I guess I made a Star die

[454PB]

Well I've been working on my homemade Star sizer, and got to the point of drilling the lube holes. That job took 1/3 of the time I have invested. Those tiny little bits have to be used in a Dremel tool, no chuck goes that small. I broke four bits so far, and one is still stuck in the die. The other 7 holes are done, but I can't do the final honing until I get that last broken bit removed.

Anybody ever sharpen a bit that is only .039" in diameter?

[Buckshot]

..............You CAN buy a Jacobs chuck that closes down to almost zero and they take a 1JT taper. Plus Starrett makes a wire guage collet to be used in a drill press. They only real issue in using these tiny bits is in 'feel'. They want to be spun way fast, but fed very slowly.

Dremel makes a drill press stand for their tool and it is rigid enough to do the job. If it were me I'd just go to a bit smaller then their large opening size, but larger then the tiny wire guage bit. Then I'd try some of that heavy aluminum backed adhesive tape to cap the un-needed holes. I understand the lube is under some stout pressure, but is it really enought to cause the aluminum to shear?

................Buckshot

[454PB]

I think you're right, Buckshot. I'm going to drill bigger holes next time I do one. A hole that small seems overkill to me, any contamination in the lube would plug it. I wanted to duplicate the original's dimensions on this first one just to see if it could be done. This die will be .358, which pretty well fills out my need in sizes for a while.

My Dremel's lowest speed is 5000 RPM, and woked best at that speed. Using it by hand does give a good "feel" for the drilling. A .039" bit won't take much pressure downwards or side loading before breaking.

[454PB]

Here is what I ended up with, I'm going to drill the lube holes bigger, and I'm going to add some. I tested it sizing some Lee 165 grain boolits, and it isn't filling the lube grooves (there are three on this boolit) to my satisfaction.

The next one won't have the groove below the top section, I see no need for it. There are also some cosmetic things that aren't really needed, as you will notice I didn't bevel any of the square edges.

[Buckshot]

...............Looks nice!

"..............The next one won't have the groove below the top section, I see no need for it. There are also some cosmetic things that aren't really needed, as you will notice I didn't bevel any of the square edges."

Well when a company goes out and buys tooling, I guess it doesn't make much difference to them, as they use it X number of times and send it off to a tool grinder for freshening. Or they toss it all together, then write it off their income tax . Us home guys don't have that option, so grinding and maintaining nicely radiused cutters for those pretty shoulders question their utility. And finding none, can delete them with glee!

Simple is good and simpler still is great!

...............Buckshot

[old sparky]

I have been following your post, great work. I don't have the machining but somthing I thought would be great for the star is a set screw drilled into the jam nut for the bullet punch. I would have several punches made close to my bullet diamater pre set with a setscrew on the jam nut. then when switching bullets adjusting bullet punch would be a breeze. Just a thought.
Sparky

[454PB]

I hear you. What I've been doing is measuring the distance between the bottom of the punch and the top of the die so it can be repeated without the experimenting to get it set right. My challenge is that I have several (as many as 8) different moulds for each caliber. Using the set screw on the jam nut would require a different nut for each design. Your idea would be great if you had one design or a jam nut and punch for each that you had. As you know, the punch and jam nut has a proprietary 1/2" by 27 tpi thread.

[Denver]

Buckshot,
I made one die for my Star using 1018 CR, I think. Made several for the Lyman using the same material and have no problem with wear.
On the Star sizer die, after turning the body and boring the hole, I made a scratch line around the circumference with the tool bit at the location of the holes, then clamped it in the drill press vice and drilled each hole with a whatever size to fit the hole in the factory die, then changed to a #42 to drill the step. I made only one row of holes at about the same lacation as the middle row on the factory die. I was trying for a .430 die, so used a 27/64 bit to bore the hole. I got a little too aggressive with honing the hole,and ended up with something slightly larger than that. The factory dies I have have a square undercut at the bottom of the flange, so I used my cutoff tool to make one. Don't think it's needed though.
I thought if I ever do another, I'd buy a reamer the size needed. Problem there is reamers are about 20 bucks a copy, so hard to justify the cost unless your going to make a few to sell.

[Buckshot]

..............Denver, 1018 will work. I don't particularly like it because it's so gummy and tough to get a nice finish on. If you can place an order over $50 you can use a free shipping code at ENCO. This is a wonderfull thing if you're ordering some raw materials like W or O-1 steel to use. You can buy nice steel like W-1 at Enco for less then the big box stores charge for a 3' piece of HR or CR 1018. It is SO much nicer to work with! Plus you can harden it if you need to.

If you're patient you can get some really really good deals on tooling on E-Bay. I have several favorite sellers who seem to always have a changing inventory of drill bits, reamers, and similar stuff. There are some guys selling reamers and they're just in a old greasy torn cardboard box in a pile, I don't consider those worth messing with. I have no way to sharpen abused reamers.

