Pacific Deluxe Case Trimmer

[Scorpion8]

Does anyone know if the Pacific Deluxe Case Trimmer has a removeable cutter head when in need of replacement, or if the entire cutter shaft needed to be replaced a'la Forster Case Trimmer? I called Hornady and enquired as to parts, but they stated that no parts were remaining available for the Pacific Deluxe and that "I should move onto a newer Hornady unit". Bah! I like the old Pacific stuff better. But the manual doesn't show parts to know whether it is removeable, and I don't want to try and wrench on the old cutter head until I know for certain.

Any help is appreciated. McJ Tools (https://mcjtools.com/product/32) makes replacement cutter heads for Hornady tools, and they are "usually" backward compatible with Pacific Tools in most cases.

Pacific Deluxe Case Trimmer OM.pdf

[Winger Ed.]

Take off the handle and lock ring/clip.
The whole shaft comes out the front.

I got a couple of replacement shafts with the actual cutter head on them several years ago and they are one piece.

Get some of those jewelers files with the diamond dust glued on them and you can sharpen the cutter.
Or very carefully shave it off to make it shorter thus removing the dull edge.

[Scorpion8]

I got a couple of replacement shafts with the actual cutter head on them several years ago and they are one piece.

Thanks for the info, that helps a lot.

[CastingFool]

I took the cutter of my Herter's trimmer, which is sort of a 4 flute end mill, and took it to a shop that sharpens industrial drills, end mills, etc. The guy took a look at it, said be right back and 10 minutes later, he was back and said "no charge"

[Scorpion8]

Yea, sadly there are no local machine shops and knife sharpening has never been one of my best skills. But we'll soon find out!

[Willbird]

I wonder if a new shaft could me made to use the cutters for this, might be really slick .

https://leeprecision.com/quick-trim/

Lee sells the parts individually.

https://leeprecision.com/deluxe-quic...trimmer-parts/

[Scorpion8]

Well, on a whim and a thought, and because I have brain seizures when it comes to this stuff, I ordered a new cutter shaft and cutter head from Hornady for their newer CamLock Case Trimmer. My experience with Hornady and their old Pacific gear is that they don't make major changes, and many products with the Hornady name are just incremental upgrades to the Pacific Tools versions. Since both of these trimmers (old and new) use the same pilots, and the parts diagrams shows some commonality, we'll see if I can slide out the old one-piece shaft and slide in the new two piece shaft. If so, I'll report back. If not, I'll hide my shame and have some extra parts if I ever move up to the newer kit.

[gwpercle]

Well, on a whim and a thought, and because I have brain seizures when it comes to this stuff, I ordered a new cutter shaft and cutter head from Hornady for their newer CamLock Case Trimmer. My experience with Hornady and their old Pacific gear is that they don't make major changes, and many products with the Hornady name are just incremental upgrades to the Pacific Tools versions. Since both of these trimmers (old and new) use the same pilots, and the parts diagrams shows some commonality, we'll see if I can slide out the old one-piece shaft and slide in the new two piece shaft. If so, I'll report back. If not, I'll hide my shame and have some extra parts if I ever move up to the newer kit.

No shame ... post wether or not this works ... I also have an old Pacific trimmer and it could use a new cutter shaft and cutter head .
I don't want to junk mine either ... it works just fine but would like a new cutter too .
Gary

[Scorpion8]

No shame ... post wether or not this works ...

It works, kinda. The new shaft and old shaft are the same diameter and the new shaft slides right in. The new cutter head has a built-in flange-stop instead of the old style c-clip. All that being said, however, the new shaft does not have the c-clip on the right-hand-side that limits how far to the left the cutter shaft will move. That has been replaced by some knurled nuts on the large threaded section (which I did not procure) and a different operating handle on the small threaded section (which I also did not procure). If you also got those two items, it would work like a dream just like store-bought. The old style operating handle attaches with a set screw against a flat-milled section of the cutter shaft, so the two handles can't be swapped without some work.

In other words you need the new cutter head, new cutter shaft, and several more pieces. Just those 2 parts alone from Hornady were approx. $50 shipped. But, you end up with replaceable cutter heads, which was my goal.

[Scorpion8]

I just ordered the 4 remaining parts to make the old case trimmer use the new trimmer cutter head and shaft. Another $40. So considering a $90+/- outlay for being a curmudgeon who likes the old stuff better but wants it to keep working forever....compare that to the cost of a new case trimmer from any of the major reloading houses.

[Three44s]

I have a number of different case trimmers. My first one was the exact model that the OP has. I do not need it working but for laughs and giggles I took it apart and intend to have a local machine shop that is willing and equipped with the correct grinder to give it a shot.

That will be a rest run because I own several trimmers from Wilson Tool and their cutters need sharpening as well. If the test on the old Pacific passes muster, I will have that local shop regrind my Wilson cutters as well.

I could send them to Wilson and it’s even in my home State but why not deal local with a shop owner who has been very good to me on Farm repairs?

Three44s