Making that Bullet Collator

[RedBarachetta]

Ok, proximity sensor it is.

[MSUICEMAN]

I used proximity because it just makes sense and easier integration for someone that wants to use it for bullets and brass.

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[rjz5400]

speaking of sensors, does anyone have a link for the switch the drop tubes were originally designed for? the linked one from the files is way too small to fit in between the slots and the hole spacing is way off too.

id rather buy ones that fit, i can seem to make time to do the redesign and reprint

[rjz5400]

So I got these posts 3d printed and used my feeder to size around 1k 9mm bullets last night.
Downsides: you have to go kind of slowly so they don't fall off the posts, not crazy slow but juuuuuusssst right. Otherwise sudden stops and starts make them plop off. It's pretty easy once you get into it.

Bonus:! No finger cramps from picking out and orienting bullets, the feeder won't drop upside-down ones just a finger push let's out one at a time, because the posts only push so far it finds undersized Bullets. If the base is undersized it doesn't stick in the sizing dies so I just pluck it into the rejects pile.

I'll update with the stl later on it's basically a 9mm case I found on thingiverse with a smaller diameter top inserted. I found the best results with the die pretty high in the toolhead using the top holes for the retainer balls for 124gr tc .356"

[tdogg]

speaking of sensors, does anyone have a link for the switch the drop tubes were originally designed for? the linked one from the files is way too small to fit in between the slots and the hole spacing is way off too.

id rather buy ones that fit, i can seem to make time to do the redesign and reprint

I designed a clam shell that fit over the smaller switch that has holes to bolt in place. I also pulled apart the switch and stretched the spring to get it function without holding bullets from dropping. I may end up moving to a capacitance sensor but I need more time with this setup to fully vette it.

Switch_Adapter.zip

I just registered so I could post up to say thank you to this group for all the work and detail put into this system. I just printed my first bullet feeder printed for the S1050. The detail and tools that were put together to make it "easier" to figure out what you need and how to print it are just fantastic.

So cheers to all that have contributed to this effort!

Toby

[MSUICEMAN]

So I got these posts 3d printed and used my feeder to size around 1k 9mm bullets last night.
Downsides: you have to go kind of slowly so they don't fall off the posts, not crazy slow but juuuuuusssst right. Otherwise sudden stops and starts make them plop off. It's pretty easy once you get into it.

Bonus:! No finger cramps from picking out and orienting bullets, the feeder won't drop upside-down ones just a finger push let's out one at a time, because the posts only push so far it finds undersized Bullets. If the base is undersized it doesn't stick in the sizing dies so I just pluck it into the rejects pile.

I'll update with the stl later on it's basically a 9mm case I found on thingiverse with a smaller diameter top inserted. I found the best results with the die pretty high in the toolhead using the top holes for the retainer balls for 124gr tc .356"

I wonder if you could make a flexible tpu sleeve to hold bullets on the stem but fl coble enough to not get in the way of dropping or sizing.

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[rjz5400]

i did use a spring loaded collar to make a little dam for the bullets but I couldnt get the dropper to reliably drop using that. its possible one that botttomed out perfectly would work but these are 100%. just a little fiddly

[TylerR]

i did use a spring loaded collar to make a little dam for the bullets but I couldnt get the dropper to reliably drop using that. its possible one that botttomed out perfectly would work but these are 100%. just a little fiddly

Have you considered switching to a proximity sensor?

[rjz5400]

Sure, for the sensing? The collar I was talking about just above was to hold bullets on the "pusher, towers"

But I like the mechanical switch, I understand it and it's very cheap (like me) lastly I have seen quite a few folks who had trouble with those too so I'll keep plugging away with the mechanical. I can also tog up an extension if I need more leverage to actuate it.

[GWS]

Sure, for the sensing? The collar I was talking about just above was to hold bullets on the "pusher, towers"

But I like the mechanical switch, I understand it and it's very cheap (like me) lastly I have seen quite a few folks who had trouble with those too so I'll keep plugging away with the mechanical. I can also tog up an extension if I need more leverage to actuate it.

