Home Built Power Trimmer

[jethunter]

Here is a little trick I just learned. Probably some of you clever guys already do this but it was new to me.

I had five hundred 32-20 brass that needed to be trimmed about 0.30" for as part of the conversion to make 8mm Lebel Revolver brass. That's a daunting task on my Lyman hand trimmer.

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z98/jethunter/trimmer/0002.jpg

Being naturally inclined to work more efficiently and not spend much money (aka lazy and cheap) I started looking at the inexpensive LEE trimmer system.

The Lee trimmer has a shank on the shell holder that can mounted in a drill chuck. You still have to hold the cutter by hand if you do that and it's not very fast. I did it a bit different - I put the cutter in my drill press chuck and mounted the shell holder on the table like this:

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z98/jethunter/trimmer/0005a.jpg

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z98/jethunter/trimmer/0001.jpg

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z98/jethunter/trimmer/0004.jpg

The cutter fits in the chuck and has suprisingly little run out.

The shellholder lock nut is attached to a piece of flat ironwhich is in turn clamped to the drill press table. It worked like a charm and I trimmed 500 brass in less than 2.5 hrs. That's smoking fast compared to my hand cranked Lyman trimmer.

I threaded the shell holder shank and bolted it to a piece of 1" x 6" x 1/8" flat iron.

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z98/jethunter/trimmer/0007.jpg

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z98/jethunter/trimmer/0008.jpg

I threaded the shellholder shank to 1/4" x 20 (1/4" national coarse). The shank is slightly oversize and had to be filed down some to allow the threading die to fit on it. The hole drilled in the flat iron is 1/4". A 3/8" flat washer placed between the holder and the flat iron keeps the shell holder sitting flat.

http://i195.photobucket.com/albums/z98/jethunter/trimmer/0010.jpg

Cutting depth is usually determined by the pilot length on the LEE tool, but LEE does not make a pilot for the 8mm Lebel Revolver cartridge so I cut off a 32-20 pilot. I set the coarse adjustment with the height of the table then centered the shellholder / flat iron with the cutter and clamped it in place. I made the final fine adjustments to length by moving the cutter in the chuck so that with the drill fully extended it was set to cut the brass to the right length.

It works pretty smooth. The shell holder is a fast release that works by turning the nut by hand 1/4 turn. I could easily do 4-5 brass per minute once everything was set up. Running the drill at 1100-1200 RPM worked best. The cutter still looks sharp after cutting 500 cases, totaling 150 inches of brass trimmed off.

Total cost:
Flat iron: $6 (for a 3 ft long piece at hardware store)
LEE cutter and shellholder lock: $6
LEE shellholder and pilot: $6
Total cost $18.

The drill is a $80 benchtop mini press. Every hardware store on the planet sells this same machine with their own decal on it.

Each new caliber would cost $6 for a shellholder and pilot.

[Reg]

Slick !!!!

:drinks::drinks:

[fishhawk]

I been weird before but when I looked at the title of this thread I actually though "grass trimmer?" I think I'm loosing it guys!

[Reg]

Just relax and have another egg nog !!

[Wayne Smith]

I use the Lee three jaw chuck in my hand drill and the cutter in a set of vice grips. I cut a lee length size plug for the .40 S&W and cut it down to the length I wanted. I use them to make half jacket bullets for my 44Mag.

[abunaitoo]

Been doing almost the exact same thing for years.
Do it only when I need to trim lots off the brass when reforming.
I use a lathe chuck mounted to the press table to hold the shell holder, but other than that, it done the same way.
I tried doing it on the lathe, but it's much easier on the drill press.
Have the drill speed as slow as it will go. Probably work better if I could get it to go slower. Another project for the future.
I've tried using the universal shell holder from the Zip Trim. Worked most of the time. Sometimes the shell spins. Need to slow down the drill speed.
On one of the shell holders I drilled/tapped a hole on the side, and installed a short rod to use as a tightening handle.
It had to be small to fit. It didn't work as good as I had thought. But it works and is easier to turn/tighten.
Rod bends, so I have to harden it. Another project for the future.

[o6Patient]

This method takes a lot of fatigue out of trimming, Lyman has or at least had one of their universal shell holders
like on their trimmers on a base just for drill press use. (I have one some where)

[o6Patient]

jethunter, What speed do you run the press at?

[nhrifle]

This how I trim .223 cases when I make brass for my 300 Blackout. After running the cases through the sizing die, I have the shellholder from a Lyman trimmer in the vise of my benchtop milling machine. I chuck a 9/16" endmill in the spindle and with the machine off, set my depth stop. Turn on the machine, snap a case in the shellholder, and trim away. It is fast, very repeatable, but the cleanup can be nasty -- the mill throws a ton of chips. I can do several hundred at a time and it takes all the hand fatigue out of it.

[jethunter]

=o6Patient;1974359]jethunter, What speed do you run the press at?

620 rpm cut slower and didn't cut as cleanly.
1100 rpm worked well and that's what I used for most of it.
1700 rpm cut fastest and did a nice job but it threw cuttings further and was making a mess so I went with a slower speed.

Next time i will fix some kind of a screen to catch cuttings and use 1700 rpm.

[cbrick]

Nothing like a magnetically rotated shaft trim the brass for you. I built this 20-25 years ago and the amount of brass it's seen is unimaginable. It does all tasks to brass that you don't need a press for, trims, inside & outside neck turning, primer pocket uniforming, flash hole uniforming, chamfer, debur.

56787

The shaft that runs the trimmer is geared down to 850 RPM.

