manleyjt,
Whatever I have learned along the way, I am willing to share. I appreciate the discusion as there are others attempting to do the same thing that I am trying to do.
In regards to a short drilled ejection hole section for the internal punch on the inside of the point forming die, I had not considered that and it does make sense. Although, I would hate to do all the reaming and then come back to finish the ejection hole and then have a problem (like a broken drill bit). I have been using aircraft drill bits that are a little longer than standard drill bits in order to get the 1.625 length. I also built an adaptor (1/2 inch in diamater for the near 1/16 inch drill bit that allows me to chuck the 1/16 inch drill bit securely. The tip of this can reach inside the .236 hole in the die - works pretty slick and is secured with two 4x40 set screws to hold drill bit.
In regards to two dies, I understand what you are saying. My interest is in turning out bench rest quality bullets and mine are open tipped. The open tipped bullets move the center of gravity back towards the base a little.
I have been interested in making my own dies for a while now but have just got around to it this winter as a winter project. My setup is rather modist with a small 6 x 24 hobby lathe and a 9 X 48 South Bend lathe. I also have a 1930's vertical mill. I spent my formative years (while going through high school and college) working in a machine shop near Detroit but never anything in the tool and die world.
Question: Is the 2nd edition of the Die design handbook worth the money and the read? Seems like alot of my die searches have resulted in dies for punch presses.
I have a lot of ideas on things that I would like to try and do with forming dies. This is all fun stuff for me.
Martin