Making that Bullet Collator

[TylerR]

Question TylerR......what's the purpose for the indented area on the right side of the hole?

Another question.....Since you said the slider was made for rifle cases, what if I make a simplified slide for pistol cases only without the slider? Like this?

Wouldn't that work? Looking for Further light and knowledge.

I could print that tomorrow and see if it works......was wondering about the indent on the right, though. Want to ask first and not waste a print.

Short answer is yes, that design will work for pistol cases. That is how my plate looked when I first designed it. The slide adjuster, as well as the area to the right are both designed for rifle cases (or large magnum pistol like 45LC). The cutout on the right forces the mouth of the case upwards as it moves across the hole, preventing jamming when the case mouth is in front.

[GWS]

Short answer is yes, that design will work for pistol cases. That is how my plate looked when I first designed it. The slide adjuster, as well as the area to the right are both designed for rifle cases (or large magnum pistol like 45LC). The cutout on the right forces the mouth of the case upwards as it moves across the hole, preventing jamming when the case mouth is in front.

I'll try it today......even .357. I don't shoot 45LC, since someone broke into my home and stole it 30 years ago. Nice little Ruger Convertible with a 7' barrel. Life is fun for the most part. On a day like that....not so much.

Your adjustable one is the bees knees for Rifle. If this one is trouble free for pistol....great.....I like simple.

[RedBarachetta]

Overture Digital Blue
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
https://overture3d.com/products/over...ssional-1-75mm

Thank you. I received two rolls of this and I am very impressed with the quality. So much so that I am going to print out 2 more collators for myself.

[TylerR]

Thank you. I received two rolls of this and I am very impressed with the quality. So much so that I am going to print out 2 more collators for myself.

Now your on to something there! I am actually printing a 300mm Just Right at the moment. Just because I don't have one. Not that I need one.

Who knows, maybe I will get crazy and do a build video. We'll see.

[stanford]

Who knows, maybe I will get crazy and do a build video. We'll see.

Do it.

[stanford]

When I install the spring, I first attach it to the press body, then I give it 1/2 turn counter clockwise, then attach it to the hook on the slider. This will force it to ride in the correct position.

Tyler,

I definitely see the difference when you twist the spring, it's amazing when companies design products they have all these faults in the final product.

[TylerR]

Tyler,

I definitely see the difference when you twist the spring, it's amazing when companies design products they have all these faults in the final product.

I am not sure I would consider it a fault in the product. When I first starting running my APP it made sense that the spring had to fully extend to get full travel on the slider. How to make that happen jumped out at me right away.

[GWS]

I am not sure I would consider it a fault in the product. When I first starting running my APP it made sense that the spring had to fully extend to get full travel on the slider. How to make that happen jumped out at me right away.

Could they have made it bullet proof there? Sure. Was it necessary? No. Pretty easy to adjust it. I never thought of twisting it for prevention, but then I only had it do that when I put it on wrong. I fixed....me....then I had no more problems....

Its easy to fault Lee on a few things, but I got mine for 75 dollars....I didn't expect a Dillon or an RCBS. Tell you the truth, modding it is half the fun for me. Heck try the swaging tool......my RCBS bench swager collects dust now. It's the case feeder, folks, that makes it worth pure gold, little flaws and all. Enough of a big deal, that makes me want to mod my RCBS Summit to use a feeder/collator.

I didn't get the pistol slider printed.....been a busy day, and I had a little trouble with DesignSpark today. I don't use it enough and I forget what I learn, and have to relearn and relearn at my age. But here's the finished .stl. (Decided to keep the recessed top at the front....to make sure it will do .357mag and other long ones well.) Will print it tomorrow.

[stanford]

I am not sure I would consider it a fault in the product. When I first starting running my APP it made sense that the spring had to fully extend to get full travel on the slider. How to make that happen jumped out at me right away.

I still haven't actually used the app press, I am still at the point of getting everything working before I start using it. I bought this press once I saw a lot of reviews on folks de-priming and it seems pretty good since I have a few thousands pieces of brass to de-prime.

Tell me if you have experienced this when using the app press. Last night I was testing the sliding action to see if I would get any binds when doing 9mm brass, using the printed piece on the slide (app_main_slide) when the brass fell down the jaws did not instantly grab the brass and at times the brass would jump forward off the press. If I put the original slide back on then the brass doesn't jump forward, the jaws grab it and keeps it in place.

I sanded the printed piece to make it was really smooth just in case, but it didn't help much. I think I have seen videos of others speaking about this but I can't seem to find any video now that I need one.

[TylerR]

I still haven't actually used the app press, I am still at the point of getting everything working before I start using it. I bought this press once I saw a lot of reviews on folks de-priming and it seems pretty good since I have a few thousands pieces of brass to de-prime.

Tell me if you have experienced this when using the app press. Last night I was testing the sliding action to see if I would get any binds when doing 9mm brass, using the printed piece on the slide (app_main_slide) when the brass fell down the jaws did not instantly grab the brass and at times the brass would jump forward off the press. If I put the original slide back on then the brass doesn't jump forward, the jaws grab it and keeps it in place.

I sanded the printed piece to make it was really smooth just in case, but it didn't help much. I think I have seen videos of others speaking about this but I can't seem to find any video now that I need one.

Have you tried adjusting the jaws with the adjustment screw?

[GWS]

That'd be the first step. Also examine the two shuttle pieces and compare them to the one that "works" to see what is working smooth and what is not working smooth. Your print may not be up to snuff. Plus here's a few things that might get you.

