Neck turning motor

H

HovisKM

NRA Life Member
Would a 1/3 hp 825 rpm motor be capable of turning necks. What else should I look for? Operating amps..etc?

Thanks
Hovis
 
HovisKM said:
Would a 1/3 hp 825 rpm motor be capable of turning necks. What else should I look for? Operating amps..etc?

Thanks
Hovis
Click to expand...
Kevin,
I use a 1/2 inch cordless variable speed drill. Works like a charm. Just chuck the case in the drill. Don't use a shell holder.
 
Ditto

MColeman said:
Kevin,
I use a 1/2 inch cordless variable speed drill. Works like a charm. Just chuck the case in the drill. Don't use a shell holder.
Click to expand...

I use a 1/4" driver and a case holder from Sinclair. You can turn 'em and polish 'em with steel wool without taking case out of the holder. Just my 2 cents.......................Possum
 
Kevin, if you have access to such an animal, a small metal lathe does a much better job. Turning cases on a lathe is best accomplished by making an arbor, in the lathe, to press the case neck on, then turn. By machining the arbor to just exactly the diameter of your bullet, you can accurately measure the loaded round diameter.

The big problem with using gear motors, drill motors, etc. is that there is some clearance between the turning tool arbor and the case neck. It is impossible to hold the turning tool perfectly rigid while hand feeding the tool across the case neck. This causes each case neck to have some irregularities and diameter variations on them. Does this variation in neck wall thickness affect accuracy? Dunno for sure but I'd suspect that if you are running tight neck clearance, say 0.0015" or less the variations would be more noticeable on the target than if you try to run about 0.003" clearance. (0.262" throat and 0.2605 loaded neck, vs. 0.262" throat and 0.259" loaded neck).

kb7iup.jpg



View of the complete setup showing a 0.0001" resolution dial indicator that allows making very minute adjustments to the case neck size.
2pzbk28.jpg
 
I use a Case lathe with a Dayton 88 RPm reducer on it that does fine. I agree that 800+ rpm is a bunch. I can forward the Dayton part# if you like.

Mike Swartz
 
I do like Jerry does - a small lathe. If you shop around you can find small lathes at very good prices. I found a like-new 6" Atlas for $100 which included a lot of tooling. I mounted it on a piece of 3/4" plywood to make it portable and set it up to turn necks exclusively. I store it on a shelf under my work bench. Takes only a minute to pull it out, plug it in, turn an arbor, and I'm in business.

Ray
 
thanks for all the replys. I currently use a cordless drill but both of my wrists have been crushed and just the constant torque of a powerscrew driver or cordless causes a lot of pain after about five or ten cases. I plan on buying a lathe when I build the new house but maybe a small one for odd's and ends isn't a bad idea either. For those who have seen me at a match know that I have help because I wouldn't be able to shoot if I had to clean and prep all my cases by myself at a match. Need something to solve that problem also since my wife is going to start shooting. Any ideas there?? I was thinking a RCBS power prep.

Hovis
 
Jerry, that's the setup that I've thought about but I have some questions.

How do you get the case neck pushed on and removed from the arbor but tight enough to keep it from slipping on the arbor ?

Thanks.

A. Weldy
 
I recently saw a setup where an old press ram was shortened and, on the opposite end from where the shell holder would go, turned down small enough to fit in a chuck in the tail stock. After the case was pushed on the mandrel, the tailstock was backed off just a little to take the pressure off of the head during turning. (Obviously, the correct shell holder for the case was used in the ram.)
 
Spouse

Need something to solve that problem also since my wife is going to start shooting. Any ideas there?? I was thinking a RCBS power prep.

Hovis[/QUOTE]

You could TRY sweet talking the wife into doing it:D(If it works, let me know how ya did it;)

Possum
 
Hovis...I use a gear motor ...it is a GE Straight Shaft at 152.7 RPMs (110v). I bought it used at a surplus place online.
I have it set up with a sinclair shell holder. The thing to get is a reversible motor. Mine has foot pedals (one for forward one for reverse). That way you can hold the shell holder and hit reverse to loosen the case from the holder and then hit forward to tighten the shell holder on the next case.

