Making that Bullet Collator

[MSUICEMAN]

That is very creative. Over kill for me, but definitely cool.
Not sure what you were looking to add to the manual, but let me know here and I will consider it.

I could see some utility if you can split screen it with an endoscope/camera that is used for QA when loading. And I have a few pis sitting around.

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[TylerR]

I could see some utility if you can split screen it with an endoscope/camera that is used for AA when loading. And I have a few pis sitting around.

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definitely. I love that people are looking to contribute, and that took some effort.

[sasquatch19]

Yes, for just turning on the motors, overkill. But more plans coming- I'm going to make a bullet and brass case sorter that I'll also run from it. Plus web cams, remote control, etc.

[torpedo2k]

Been away for a while. I have run > 10K of 9mm through this collator. It works great! Thanks again to all the contributors.

Switching to 30-06 now. I have always done them individually and slowly. Just got a bulk load of brass and want to run it through the collator to feed my decapper and then head stamp sorter.

I search this thread for 30-06 and came up with nothing. Any suggestions on which plate to use? Rifle_Brass_Collator_Plate_Large.stl?

[sasquatch19]

I could see some utility if you can split screen it with an endoscope/camera that is used for QA when loading.

Something like this?

[rogerandre]

Dear Team !

Anyone that have experimented with the optimal collator bowl angles for 9 mm and 223 brass ?

[lewis1914]

I made a circuit board for the inductive circuit. It is not the fanciest board out there but it works. It is made so that you can use 5mm screw terminals or you could solder the wires straight to the board.

The screw terminals I used are: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088LVP6ML...fed_asin_title

This is the proof image.


This is a completed board.


It fits in the small box.





There is only printing on one side of the board, so I assembled it upside down so I could read the writing. It works either way. Some industrious soul is welcome to add larger printing to the bottom of the board.

The attached zip file (gerber) is what you need to send to the PCB board manufacturer.

I used a place called https://jlcpcb.com/
They made me 5 boards and it took a couple of weeks for them to arrive. The total cost including shipping was $3.69. That was 2 bucks for the boards, a buck and a half shipping, and 19 cents in tax.

Link to video of the assembled board.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/vIY4-RjDdyE

[MSUICEMAN]

That is awesome. I'm definitely not a wiring expert, but made leaps in technique and knowledge from collator one to two. I may try this on three.

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[jamg]

I've had the chance to print two of the projects. One for 9mm coated bullets, and one for 9mm brass. I've been able to get the bullet feeder to near 100% at this point, but I struggle with getting the other one to feed 9mm brass reliably. I have two common, main jams.

The first, a piece of brass drops into the brass drop hole adapter, but not straight, and ends up blocking the opening and piling brass up until it jams the collator.

The second jam is when the brass turn sideways in the collator after the drop tube and lodges itself against the main body.

I think tilting the body more might prevent the second jam, but I am at a loss on how to prevent the first.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[MSUICEMAN]

I have a few of these. I don't think brass should ever get hung up in the chute for brass collating. Maybe your print needs to be cleaned up? I've dropped 10s of thousands of pieces between 223/9x19/45. maybe there is an assembly issue causing the backup like brass getting hung up on an edge that needs to be cleaned up or something?

Have a picture of your setup anday e up.close of the drop adapter/chute?

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[jamg]

Sure let me grab some

[MSUICEMAN]

I'm wondering if there is a edge at the chute to spring adapter interface that is sometimes catching the brass as it drops. Which then causes the pile up. Maybe ream those pieces and make sure there isn't any possible obstruction.

Steve

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[TylerR]

I'm wondering if there is a edge at the chute to spring adapter interface that is sometimes catching the brass as it drops. Which then causes the pile up. Maybe ream those pieces and make sure there isn't any possible obstruction.

Steve

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Bingo. As GWS has said many times, make sure there are no edges / ridges or other obstructions. That applies to from the drop hole all the way down. Can also happen if using a spring that does not fit the spring adapter well.

[jamg]

I'm wondering if there is a edge at the chute to spring adapter interface that is sometimes catching the brass as it drops. Which then causes the pile up. Maybe ream those pieces and make sure there isn't any possible obstruction.

Steve

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Bingo. As GWS has said many times, make sure there are no edges / ridges or other obstructions. That applies to from the drop hole all the way down. Can also happen if using a spring that does not fit the spring adapter well.

Thank you both, I'll take a look at that. The brass is getting turned at the green funnel directly off the main body. Or maybe reprint at a better resolution.

[TylerR]

Thank you both, I'll take a look at that. The brass is getting turned at the green funnel directly off the main body. Or maybe reprint at a better resolution.

sandpaper will take care of any resolution issues. if you can shoot a video of the jam occurring and post it, I could diagnose it rather quickly.

[jamg]

sandpaper will take care of any resolution issues. if you can shoot a video of the jam occurring and post it, I could diagnose it rather quickly.

I opened up the opening at the bottom of the funnel with a file and smoothed out some of the ridges towards the bottom. It's difficult to get a video of the jam occurring as while it occurs relatively frequently to be annoying, but at the same time it's not consistent. On the next batch of brass I'll try to get a video if I can recreate it.

[r4ndy]

JAMG - have you tried slowing down and/or putting less brass in the collator? I typically put no more than a 200-250 9mm in the brass collator at a time. When I put more in I will get the occasional jam.

[jamg]

JAMG - have you tried slowing down and/or putting less brass in the collator? I typically put no more than a 200-250 9mm in the brass collator at a time. When I put more in I will get the occasional jam.

Thank you, yes I've run it at the slowest I can and also faster, can't seem to find a sweet spot in terms of speed. In terms of how much, I don't think even that much in the collator at a time. We'll have to see on the next batch of brass.

[rogerandre]

Dear Team,

Anyone else that is experiencing jams in the unused holes when feeding 223 brass ?
Anyone that have a cool STL for a plug for the holes ? Right now I am using a hex M3 but still get jams.