1. the hook that connects the end of the spring may not be actuating the jaws right....so test that.....it has to be moving free up and down a little to close the jaws.
2. Cases getting the boot may not be sliding into the caseholder smoothly.....check shuttle height.....I also lube my shuttle with graphite to make it slick, so the shuttle feels greased without being greased.
3. Also look for rough case heads that don't slide smoothly. Some brass has really rough imprinting that affects that, and some can even cause case heads to be so thick they won't freely enter the caseholder.
4. Like anything reloading, pay real close attention to details....watch it move carefully and you will see where and why it isn't smooth. Even how the downtube is rotated makes a big difference....make sure the drop is dropping the cases into the center.

With the APP the directions are minimum......but they are very important. I found when I had problems, reading them with a better attitude, and paying attention to each step and detail did the trick. (glossing over them, because "I don't need no instructions" is unwise, as I found out).

If your print is not up to it....reexamine your slicer details.....layer height .12 is important for small parts. top and bottom layers need to be smooth....at least 2 top layers over any fill.....and pay attention that the bottom layer is not wider in critical places. (elephant's foot)

[RedBarachetta]

It's funny, the Lee APP press is what got me started on this whole collator thing to begin with. I was decapping a few thousand rounds and I found it took forever to fill up the tube by hand. Worse yet, when i started resizing my cast boolits, i kept dropping them on the ground while trying to again fill the tube. I should probably make this next collator an APP collator and cast a bunch of boolits just so i can smile and try it out.

[GWS]

Finished the simplified Pistol-only slide. Works as TylerR figured it would......even at hyperspeed. I don't intend to collate that fast, but I also don't have a speed control yet for this particular collator. But if it can do it this well, this fast, I don't see any problem with collating at a reasonable sane speed. Also, I doubt I'll print the small pistol plate......might have to eat those words, but then again, maybe its a waste of time changing plates for different pistol calibers when you don't have too.

The two videos below are collating using the "large" pistol plate, so it should work with .40, .44, ..45 just as well.

[TylerR]

Finished the simplified Pistol-only slide. Works as TylerR figured it would......even at hyperspeed. I don't intend to collate that fast, but I also don't have a speed control yet for this particular collator. But if it can do it this well, this fast, I don't see any problem with collating at a reasonable sane speed. Also, I doubt I'll print the small pistol plate......might have to eat those words, but then again, maybe its a waste of time changing plates for different pistol calibers when you don't have too.

The two videos below are collating using the "large" pistol plate, so it should work with .40, .44, ..45 just as well.

Holy cow you are running that fast.

[GWS]

Yeah, what better way to test the slide. Your design works pretty darn good! That base was the first one I built, replaced on my other presses by the bigger 300mm ones. I had used a Dayton motor I had on hand, and it runs faster than later ones. I don't have a speed control on it because I first bought a tiny cheap one and it died. So have to order a new one.

But it certainly demonstrates the plate and slide capability. Can't see it gving me any problems at a more sane speed. It ran fine for case feeding duties for my Pro 2000 using the adjustable slide....but then you said open it up all the way, so printing a simplified slide with the opening permanently open all the way, just seemed like the natural thing to do since that machine is only going to do pistol calibers.

The other side of the story was that I had been using a 5 volt wall wart to power that motor and it was slower, about right, even with no speed control, but I misplaced it and hooked a 12v into it....then a 9v. The videos are using the nine volt. Interesting that you can vary the voltage, that easy. But a speed control needs to get ordered, and the bigger electronics box printed, then I'll be happy.

It's funny, the Lee APP press is what got me started on this whole collator thing to begin with. I was decapping a few thousand rounds and I found it took forever to fill up the tube by hand. Worse yet, when i started resizing my cast boolits, i kept dropping them on the ground while trying to again fill the tube. I should probably make this next collator an APP collator and cast a bunch of boolits just so i can smile and try it out.

It didn't get me started on collators but it sure encouraged me to make more.

[djinnpb]

Also one of the guys that printed like crazy took a break and came and back and see how wild things have progressed. Now of course I am printing the 300mm body.. because.. well why not!. I see ramp and extender walls for regular and mongo. If printing the 300mm body is all the ramp/mount/electronics box all the same as the original size? Only thing that looks to be needed different is the mongo brass slide plate. This seem right? Boy that thing is gonna hold some brass. 3 days to print

[GWS]

TylerR may have to correct me, but if I remember right, the ramp for it is the mongo.....don't remember if the slide plates are regular or Mongo.....I was thinking regular......TylerR will have to jump in here.....not sure.

[TylerR]

Also one of the guys that printed like crazy took a break and came and back and see how wild things have progressed. Now of course I am printing the 300mm body.. because.. well why not!. I see ramp and extender walls for regular and mongo. If printing the 300mm body is all the ramp/mount/electronics box all the same as the original size? Only thing that looks to be needed different is the mongo brass slide plate. This seem right? Boy that thing is gonna hold some brass. 3 days to print

Ramp - use the mongo version. Do not need it if just collating brass base down.
Mount - use the standard mounts.
Electronics - https://github.com/BF556/Feeder/blob..._Small_300.stl
Brass Slide Plate - Use the mongo version.

[stanford]

Guys, I am really stumped with this one. With the App press tubes, I have all of the drop tube adapter and inserts printed out, that is 6 of them. Somehow none of them will fit the small tube for the 308 boolits, the opening is too big. Can you tell me starting from the press which adapters go in sequence.

So far I have them in this order, the rest is missing.

APP_Bracket_Main -> APP_Bullet_Insert_308 -> small clear tube (what comes next on the small tube) ->
I am at a loss on what connector goes on the top of the tube so I can put the spring in. I looked at the video and this guys tube fits pretty snug, I look at my connectors and the holes are really big.

Thanks guys

[45acp]

Got my case feeder up´n running and now i´m going for the LEE APP for sizing bullets.
Which bullet nose down slide plate would be for H&G#68?
Tried #7 and printing #8 for testing. Guess the angle of the collator is important.
TIA