However I have accumilated a fairly extensive inventory of nice new reamers in the past couple of years. I had bought a set of import (China) reamers by 64ths and have sworn off import reamers, and drill bits as you cannot trust them. Other then that set, all the rest have been onesies, or a few at a time and name brand US, or European make. Most are US like Cleveland Twist, APT, L&I, Vermont, or Yankee. My one big hit was a new set of L&I letter reamers in a Huot box for $182. Look in a tool catalog and they're like $600.

I naturally look for reamers in usefull sizes. Lots of times you can get 3-4 of'em new in tubes for less then one from a catalog would cost. Search 'reamers' in manufacturing and metalworking, or industrial or you'll get a million orange juicers and such crap.

The other usefull thing for making dies is drill bits. As I said I will never again touch an import bit. You go in a hardware store and the normal bits stocked will be Irwin-Hanson, and they're good Amercan made bits, but not as good as others. I got a 10 pack of Guhring 1/4" bits on 3/8 shanks and TiN coated for some pittance. You can ALWAYS use a 1/4" bit, right? These things are nothing short of miraculous. I don't know what they cost regularly but I bet they cost a ton.

I drill all my die body blanks with a 1/4" hole and I've used the same Guhring bit for them all. I will bet that that bit has drilled through 100 ft of steel and it still looks and cuts like new. Try that with something from China or India, or even a Hanson! The other thing I look for in drill bits is for the parabolic fluted bits. You don't have to peck drill, and can go straight through a 2" die body without retracting to clear chips. With a set of number, letter and fractional bits you can get mighty close to some sizes. When you add in metric bits you get a bunch more usefull sizes.

Since drill bits make a bigger hole then they call for and they're never round, I try to get as close as possible with a reamer. If I don't have a reamer that's within .005" I'll use a drill bit but like to stay at least .005" away from the finish diameter with the hole they REALLY cut and not what's on the shank of'em. Instead I bore to within a thou of finish size with a boring bar, then hone them to final size.

..................Buckshot

[Denver]

Buckshot,

Your'e right about the 1018. It's just what I had on hand. I got it from our community college shop when I was taking a a metal maching course after I took an early out retirement from my company. I really enjoyed that and learned a lot. Lab time was too short and I wasn't able to do as much as I wanted, but I managed to build a barrel vise and wrench in the time I had. Really enjoyed the time I spent working with the verticle mill. I want one really bad, but the only ones I've come across are worn out industrial size that use 3 phase current. Besides, I'd need a crane to unload and set one up. Thought about the mill/drill thing also, but not sure if I want to go that way. I've bought some things from Enco, but they no longer list the decimal size reamers. I've also bought some items from Production Tool Supply. They're a little pricier, but have more items and better quality stuff. Used to be a guy locally that would buy machinest tools from estate auctions etc. and resell them in his store. I picked up a number of things that way. Went by his place one day and the IRS had a sign on the door saying something to the effect that the place was no longer in buisness. Guess that back pocket cash register he used wasn't recording all the transactions or something.
I've done the Ebay thing a time or two also, but haven't had much luck winning there.

[btr-cj]

Buckshot,

Would you happen to have the free shipping code for ENCO? I do not see it listed on any of the recent flyers they have sent and thought they stopped free shipping. I need to place an order and could use the shipping costs for additional stuff.

I have put off ordering their spin index long enough. I need one.

Thanks,

C.J.

[Buckshot]

Buckshot,

Would you happen to have the free shipping code for ENCO? I do not see it listed on any of the recent flyers they have sent and thought they stopped free shipping. I need to place an order and could use the shipping costs for additional stuff.

I have put off ordering their spin index long enough. I need one.

Thanks,

C.J.

The free shipping code for May is: WEBRN56

That's for orders over $50

Denver, You probably knew it but Enco is owned by MSC and MSC carries more stuff. Almost like McMaster-Carr. Another place is Rutland Tool. One thing that will take the place of a host of reamers is a good carbide shanked, insert type boring bar. MSC had some on sale a couple months back so I got a 1/4x4" one with 10 inserts for $92. That's about what 6 import reamers would cost. But the inserts are 3 sided so I have 30 cutting edges and I'm still on the first one. Plus they're replaceable and you don't need a $4000 tool grinder like you do with a reamer

Of course as they get bigger they get more expensive, but as the hole gets bigger you can use a steel bar (make your own) like this one.



I use drill blanks for cutters (more E-bay).

.................Buckshot

[RayinNH]

Buckshot, MSC does have much more in their catalog than does ENCO. However if you look at their prices ENCO is the same or less than MSC for the same item. Their sale flier prices may vary though...Ray