Trimming brass

[kfarm]

The Lee trimmer post has gotten me thinking about setting up my little 7*12 lathe or mill to trim large amounts of brass. I was thinking about getting a forester base or the Lee 3 jaw chuck to hold the brass. I do have a Lyman hand crank trimmer with universal jaw I could use. The question I have is which way to go, lathe or mill and how to hold the brass. Should I even consider making a holder out of aluminum or something else. If y'all have any pictures of your trimmers it would be wonderful.

[country gent]

I made a base for trimming brass in a bench top drill press from the collet set up from an rcbs trimmer. Basically an base and sqyuare upright with the rcbs parts bolted on it. I then made a shaft for the cutter to screw in to and use the pilots. For speed and ease you want the case stationary so the drill mill lathe dosnt have to be turned on and off every case. A repeatable stop with no spring is also needed. There are faster trimmers out there now that dont use a base for holding cases just spin trimmer and insert cases by hand dropping them into container when finished. An Idea I once had with a lathe was the lee trimmers with the length set pilots. Use an lee priime tool to hold case but modify so pin is large enough to lock case and provide the stop surface for the pilot.

[EDG]

For the calibers that it is worth the cost of a L E Wilson trimmer case holder you use them to hold the brass.
The trimmer holder for bottle neck cases acts as a jam chuck.

Tap the brass into the holder and it locks in place.
Turn you lathe to have one jaw pointing up.
Slide a parallel between the jaws to act as a stop.
Chuck the holder in your lathe pushing it against the face of the parallel and the parallel agains the chuck face.
The parallel sets the protrusion from the chuck the same each time.
Pull the parallel out of the chuck.
If you cannot remember to remove the parallel - find another way. Starting the lathe with the parallel in place is a disaster.
(using a 5C collet does not require a parallel)
Start the lathe and part off your case with a tool that cuts straight on the left side and is angled slightly across the end so that the side next to the chuck penetrates the case neck first. This will cut off the extra metal and leaves the case mouth square.

One you have the correct setting lock your carriage and cut them all off.
If you have a 5C collet holder use an internal stop in a 1" collet and mow the cases off.
Pretty easy and simple
If you have one of the little Hardinge second op machines they are even easier.

Take this holder with the case in it and chuck it in your lathe chuck. The brass is locked in by its taper. When the trimming is done tap the case mouth to knock it out.


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135138




The Lee trimmer post has gotten me thinking about setting up my little 7*12 lathe or mill to trim large amounts of brass. I was thinking about getting a forester base or the Lee 3 jaw chuck to hold the brass. I do have a Lyman hand crank trimmer with universal jaw I could use. The question I have is which way to go, lathe or mill and how to hold the brass. Should I even consider making a holder out of aluminum or something else. If y'all have any pictures of your trimmers it would be wonderful.

[kfarm]

Thanks for the info. I lucked into a deal including a grizzly mini lathe, mill and band saw with a lot of tooling from a Rc guy all for $350 now I'm trying to learn.

[Eddie2002]

I've been usin a MiniMat micro lathe for trimming my rifle brass. It came with a three jaw chuck which was scratching the brass when tightened. I found that making a sleeve out of paper and packing tape can protect the brass and when made thick enough allows you to trim rimmed cases like 30-30 and 7.62x54R. I just set up a stop for the manual feed and run a carbide cutter set at 90 degrees down to the case. The hole through the three jawed chuck is small enough so the case bottoms out in it which allows a real accurate trim. Can trim and chamfer about three 30-06 cases per minute once I get a rythm going.

[ascast]

I am not sure what your trimming and how often you plan to do it, or how many you plan to do, or how heavy a trim, but...
I use a Forster and I hate it, I got it for the outside turning option and it works just fine. I just dot like sitting down to a big pile of brass. I got a flex shaft somewhere and modified to to a power cutter. You have to modify for 45-70 size rims. Anything bigger and you have to buy the Forster Classic trimmer and all new collets etc.
The Lyman Accuretrim uses the same shell holders as your press and this can be VERY handy for the big boys, anything over 45-70 cases, to included but not limited to 577Snyder, 577-450 MH, 43 Spanish, 10 brass shotgun, and on and on....you may well have to get a custom cutter head for the really big ones. Maybe those should go on the lathe. Lyman also makes a couple models with a 2 jaws deal that has a ball that pops into the primer pocket. They have a drill press model that does this. Those are fast, but I always felt I need to detail trim on something else. I know there are some on fleabay as we speak so the pics are there. Not suggesting you buy from there, just see the pics.
I have never liked the Wilson or its' clones. I don't see that they are any more accurate than any other and as slow as the slowest. Then you have to whack it out by hitting the very surfaces you just fixed. Not for me. hope that helps

