My Latest Acquisition
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I don't know exactly where to post this being this is a tool not a firearm but what exactly it's use will have to be played by ear as they say. I don't know how many times I have said"If I just had a lathe I could fix that". Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will have one sitting in my shop to do all those neat little projects I dream of. I called my cousin to wish him a merry Christmas and out of the blue he asked me if I knew anyone that wanted an old 10" lathe because he was getting rid of it in case he sold his place and didn't want it to go to a junk dealer. Boy I flew on that like a dog on a bone and all I have to do is get it here. I went and checked it out last week and he has tons of tools and it's in real good shape. He never abused it and has been sitting idle for many years and no rust to speak of, plenty of dust though. So what do you do with a lathe ? I don't think I want to do anything like reaming chambers or threading barrels with it. For one thing I don't know how and second I doubt the results would be good if I did knowing the capabilities of an old Atlas lathe. Maybe some kind of neck turning use or making modified cases for a Hornady comparator set up. I made small parts on a Jet bench lathe before so it's not exactly new to me but I am going to have to spend some money to get it to the level the Jet was on. Like I said he has lots of tools including a turret set up and a tool post grinder. He said he ground bearing races with it at one time and keyed shafts so it has a milling attachment also. I hope he has a quick change tool post laying around there I didn't see or I can already see a couple of hundred bucks headed for Amazon at the least. Man I wish I had saved some old Mauser barrels to practice on, used to have them laying everywhere. I have one project for making a screw for my 513 when I get this thing cleaned up and running and that's about it. Stay tuned.
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I got a simple project for you. I want a spacer to eat up the room between my presses shaft and the bottom of the CPS lite. That way I don't have go threw a full throw on the lever when I'm priming.
Turn one end to match a shell holder, so it will slip into the press. Then on the other end drill a hole for the CPS ram rod to slip into.
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@norcal_in_az
That's funny you mention that, I have an extended #3 case holder I tried and then realized it needs a hole like you say for the rod. I don't think I can drill the one RCBS made, a file won't scratch it so that would be a good starter project. I hope I can get loose and meet him at his place next week to wrestle it on a trailer. He has an engine hoist in the barn we can get it out of his shop with and a front end loader if I decide to haul it in my truck. I couldn't budge one end of it but he has the bottom full of tools.
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@bigfoot I've been thinking of going to a machine shop and seeing about having one made.
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I need to find a source for 12L14 steel or Ledloy as we called it for little projects like the spacer and for sure some aluminum stock. I don't know if aluminum would hold up for a spacer. I guess the right grade would.
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Aluminum would work fine for the spacer. Your not putting that much pressure on the CPS.
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Brought it home this weekend. We couldn't locate the tool post grinder, don't have the slightest idea how to use one anyway. I got two boxes of various tool holders and other gizmo's to play with.
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@norcal_in_az
I made the spacer you mentioned today with the lathe I picked up but Imgur was down so maybe tomorrow I will have some pictures. I only had a small piece of 1" aluminum bar stock I found so it's kind of short. I went out to the welding shop here and picked up a longer piece of aluminum stock today so I can make a longer one when my new tool post comes in. Man, my hats off to the old machinists that used the lantern style post that thing is a bear to use and I don't know nothing about grinding tool steel. I found a set of 1/4" indexable cutting tools at Harbor freight to make this first one with the lantern post and used the Craftsman parting tool to make the groove. Lot different from the lathes I operated several years ago. I found a piece of 1" 304 stainless bar stock on the floor at the shop also I am going to try tomorrow. I bet that's going to be a slow process. Might even try out the knurling tool also.
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Oh man this is exciting!
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@norcal_in_az
I did a little cleaning and tightened everything up as best I could. I had to make a new gib strip for the compound and most likely will replace the cross gib as well. The adjustments are bottomed out but most of the movement was in the screws. I don't think I will do a restoration just use it like it is.
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Let me know what I owe you for one.
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@norcal_in_az
This one is not quite 1/2" longer than that RCBS extended holder so when it's mounted in my Rock Chucker it shortens the stroke some but it can be a lot longer. I just didn't have the material but I do now. If you want this one you can have it pm me your address and if you want a long one give me the length you want after you get it. If you have a long one that puts you up close I'm not sure if you will have the same leverage not that it takes a lot of effort to seat a primer but what feels the best is what we are after. When I get the other tool post I can make two at a time and find a piece of 3/4" stock instead of 1" I can make them a lot easier. I don't have any idea what grade of aluminum this is so after going in the ram several hundred times it might get a little sloppy. I did drill a clearance hole in the top.
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I applaud your ingenuity. An item like this would definitely help!
We're presently out of stock of the CPS_lite, and we have no immediate plans to do another run. While cost effective, seeing the lengths that customers go through to save a couple hundred bucks has hardened my resolve.
The full CPS is the future. It is the current state of the art in cartridge case priming. The compromises in the lite model may have been worth it to some, but they are not worth it to me. The number of phone calls we receive regarding the setup and operation of the _lite model is staggering compared to the CPS.