IMG_2409.jpg


Scott
 
Lucky Shooter said:
Jerry, that's the setup that I've thought about but I have some questions.

How do you get the case neck pushed on and removed from the arbor but tight enough to keep it from slipping on the arbor ?

Thanks.

A. Weldy
Click to expand...
I blow the cases out with 27 grains of RL-7 or the like and a seated 22 cal bullet in an old barrel of the same cartridge. That leaves the necks small on the ID. I expand them with a K&M expander that is polished down about 0.0015", enough to make a press fit on the turning arbor.

Then I press them on using a K&M case holder with a slide hammer attached. I use the tailstock, clamped, to press the cases on. (If I hammer them on using this tool, they bend the shoulder sometimes. )Remove the press-on pull-off tool, then turn the necks. Then I use the slide hammer feature of the on-off tool to pull the case off.

Some folks leave their press-on pull-off tool attached while turning. This looks potentially dangerous to me.

119nxc7.jpg
 
HovisKM said:
thanks for all the replys. I currently use a cordless drill . Any ideas there?? I was thinking a RCBS power prep.

Hovis
Click to expand...
Kevin, if you are asking about the RCBS "Trim Mate Case Prep Center" it has no where near enough torque to turn case necks. It is a great tool to have and clean primer pockets, bevel trimmed-length cases, uniform primer pockets, etc., but it sure won't turn necks.

Short term, using Mickeys drill idea, cordless or plug-in may be best. A variable speed drill with a 1/2" chuck is all that is needed to propel the cases. Just wrap the chuck body with rubber electrical tape and you don't even need the chuck wrench.

The drill like he uses, lay the handle and drill body on a padded table, then just use light downward hand pressure, this will be easier that holding a cordless drill.

According to what turner you use, install a torque offsetting handle on it too. Let it all lay on the padded table and with light downward pressure on each, trip the trigger with your thumb and have at it.

For her, get a pink drill and a pink case turner!!
 
Jerry,
What I was referring to was basic case cleaning during a match with the RCBS prep center. Use it to do primer pockets, inside case neck, etc. My wrists just can not take any type of twisting or torque. They fatigue and hurt very rapidly. My current wife and my kids for the last four years have done most of my case cleaning, prep and loading at matches. If I'm going to continue to shoot matches and my wife/kids start shooting (they want to start), I have to find a better way for myself to do things.

Hovis
 
HovisKM said:
Jerry,
What I was referring to was basic case cleaning during a match with the RCBS prep center. Use it to do primer pockets, inside case neck, etc. My wrists just can not take any type of twisting or torque. They fatigue and hurt very rapidly. My current wife and my kids for the last four years have done most of my case cleaning, prep and loading at matches. If I'm going to continue to shoot matches and my wife/kids start shooting (they want to start), I have to find a better way for myself to do things.

Hovis
Click to expand...
Kevin, the RCBS case prep machine has 5 spindles, I keep one equipt with a used 6mm bronze brush for the case necks inside, one has a carbide uniformer set to clean the primer pocket carbon. The on the other 3 I normally have a 45 degree inside deburr, a 45 degree outside deburr, and a 7 degree inside deburr. At a match I never clean anything but the primer pocket and case neck inside.

As to cleaning the outside, I use a very light coat of Imperial sizing wax, then run the case through a FL sizer with a TiC coated button. Then I just wipe the cases off with a paper towel and about all the outside neck crud comes off.

Some people use a Crazy Cloth, Flits, or etc and polish the cases. I usually just goof around instead of that at a 2,3 or 4 relay match. At a 6 or 7 relay match, I set a bench timer for about 15 minutes and take a nap!!
 
Thanks for the pictures and explanation Jerry

Folks on this board come up with some very clever ideas.

A. Weldy
 
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