AbitNutz
03-19-2014, 05:56 PM
I just got the Cabine Tree lead hardness tester and over all I'm happy with it...but it has or I have, one issue that I need to solve.
A fair amount of the bullets I cast are smaller calibers, lots of different styles of .309, .313 even some .225. I have a great many of everything on hand. I also heat treat and water drop more than a few of these. Testing the larger calibers, .358, .454, etc are no issue. The bases and the meplats are large enough to stay put in the tester as I turn the crank. The smaller ones are a real problem. As I crank they will invariably slip/spin off. Filing flats helps but it is a crapshoot.
http://www.castingstuff.com/lt.JPG
You can see from this link sorta what I'm talking about. The bullet in the picture is clearly very large. Likely a .458 or so. Imagine that point staying put while rotating on a .309. It's tough to make happen.
I need a slight modification. I'd like to have the indent point/probe cut off and then made to spin freely. Maybe use a bronze bushing or two. That way I could turn the crank, the bolt would turn but the point would remain stationary. A stop pin might have to be added to the point to make sure it doesn't rotate...
While I can take a reading on the ingots before I cast. That doesn't help for already cast bullets or bullets that you intend to heat treat/quench.
I'd like to throw this out to some of the talented machinists in this forum to have this done...
A fair amount of the bullets I cast are smaller calibers, lots of different styles of .309, .313 even some .225. I have a great many of everything on hand. I also heat treat and water drop more than a few of these. Testing the larger calibers, .358, .454, etc are no issue. The bases and the meplats are large enough to stay put in the tester as I turn the crank. The smaller ones are a real problem. As I crank they will invariably slip/spin off. Filing flats helps but it is a crapshoot.
http://www.castingstuff.com/lt.JPG
You can see from this link sorta what I'm talking about. The bullet in the picture is clearly very large. Likely a .458 or so. Imagine that point staying put while rotating on a .309. It's tough to make happen.
I need a slight modification. I'd like to have the indent point/probe cut off and then made to spin freely. Maybe use a bronze bushing or two. That way I could turn the crank, the bolt would turn but the point would remain stationary. A stop pin might have to be added to the point to make sure it doesn't rotate...
While I can take a reading on the ingots before I cast. That doesn't help for already cast bullets or bullets that you intend to heat treat/quench.
I'd like to throw this out to some of the talented machinists in this forum to have this done...