Lee Dippers

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I like the idea of Lee dippers in principal. However the biggest flaw I find with them is the poor incremental selection. Especially in the pistol sizes. 0.3, 0.5, 0.7?

If you're loading 9mm or even .38 spl these increments just aren't useful. I end up fabricating my own out of spent cases, solder, and copper wire.

It would be so nice if there was a "Pistol dipper set" with 0.1 cc increments. 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 cc.

Or am I the only one that sees the need?

[Guesser]

If they were available I would buy a set. I, also, have fabricated several for specific uses; but I'd buy a set.

[gwpercle]

I like the idea of Lee dippers in principal. However the biggest flaw I find with them is the poor incremental selection. Especially in the pistol sizes. 0.3, 0.5, 0.7?

If you're loading 9mm or even .38 spl these increments just aren't useful. I end up fabricating my own out of spent cases, solder, and copper wire.

It would be so nice if there was a "Pistol dipper set" with 0.1 cc increments. 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 cc.

Or am I the only one that sees the need?

I wish I had a set , I resorted to modifying a few of Lee's then making my own out of fired cases but a set of "pistol dippers" would have been nice. If they made a set tomorrow I would order one . I would like them to be in 0.5 increments , like 1.0, 1.5 , 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5....etc .
I rather like the way dippers operate , simple and safe .
Gary

[mdi]

Besides making some of my own dippers, I have customized some of my Lee dippers. I can either remove some of the top/mouth of the mouth to lessen the charge and I have dropped epoxy in the cavities to make the charges smaller. To make charges a bit heavier I have reamed out the cavity or deepened it with a drill. Works for me...

I also learned how to vary the charge from a dipper by varying my dipping method. I can run the dipper through the powder backwards and strike the mouth with a straight edge. I can run the dipper through the powder, mouth first and strike, and also run the dipper through mouth first and lightly shake, not strike. I can "push" the dipper through the powder and not strike, and push through a deeper container of powder and get heavier charges. All these methods will produce a different charge. Just takes practice...

[country gent]

Several ways to "adjust dippers thrown charges. You can fill with epoxy and then work it down with a flat ground drill. Another is with a hole punch make some card board discs that fit snug into dippers and use for spacers to lighten charge. For small charge changes a piece of masking tape on the side of the cup does the trick will fine tune quickly. If you need a lot then the epoxy may be the way to go. The nice thing with the cut disks is they are adjustable in the future by adding or removing disks. The tape is handy for small quick adjustments of 1/2 grn or less. You can file them down if you want to also.

I keep several lengths of thin wall brass tubing in different sizes and .060 flat stock on hand to make dippers with when needed. My shim punch knocks out a base of dia needed. This is aligned in the bottom and soldered in place. A handle is then fashioned from wire or the .060 brass flat stock and soldered on. cleaned and length adjusted for desired weight. With the tube a smaller dowel wrapped with tape to a snug fit slid into tube leaving the end known to long. Pour the desired charge in and push up to where it meets the end of the tube. pour out and measure depth of cavity. Add thickness of the flat stock + 030 - .060 to this and cut. lightly press base in flush with end and make handle solder together. clean deburr and check. You should have very little file work to do.

[GoodOlBoy]

I agree, and I've also made a few of my own from spent cases. I always liked the Lee dippers better than other measuring methods.

God Bless.

GoodOlBoy

[JBinMN]

Candle wax/paraffin melted & put in the bottom of the dippers can help with "tuning" a dipper to a specific charge.

You can "adjust" the "setting" if you put in too much, but simply removing some of the wax.

You can remove that wax later if you like, by placing the dipper in some water hot enough to remove the wax & it will be back at the original "setting", or amount of capacity.

Or... You can make your own dippers out of cartridges, as mentioned.

I have done both. It works. KISS method for me.
;)

G'Luck!
:)

[WebMonkey]

i bought two sets a long while back.
one set i used sand paper to 'file' down a few for specific powder/cartridge combos.

[Taterhead]

I love that we have so many options for measuring the amount of powder that goes into a case. Different tastes/preferences.

I own a complete set of the yellow dippers in a pretty nice box, but never found them to be more convenient than a Uniflow with a micrometer adjustment screw. Both meter by volume, but a uniflow can cover all the in-between territory. So mine remain unused under the bench somewhere. I'll probably gift them to someone eventually.

[Tom W.]

The Uniflow with the micrometer is good, but with stick powders it gives me fits.I have the box of yellow dippers, and all but one have been used at some time or another. If using them for light loads I'll use them as is, but for my hunting loads I'll dip them and use my scale and trickler.

[Taterhead]

Yes, large extruded powders get dropped and trickled from the Uniflow. I keep a note of where the "hair under" setting is in the micro screw and dial 'er up. But I can see the utility of a dipper if one is sized close.

[Bazoo]

I like the dipper method for its ease of setup and simplicity. I have a Lee powder measure that I use if the dippers don't get me close enough. Breaking out the scale to set and verify the measure is a pain if I'm just doing a box.

[psweigle]

I love my dippers. I have all 3, the black, red, and yellow sets. Im partial to them for stick powders and winchester 296/h110.

[GhostHawk]

I too would buy a set of Pistol dippers in .1 graduations.

I also make my own. Took a piece of cut off flat bamboo stick 1/2" wide, 4" long. with tape put a .22mag brass on one end. .22lr on the other. Took virtually nothing to tune that .22lr to throw 2 grain of Red Dot charges. Just right for the .32sw long.