I started with feeders using a mechanical switch, but my experience with it was less than stellar. I was always fiddling, having to adjust it and readjust it depending on caliber. Got sick of it and saw a project for an annealer using a prox. sensor, and I thought that might be a better, simpler, more reliable way. For me it was all the difference. The trick for me was to lean the downtubes at an angle so that the bullets (no matter what caliber or weight) would slide down against the sensor side of the downtube.....no more adjusting was necessary.



Camera is angled up, but still, you can see with the needed angle on the collator base, and the downtube perpendicular to it, and the prox sensor on the down side, the little .223 bullets have to ride against the sensor and make it sense 100%. With bullets larger than .223 the smaller bullet fitting insert isn't even necessary. Just the spring adapter.

TylerR would have shaped the downtube prettier, not just a cylinder with a spring coming out, but this was made back before I was more cultured by his influence.

[witz]

I am trying to determine if I want to mount my proximity sensor on the feeder body or on the bullet feeder die. This will be on a 1050, so the whole toolhead moves and I worry that extra weight of a spring full of bullets could cause long term issues with it trying to rip the adapters out of the body itself. Has anyone ever run into those issues? Also, I have printed adapters, so I can play with it both ways, but for the life of me, I cant seem to find the correct piece that would go between the bottom of the spring adapter to connect to the top of the dropper die if I have the sensor at the top.

[TylerR]

I am trying to determine if I want to mount my proximity sensor on the feeder body or on the bullet feeder die. This will be on a 1050, so the whole toolhead moves and I worry that extra weight of a spring full of bullets could cause long term issues with it trying to rip the adapters out of the body itself. Has anyone ever run into those issues? Also, I have printed adapters, so I can play with it both ways, but for the life of me, I cant seem to find the correct piece that would go between the bottom of the spring adapter to connect to the top of the dropper die if I have the sensor at the top.

I would say definitely try it out and see what works best. To go from the spring adapter directly to the feed die you would want one of the "Spring_Drop_Tube_X" files in the adapters folder.

[GWS]

I am trying to determine if I want to mount my proximity sensor on the feeder body or on the bullet feeder die. This will be on a 1050, so the whole toolhead moves and I worry that extra weight of a spring full of bullets could cause long term issues with it trying to rip the adapters out of the body itself. Has anyone ever run into those issues? Also, I have printed adapters, so I can play with it both ways, but for the life of me, I cant seem to find the correct piece that would go between the bottom of the spring adapter to connect to the top of the dropper die if I have the sensor at the top.

Spring_Drop_Tube_Medium.stl pictured above, found in "adapters". Of course there's a Large, Small, and an Extra Large one too.

Picture below is the feeder dies, the Spring_Drop_Tubes and Spring adapters.



Before you get confused, the black part at the other end of one of the springs is a home depot plumbing part (1/2" CPVC coupler) I only use on my Hornady pistol bullet feeder modded to flip bullets, before I found 3d printers. A lot of grief went in to that conversion....3d printing is so much easier and cheaper, but it works really well, so it'll stay put on my bench, along with all the stuff TylerR made me print!

These printed bullet dies work a lot better than the ones that came with the Hornady. A LOT BETTER!

[witz]

I would say definitely try it out and see what works best. To go from the spring adapter directly to the feed die you would want one of the "Spring_Drop_Tube_X" files in the adapters folder.

Thank you for the clearification.

I thought it is was those based on the doc, but with a small/med/large it didnt really make sense to me since the droppers are all the same size at the top. Between your comments and GWS' about using the medium, I think I will try those.

It might be that I use the sensor on the dropper die on all but the 223. I worry about those being so small that they might not get detected. I know GWS had to tilt his so that they aways rid the sensor side. Those are so light though, the stress on the feeder will be much less than if I had a spring full of 44 or 45 bullets.

[witz]

Thank you for the clarification. The medium is what i need. I have all the other parts ready to go. This will be a much cleaner solution than the switch.

[TylerR]

Spring_Drop_Tube_Medium.stl pictured above, found in "adapters". Of course there's a Large, Small, and an Extra Large one too.

