My Custom Case Trimmer

[Bo1]

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This started out as a regular manual RCBS case trimmer, and a good friend of mine on this site customized it for me. It is now a powered trimmer with a sewing machine motor, with a foot controll. I think I see alot easier case trimming in my future.
I would like to thank Harley6699 for the GREAT and profesional job he did on customizing this for me. ;-)

Bo

[butch2570]

Wow, so much talent on this site , it is almost ridiculous, that's a fine looking piece...:D

[Komodoj]

You should sell these? Lol

[slim1836]

Looks like I need to keep my eyes out for one of these motors now. I used a power window motor from my van for an annealing set up. Wonder how a Dremmel tool would work?

Slim

[jmorris]

Yours looks better than my 12v power window motor conversion.

http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o213/jmorrismetal/reloading/DSC02033.jpg

[kbstenberg]

Bo a couple questions please. From looking at your setup
A. I assume the motor is bolted solidly to the U shaped holder. On the bottom of the holder are there 4 male studs that ride in the 2 channels that are bolted to the base frame.
B. How much of the motor support system is of the shelf items? And how much is milled?
C. What was used to marry the motor shaft to the trimmer shaft? Kevin
Harley 6699 sure did a professional job there! Kevin

[Cmm_3940]

Way purtier than when I use my cordless drill. I just took the little crank off and put the shaft in the chuck.

[Bo1]

Bo a couple questions please. From looking at your setup
A. I assume the motor is bolted solidly to the U shaped holder. On the bottom of the holder are there 4 male studs that ride in the 2 channels that are bolted to the base frame.
B. How much of the motor support system is of the shelf items? And how much is milled?
C. What was used to marry the motor shaft to the trimmer shaft? Kevin
Harley 6699 sure did a professional job there! Kevin

Kevin,
Harley6699 can answer any technical questions on the unit, he did ALL of the work on it.
I can post some more pictures of the front of the unit as well, and maybe you can tell more by them.
Thanks,
Bo

[harley6699]

Bo.. Thanks for the comment.. it was a lot of fun working on this for you..
I will try and answer the questions that are here.. The motor is a new sewing machine that I found on Ebay for $27.00.
Kevin I will try and answer your questions:
A. I assume the motor is bolted solidly to the U shaped holder. On the bottom of the holder are there 4 male studs that ride in the 2 channels that are bolted to the base frame.
The motor is sitting inside a three piece motor mount. The motor mount is screwed to two inserts of the glides that have been screwed to the leveling table.. I use two 6” drawer glides I found on the web for $27.00. I use a little grease for lubing the glide and the inserts that the motor slides on.

B. How much of the motor support system is of the shelf items? And how much is milled?
Nothing is milled.. The mount I cut out of sheet metal and drilled the hole with a hole saw for the motor to fit in.. I bent the base so I could blot the ends to the base so you can insert and remove the motor..

C. What was used to marry the motor shaft to the trimmer shaft?
This one had me stumped for a few weeks when I started thinking about this for my trimmer.. I search the web for something that would work and found nothing.. Then I remembered my days when I built and raced RC Boats. I remembered the U-joints that I used to join the motor to the prop. I found them on Ebay for about $10.00.
The level table was not hard to figure out just the height that I needed to line everything up.. I will add a few pictures of Bo’s and the one I built a few years ago for me.. I updated a few things on Bo’s like the handle is on the front and bend at an angle for ease of use and the other is a return spring to return the motor to the far right position which disengages the cutting blades..
If you guys have any questions drop me a line and I can help.. I have drawings for this project but some things have to be changed once you get the motor..

[harley6699]

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[harley6699]

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[harley6699]

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[Love Life]

It is magnificent!!!

What are the RPM's for the motor? I have been perusing motors and one is listed as having 7,000 RPM!! I am firm believer that high RPM are needed for fast and good case trimming. The downfall of the stock RCBS, Hornady, and Lyman is the slow trim rate (plus the wine of the motor). Faster trim rates lead to cleaner cuts. Even the Gracey is under powered. The Giraud runs 4,000 RPM which is fantastic, but it indexes off the shoulder and you need individual inserts for different case families.

Back on track here...

High RPM (3,000 plus) coupled with the versatility of the Lyman, RCBS, or Hornady case holding system is about perfect. Throw in a 3 way cutter and you are on you way to case trimming Nirvana. I

Harley6699 I sent you a PM IRT the case trimmer.

[cbrick]

LL, your really incorrect in thinking high RPM. With the high RPM motor comes less torque, the motor in mine is an 1800 RPM industrial fan motor from Granger. It is geared down and chain driven for the Forster trimmer shaft which runs at 600 RPM and torque is increased significantly. At 600 RPM case necks are turned baby hieny smooth. High RPM is simply not needed but a fair amount of torque is. In mine the cutter shaft is held captive and the Forster unit slides. Not visible in the photo on the left side of the machine is the output shaft for a second motor, a 12v gear motor that runs at 60 RPM and has a tool holder for cutting/uniforming inside flash holes with a lot of torque. On the right side of the machine also run off of the gears is chamfering/deburring cutters and also at 600 RPM with the same gain in torque.

When this picture was taken it was making short order of turning 414 Super Mag brass into 41 Mag for proper length in the FA cylinder.

Bottom line is don't think high RPM, think torque. Cutting brass without the gear reduction would easily bog down the motor and probably work it to death in short order.

Rick

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[Bo1]

Thank you Harley6699 for the additional pictures, and diagram. This might help explain the technical side of things for a few.
Thanks again for the build.
Bo

[danomano]

These are great! another project for the list!

[jmorris]

LL, your really incorrect in thinking high RPM. With the high RPM motor comes less torque

If there is enough inertia it might not matter much or a powerfull enough highspeed motor.

Here is a video of a case I trimmed with a 9000 rpm cutter, 1/3 hp motor under almost no load.

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/th_VID_20140322_215407_743_zps9ef4153b.jpg (http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/VID_20140322_215407_743_zps9ef4153b.mp4)

[cbrick]

Nice trim but I don't think there will be one of them in my future.

Rick

[btroj]

Looks pretty expensive to me. I can keep using my cordless drill and Wilson trimmer for much less money.

[freebullet]

That looks like a heck of a trimmer, well put together too.

I use the wft and I ain't switchin. Very fast and accurate.

[jmorris]

Looks pretty expensive to me. I can keep using my cordless drill and Wilson trimmer for much less money.

Free. One of my friends works at a place that was going to throw it away and he called me.

Not a very practical trimmer though.

[harley6699]

I wanted to update some of the things that have been asked. The sewing machine motor which has a high RPM rate but lower torque, that I used will work however it does get bogged down. I have been looking for a replace power source. I have tried two different model Dermal tools and I have also bought an electric screwdriver that was advertised as being low RPM and High Torque, neither of there two options seem to work on all of the different calibers. The next step is to tried a Zip rotor tool plugged into a speed control to see if I can get the low RPM and the High Torque I feel is needed for the rifle rounds. If you have any constructive suggestions I would love to hear them. Just realize I am not change the motor sled to a hand operated drill. I need a straight, direct connection to the cutting shaft. Thanks for reading.

[jell-dog]

Stunning ingenuity and GREAT results harley6699!
Thank you for explaining how it is built and the great diagrams/photos!
A LOT of talant on this forum!
jell-dog

[big bore 99]

Great! Circular interpolation for trimming a case. Love it.