depending on the application:
1. Forster for major brass removal.
2. Custom Lee case length gauges in a length I specify.
3. Wilson micrometer trimmer

From what I've read, trimmers that index off the datum of the case shoulder (i.e., possum hollow, gracie, WFT, Dillon, etc.) vs. the Wilson/CH4D trimmers that index off the base of the case (i.e., no shellholder) are split on the most accurate trimmer. Trimmers that use shell holders are at the mercy of the thickness of the rim by the manufacturer of the brass.

In retrospect, I have not seen a trimmer that can go from .17 caliber to .50 caliber without limitations due mainly to expense and to design limitations of the tool. That is one reason I use several different ones.

take care

r1kk1

[Jack Stanley]

Oldscool , thanks for the photos and explainations , that does give me a clue of how to run this little project . I have a Redding trimmer for a "few" cases to do , I trimmed a hundred British cases with that and I started thinking of a Giraud trimmer . I like the power and speed but don't want the expense this time around . That's when I came up with the idea of using the drill press , I figured if I could get a powered way to trim thirty-one caliber cases I could use the British and Mosin rifles more . :)

A Lyman base and a LEE cutter .... I suppose the LEE and Lyman would be just fine with that huh?

Jack

[oldscool]

Jack,
Not sure about the lyman base, as I do not know for sure if the ball in the center is spring loaded and floats or not. If you are going to use the lee and rely on it for your dead stop length, that would need to be looked at. You could however just use the quill stop on the drill press, you would have to be consistent on the downward force at the end of the cut or you may get some variations in case length from flex in the press head.

r1kk1,
I know no one was bashing lee in this thread. Both kbstenberg and Jack Stanley, seemed to be wanting more info on the lee cutters, so I put up what little I know about them to try and help.
I am aware of lee not offering gages for every caliber, Though many can be adapted by turning and or shortening. As for sub cals, look at #7 For major brass length removal, I use a mini chop saw with some southern engineered jigs for holding shells. Cut .10 long and finish with a trimmer.
Trimmers that cut off the case shoulder datum are fine, but will vary in case oal if brass is not all the exact same headspace. Hard to do at times with different brass hardness and springback.
Everything has limitations, cost considerations, ease of use, etc. I use a variety of tools, and they all for the most part will get the job done, some better than others. I do not own a drill press or lathe. There are a few job shops around here that kind of like my bringing little projects in for them to make. At least they like the money, and a break from the norm. The amazing thing is, some of the little ideas I come up with actually work, and are cheaper than ordering custom from a factory maker.

[G__Fred]

"You can use the lee trimmer in a drill press, cheap and full proof."


I have one for sale.......

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=155143

[David2011]

In processing large quantities of 5.56 NATO brass I've used the Lee trimmer system which is pretty fast and consistent, +/- .002 with the .223 set. The Possom Hollow trimmer requires a little effort to set up but is at least as accurate as the Lee and IMO faster. All cases have been full length sized before trimming. Does it matter that one indexes off of the OAL and the other from the shoulder?

I finally figured out that the Possum Hollow trimmer is pretty easy to set up if you use a dial indicator or depth micrometer to position the cutter inside the housing. Trim one cartridge, meaure it and figure the error. Measure the depth in the cutter from the back end, adjust the measuring tool (be sure you go the right direction- less depth for longer cases) the desired amount and use it to re-position the cutter. I think that my be in their instructions but you actually have to read them to get any good out of them. I think I read the technique after figureing it out myself.

David

[Jack Stanley]

I think my Giraud trimmer uses the datum line principle , cases must be sized first then inserted into what looks like another die body . As it's pushed in against a slight spring pressure it engages a cutter that shortens and deburrs at the same time . All in all , it works real slick when ya have a couple buckets full of aught six brass to do . I do believe this particular type of trimmer is faster than the Gracey I had once .

In the spot I'm in I'd still like to use power because these old hands get tired running the Redding trimmer regardless of how accurate it is . I think once the press is set up correctly I should be able to do enough brass to fill a couple ammo cans which should keep me going for a while . Perhaps I should point out that my goal here is not absolute benchrect precision but rather just keep case length on the safe side . Trimming like this will be a bit of a learning curve for me I'm sure . The good side of this is if it works , I will be able to use it for the 7.62x54R with adjustments of course . The British and the Russian rounds get about the same amount of use so I'm hoping for the best .


While I do my share of looking down at LEE products they do have a place in the marketplace . Their products don't always serve my needs the way I want so I find other products that work the way I do want . In this case I could get a different alignment sleeve and cutter for the Giraud and trim a bucket full of cases as fast as any other . The down side to that is I'd have time into adjusting tooling for each caliber . Using LEE and Lyman technology I should be able to get around some of that and I really don't use the Russian or British caliber by the bucketfull anyway . If this setup give me plus or minus two thou or so I can set it to run in the middle of the range and be happy with it .

I'm very happy with how yer skoolin' me oldscool :wink::D

Jack

[koehn,jim]

I also use a lee trimmer for large amounts, I have an RCBS and a Lyman but for large amounts orefer Lee. I chuck the cutter head and stud in the drill press chuck, and slide cases on and off with the base unit its faster abd easier.

[44Vaquero]

Oldscool, shame on you for not sharing the home-made Lee style trimmer! That's very clever, I will be making one this weekend.