Picture below is the feeder dies, the Spring_Drop_Tubes and Spring adapters.
Before you get confused, the black part at the other end of one of the springs is a home depot plumbing part I use on my Hornady pistol bullet feeder modded to flip bullets, before I found 3d printers. A lot of grief went in to that one....3d printing is so much easier and cheaper, but it works really well, so it'll stay put on my bench, along with all the stuff TylerR made me print!

These printed bullet dies work a lot better than the ones that came with the Hornady. A LOT BETTER!

did you ever think to be a photographer?

[TylerR]

Thank you for the clearification.

I thought it is was those based on the doc, but with a small/med/large it didnt really make sense to me since the droppers are all the same size at the top. Between your comments and GWS' about using the medium, I think I will try those.

It might be that I use the sensor on the dropper die on all but the 223. I worry about those being so small that they might not get detected. I know GWS had to tilt his so that they aways rid the sensor side. Those are so light though, the stress on the feeder will be much less than if I had a spring full of 44 or 45 bullets.

GWS's solution of running the angle on the tube to always have it hit the sensor is very smart. My parts handle it a slightly different way, by matching the drop tube closely to the caliber. And of course the recommended sensor has good detection range.

[GWS]

did you ever think to be a photographer?

Not even once. For me, it's more fun to design homes and commercial buildings. I don't often tell people to examine my illustrations, but the red one above was hurried....and out of focus. A real photographer wouldn't allow such a thing to be shown in public.

GWS's solution of running the angle on the tube to always have it hit the sensor is very smart. My parts handle it a slightly different way, by matching the drop tube closely to the caliber. And of course the recommended sensor has good detection range.

Well that worked except in the case of .223. For that I made the insert with the curved hole inside....to again get that tiny bullet as close as possible to the sensor. But the real reason for an insert was to keep the .223's from overlapped stacking in the big tube which clogged the tube. You remember how fast I used to try to collate. That was just a curiousity....to see how and if fast was possible. I'm over that.

Bottom line really, was that I was trying to do as much as possible with one sensor and tee.......it took you to think of using a slip-over tee and caliber specific down tubes! Now that was smart. That said, you'd be surprised how many calibers work well in the same collator plate and downtube. I found that out in my Hornady project with pistol bullets, and found it out again when I used one of your collators and pistol case plates to collate flawlessly, .357, 9mm, .40s&w, and .45acp CASES ..... only changing the down tube to feed my Homemade semi auto case feeder shuttle! A real time saver for a press that had no case feeder made for it....something the older you get the more you appreciate.

[GWS]

I am trying to determine if I want to mount my proximity sensor on the feeder body or on the bullet feeder die. This will be on a 1050, so the whole toolhead moves and I worry that extra weight of a spring full of bullets could cause long term issues with it trying to rip the adapters out of the body itself. Has anyone ever run into those issues? .......

I didn't address that question. I see your point on the 1050. In my case, on the more conventional moving progressives, is was easy to limit the length of the spring tubes, and so I have no problems with the Hornady collator feeding them even in large calibers. Old pre-3d printer bench picture illustrates:



You can see the sensor screwed into a 1/2" CPVC Tee between clear plastic tubing out of the Hornady....the distance to my Pro 2000 minimal....


Then later wanting to feed .223 rifle out of TylerR's 3d printed design to my new Pro Chucker 7, the distance is immense in comparison:



Even on my setup, where the spring doesn't move large pistol bullets might be more of a problem....luckily I don't use the PC7 for pistol.

The 1050 I've never seen in action close up, so I'm not much help, but it appears you would need to have the bullet feeder higher above the press than was necessary (or possible) on mine. My bench is under a 7' ceiling furred under heat ducts.....so risers and tall feeders aren't an option most of you have.

I show you all these pictures to show that the conventional placement of everything is NOT cast in stone. You may have to think outside the box.....especially with the moving die plate on your wonderful machine.

[Minger714]

Good Morning. I'm trying to print off the files, but I'm getting a corrupt file prompt. I've tried to download the files again, but I'm getting the same warning.

Files like the bullet down slide plate, pistol brass collator plate small and big, etc.

Is anyone else having issues?