[bbqncigars]

I personally think my Wilson is the fastest standalone trimmer around. I use the adapter to drive it with a cordless drill, and even 50BMG cases are easily and quickly trimmed. The only down side is that you need to chamfer the cases afterwards. I've tried some other trimmers, and tried things in the lathe and drill press, but the Wilson is just faster overall. I've never seen any indications of post-trim damage from having to "whack" the cases out, but maybe I'm just not hitting it strongly enough against a hard surface. ;-)

[garandsrus]

I think the best option is to make a case holder similar to what Gracey or Giraud use and then mount it to your crossslide. You insert a case into the holder from the tail stock side, so the cutter would go in the chuck. Insert the case until the shoulder hits the stop, rotate a turn and you are done. About 5 seconds per case. You don't need to turn the lathe off between cases.

Heres a link: http://www.matchprep.com/trimmer.htm

[kfarm]

Ive got several thousand 223 and 308 that will eventually need trimming and been thinking of a faster way than the rcbs motorized trimmer. That's why I was wanting to set the lathe or mill up to trim. As I said I have a Lyman trimmer with the universal chuck and by combining it with the rcbs cutter/champer bit, I should be able to get some production. Mostly asking around because you guys are most helpful/knowledgeable and even if you don't know still give dang good information. Gives me plenty to think about. Garandsrur, you are exactly on line with what I was thinking. A set up to leave it running just insert the case and a simple crank. Guess my original question was really how to hold the case.

[dragonrider]

It seems to me like you are trying to reinvent the wheel, mount your lyman trimmer solidly to your bench, remove the handle crank and attach a cordless drill to the stem making sure the chuck is tight and have at it. In this way you can trim a lot of brass in a short time.

[kfarm]

That's rough on a messed up shoulder/rotator cuff been there.

[Rick459]

i trim on my mini mill. i use the forster power trimmer kit. the photo shown is with the Fred Bertlmans .30 cal three way cutter. i also have the forster .223 three way cutter for my ar-15 brass. i use the quill stop to control the length of cut. i have pre trimmed brass for all the calibers that i shoot for set up. works well and plenty fast enough. the Forster is just clamped in my milling vise. if you need. more info just pm me and I will give you my phone number.
Rick
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o301/rick4570/IMG_06581_zpszibylxdy.jpg (http://s123.photobucket.com/user/rick4570/media/IMG_06581_zpszibylxdy.jpg.html)

[MT Chambers]

Please, please bring back the Lee zip trim!!

[fast ronnie]

I have a Forster trimmer like rick459. I have another collet holder that works on the same principle except it uses a cam instead of the lever. It is a 5c emergency collet cut to fit cases just like the Forster except for the cam lock. I did a hundred cases this morning in less than 10 minutes. Took about another 5 or minutes to chamfer and deburr. I use an industrial grade counterbore with pilots turned to each size I load for. The Forster set up in a milling machine with a positive stop on the quill is the fastest and most accurate out there other than the cam lock. Forster comes with the cutter and an alignment tool. It can also be set up in a drill press, but then you don't have the fun of using your new mill. There's more than one way to do this, but I'd rather get it done and go on to something else like dumping powder, etc.

[kfarm]

Rick, that's exactly what I want to do. How did you align the base and how did you lock it down. I was thinking abt mounting the Forster base on an aluminum block then fasten in the vice. With the Forster can I just get by with the base? I'd think just clamping the round base in the vice it might wobble. I think fasting to a rectangular block might be more stable. PM to follow.

[EDG]

If you have a mini mill just get a 5C chuck and mount it on the table.
Hold the case with the Wilson case holder with a 1" 5C collet. . Brain dead easy.

[kfarm]

Ok. Did a Google search and the amount of info that has been posted on this site is staggering. I got to learn most of this stuff has been hashed out many times before. I thank all who stepped in with comments even the obvious and simply over looked. I am an engineer by schooling so I tend to over complicate things. As my wife says "I spend thousands to save hundreds".

[country gent]

Mount the forster on an plate and a couple strap clamps to lock it down. If your using the pilots it can even float a little