Rick

[badgeredd]

Nothing like a magnetically rotated shaft trim the brass for you. I built this 20-25 years ago and the amount of brass it's seen is unimaginable. It does all tasks to brass that you don't need a press for, trims, inside & outside neck turning, primer pocket uniforming, flash hole uniforming, chamfer, debur.

56787

The shaft that runs the trimmer is geared down to 850 RPM.

Rick

Rick,

That is pretty slick. Could you post more pics and give a few more details? I will unabashedly copy it if you can help out with a few more details.

Edd

[cbrick]

Well, several parts were made for me by a machinist friend before he died and unless you have a lathe would be pretty tough to duplicate. The shaft on top that goes through both the sprocket and pillow block bearing was turned to the proper diameter and one end was threaded to accept the threaded Forster trimmer shaft. There is also a machined tool holder that threads into that shaft in place of the Forster trimmer and holds any one of the three Sinclair primer pocket uniformers. As you can see this shaft is chain driven direct from the motor shaft. In my last post I goofed, it is a 2-1 reduction so is at 900 rpm not 850. The mount for the bearing, sprocket & drive shaft is simply a piece of aluminum extrusion that I had.

Looking at the right side of the machine you see three shafts, the two larger ones are also machined tool holders, one for each end of an RCBS chamfer tool that was cut in half. The third (smaller) shaft is direct drive from the motor that was to hold a keyless drill chuck but I never did put it on. The chamfer tools are gear driven direct from the motor shaft and if I remember right at a 4-1 reduction.

Not in the picture is the flash hole uniformer on the left side of the machine. This is a 12vdc gear motor that spins at 60 rpm.

I had to buy the chain, sprockets & gears. I had a sheet metal shop bend the aluminum into the box and the main motor is a 120v industrial fan motor (1800 rpm) from Granger. The three switches are main motor, 12vdc gear motor and a cooling fan just because it's in an enclosed box. The button under the 3 switches is a circuit breaker. The red pilot light is simply to remind me that I left the fan running. :mrgreen:

The pillow block bearings (3) are a pretty pricey item but I had them already from some long past other project. The 12vdc gear motor I also already had but I did need to build a power supply to run it. The 12v flexible shaft light on top is also something that I already had but not really needed, just cute. The two aluminum strips that the Forster trimmer slides in are not needed as the trimmer slides on the fixed cutting shaft very well. Using the Forster trimmer manually you hold the trimmer body fixed and slide the shaft back and forth. On this machine the cutter shaft is fixed and you slide the trimmer body back and forth.

Without a lathe this would be kinda difficut to duplicate as it is. Without my good friend this would never have happened.

Now I have hijacked jethunter's thread, wasn't my intention. Sorry! That is a pretty slick method you came up with.

Rick

[badgeredd]

Thanks Rick. It wasn't my intension either to hijack the thread. Jethunter's set-up looks to be perfectly viable. I asked about your set-up because I do most of my reloading operations in a room in the basement and don't really have the extra space for a drillpress. BTW I do have a lathe.

Edd

[Boris]

I experimented with various drill press, router and lathe attachments. What I found is that high speed is best for clean cutting, but with high speed you need to hold shell really well and perfectly on center. While trimming lots of brass, it's essential to grip it well and on center with the cutter.

One of my setups was using small router with a plain wood cutter. It worked really well to trim brass, and very fast too ... like zip, done fast. One a piece of brass would get out of alignment, it would throw damned thing all across the basement floor. In may case, I was trying to accomplish trimming 9mm luger brass to 9mm Mak, which is one millimeter shorter. I may have some photos, but both attachments were scrapped.

[W.R.Buchanan]

The good thing about brass is that you can use any speed to machine it. Generally you go just as fast as your machine allows as the brass doesn't care. However lots of times other considerations come into the picture like throwing chips everywhere. Adjusting the speed so this is not a problem is perfectly acceptable. However the faster you run the better finish you will get.

I use the same Lee tool in my milling machine with a 5C collet closer and do exatly the same thing.

Your cutter should last indefinately I've been using the same one since 1971.

Randy

[o6Patient]

620 rpm cut slower and didn't cut as cleanly.
1100 rpm worked well and that's what I used for most of it.
1700 rpm cut fastest and did a nice job but it threw cuttings further and was making a mess so I went with a slower speed.

Next time i will fix some kind of a screen to catch cuttings and use 1700 rpm.
thx: I need the drill press with my crippled hands an elbows
cbrick's machine is awesome but beyond any effort I could muster.:coffeecom

[smokeywolf]

Rick, that is saweet! I love seeing nice neat work like that. Electrical routed neatly. Lamp mounted. A thing of beauty is a joy forever. The only thing I think I would do different is replace your chain drive with a timing belt and cover it with a sheet metal guard. "What was that you said dear?" "OOPS, there goes my finger".

smokeywolf

[cbrick]

A chain guard is on the "todolist", been on the list since I built it. No sense rushing into these things.

While building it I said, self, do not stick finger in chain. It's worked so far. :mrgreen:

Rick

[smokeywolf]

jethunter, necessity is the mother of invention. Oft times the mark of a good designer is his ability to come up with a simple and surefire solution to a problem, while utilizing just what is available at hand.
I've done similar things in the machine shop when too many machinists and not enough machines kept me from getting into a lathe or mill to trim, deburr or cut down a bunch of parts.
Very nice job.

smokeywolf

[Doc Highwall]

jethunter, I have used a Lyman universal case trimmer that fits on a drill press years ago, and what you have to watch out for is how stiff the drill press stop is. Most of the drill press stops are made with a plastic arm and you have to watch that you do not apply too much pressure on the stop or your case length will vary, ask me how I know.