Big one throws 3.5 grains of RD which will be handi for 9mm loading.

Mostly I pull it forward into the pile, scooping it up with a slightly rounded excess. Then a tap on the edge of the powder container settles it, knocks off the excess. Works for me.

[lightman]

I've got an older set that I used back before I got a Chargemaster. I would drop an undercharge into the scale pan and trickle up. Mine had a slide rule type chart that made it quicker than adjusting a powder measure to do the same.
I also have a small box of homemade dippers that I bought from another member a while back. These were made from old cartridge cases with a handle soldered on. Many of them were older rimfire cases and I bought them mostly for the "cool" factor! Whoever made them was a real craftsman.

[pastera]

If you have access to a 3d printer simply print out exactly what you need - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1395017

[Tom W.]

I wonder how it would do to attempt to make some out of bamboo.......

[country gent]

Have a friend that made some temporary dippers from straws and card board tubes. They worked and held up with careful handling. With the range of straight walled cases from 22 short to 45-70, Brass, aluminum, and Stainless Steel mechanical tubing available Any dipper can be made

[respiegel]

If you have access to a 3d printer simply print out exactly what you need - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1395017

I was about to offer to design some for 3D printing community, I don't know about those flat bottoms, looks like it would require some really well performing bridging, I think a tapered conical bottom would work better

[sparkyv]

If you have access to a 3d printer simply print out exactly what you need - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1395017

:goodpost:

[Black Jaque Janaviac]

I too make my own out of spent cases, copper wire, and solder. They work superbly. . . once they're made.

However, when you consider that the set of dippers Lee currently offers is only $10, I would gladly spend the $10 rather than make one homemade dipper IF the set came in the right increments.

The problem with homemade dippers comes when working up a load. I make the homemade dipper once I have a load developed. But man, if they could produce it for $10 it would be a no-brainer.

For those who expressed interest, I think I'll start a thread on group-buys.

[gwpercle]

I too make my own out of spent cases, copper wire, and solder. They work superbly. . . once they're made.

However, when you consider that the set of dippers Lee currently offers is only $10, I would gladly spend the $10 rather than make one homemade dipper IF the set came in the right increments.

The problem with homemade dippers comes when working up a load. I make the homemade dipper once I have a load developed. But man, if they could produce it for $10 it would be a no-brainer.

For those who expressed interest, I think I'll start a thread on group-buys.
Count me in , I'll amble over to group buys and throw my name in the hat....
Good idea BJJ !
Gary

[rking22]

I'm in too, I like them and use them all the time. A set calibrated around 2400 in .5 gr increments would be handy. Might be nice for each set to have a duplicate at every even gr weight to customize, or just buy two sets !!!

[Handloader109]

If you have access to a 3d printer simply print out exactly what you need - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1395017

On most cheap printers like mine, this will not print well. The bottom of the cup will not be printed well. Cup MUST be printed with mouth open. To make easy, handle would then be on the bottom rather that the top. Needs a redesign.

[Handloader109]

Oh, and they really wouldn't be that costly to make an injection mold for. But need would be probably 2000 sales to break even.

[crankycalico]

Oh, and they really wouldn't be that costly to make an injection mold for. But need would be probably 2000 sales to break even.


theres a lot of work in that simple little mold block. And when all the machining is done, your most likely looking at a minimum of 30,000$ for it.

[mdi]

FWIW, one poster mentioned getting a home made dipper right for a specific load. I have made adjustable dippers quite easily. I drilled a case head for 10-32 and used a machine screw to screw in the case head. Screw it farther in, the load lightens. Screw it out and the charge increases. Not a large adjustment "window" but I've used it for "tweeking" a dipper capacity...

[docbrown]

I use my RCBS Uniflow and Lee Auto-disk for target loads that are not near the top of the load range, but use the dippers and a scale for anything close to the top of the load data just to make sure. There have been times where I would like to have an "in-between" dipper, and have used a 380 case, some solder and a file to customize a dipper once, but ultimately decided that it was a waste of time for my purposes - but your mileage may vary.

[MrHarmless]

On most cheap printers like mine, this will not print well. The bottom of the cup will not be printed well. Cup MUST be printed with mouth open. To make easy, handle would then be on the bottom rather that the top. Needs a redesign.

Honestly if you just print with the cup down, and print supports under the handle, it will print just dandy. Doesn't need a redesign at all.

[RogerDat]

Candle wax/paraffin melted & put in the bottom of the dippers can help with "tuning" a dipper to a specific charge.

You can "adjust" the "setting" if you put in too much, but simply removing some of the wax.

You can remove that wax later if you like, by placing the dipper in some water hot enough to remove the wax & it will be back at the original "setting", or amount of capacity.

Or... You can make your own dippers out of cartridges, as mentioned.

I have done both. It works. KISS method for me.
;)

G'Luck!
:)

I like the wax idea. Adjustable, lasts as long as needed I would guess, no harm done going back to original. Slick. After all most of us have some wax or paraffin around for smelting or ML lube. As long as one has a dipper larger than the size required it should be easy to add a little wax. I could see making the effort to build a more permanent brass case or tube solution for a load that long term I knew I wanted to repeat. Say a round ball or slug shotgun load or something along those lines.

[MrHarmless]

I modified Grahn's code to print the volume on the neck of the scoop for everyone's convenience!

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3350388