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@orkan
It wasn't my idea, Norcal threw it out there and there it is. I got the extended holder to do something with pistol brass but never used it and tried it with the Lite and realized it didn't have the hole. I don't know what to say about your decision regarding manufacturing of the Lite, that's your call. It's a nice piece of equipment and light years ahead of the alternatives in the hand held market and press mounted units as well. The full CPS definitely appeals to buyers that are not the casual reloader and they probably passed right over the Lite to purchase it. This is most likely the last one I will buy and the only one I will use, period.
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@orkan I completely understand your position on not wanting to make more. Sadly to often people that buy something that has a cheaper option, but want the benefits of the more expensive. I want a full CPS and understand the trade off I made with getting a lite.
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I absolutely love my CPS! No longer do I despise priming.
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@bigfoot It wasn't meant as a slight toward you. Simply a factual account in that however happy you are with the _lite, the CPS is so much better that it's difficult to put into words.
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@orkan
I took no offense it's just I figure it will outlive me and hell there ain't a better one with exception of the CPS. Who knows I might get a wild hair up my a$$ and buy one.
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Finally got the tool post mounted a couple of weeks ago and most of the tools I ordered came in so I tried to make the action screw for my 513. First attempt crashed and burned and cost me a threading insert. I did finish it however trying to get back into the threads wasn't too pretty but the ugly thing actually threaded right into the receiver. These little parts take some patience and thinking ahead e.g., tool clearance. I tried threading with the part off of the center to get the tool in there and that don't work, even if it is a tiny screw. There's nothing wrong with the screw Remington made except it uses a flat screwdriver to tighten and I preferred a hex head. The ten round magazine barely made it but wouldn't have if I hadn't turned down the od and length of the socket. I made the beveled washer out of some kind of hard brass that machined like stainless. That was fun. Anyway, got a couple more projects once I get used to this thing. The T nut for the tool post was made by hand with a belt sander and my mig welder. I have to say it was one of my better days laying out the hole for the bolt and drilling on a Craftsman drill press. You get lucky sometimes.
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@bigfoot
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Second attempt, much better than the first one I forgot to mention.
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I have a 513T barrel and action / trigger. I was thinking about putting it together. I sure don't have that kind of equipment to fabricate. I looked at parts houses that supposedly had parts for the 513 and I had a hard time getting them to confirm whether they had what I needed so I gave up on the project. Not a big fan of returning purchases and dealing with that BS.
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@martino1
I saw somewhere yesterday that had parts for this model. Lots of stocks and some new parts and some used. They did have stocking information if you can believe them. I have bought Mauser parts from Sarco and used to look in Shotgun News for parts. I want to say it was Numrich that had some 513 stuff.
https://www.gunpartscorp.com/gun-manufacturer/remington/rifles-rem/513t
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New and improved spacer.
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Someone's having fun with their new metal cutting toys. ;)
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@orkan said:
Someone's having fun with their new metal cutting toys. ;)
AND they've got way too much spare time on their hands.
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@martino1 said:
AND they've got way too much spare time on their hands.
or... Just enough? I throw lots of time into hobbies... not sure if I would like making chips but I'd certainly give it a go!
How's that thing working out @bigfoot ? I bet that shorter throw is niiiiiice.
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@brittel said:
or... Just enough? I throw lots of time into hobbies...
What else are we here for if not spending time? lol
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@brittel
I haven't used it yet, don't have the time. (insert snicker) I do know when you let go of the handle it falls back home which is ok. One less movement. Looking for a milling machine now. One of our local guys here just passed away that had a real nice shop out in the country. He was a machinist for ALCOA for years and was a good one. I just found out his wife contacted a friend of mine and told him her husband wanted him to have the machines. He already has a huge welding business and two lathes but he doesn't know jack about running them. I volunteered helping him with the basics so we will see how that goes. Running a mill was my forte but I have some experience on a lathe mostly doing second op's and roughing billets before going into a cnc lathe. I did some parts from start to finish that required bearing fits but I was too slow, time is money in a job shop. My brother in law has a machine shop at his house and blows me away with the stuff he creates, freaking unbelievable.
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Trying to reach the next level of reloading I always find there is room for improvement. I feel I have gained several points in just the last few week and have a long way to go, the tip of the iceberg as they say. I have had a Hornady bullet run out checker sitting in my windowsill for about three years and that's all it does. Pretty common knowledge they are sloppy but will show run out just not exactly how much. And you can forget pushing really crooked bullets with it, just put them in the practice box and move on. I know not everyone has a lathe but I figured it was way more rigid than my window decoration so I stole the cone out of it and made a bullet center to go in the tailstock of the lathe. I used the Hornady piece but it marred the bullets pretty bad so I made one out of aluminum with a plastic insert to put in the chuck. I tried checking neck run out with some resized brass using a live center in the neck and spinning them with my fingers just like you do with the majority of these devices only I have a pretty solid lock up between the case head and the neck by applying a little pressure with the quill of the tailstock. I tried it with the tailstock tightened and also let it float and got the same readings. I still have about a half thou to one play if I push sideways but the Hornady will go three or four without trying. Worse thing is craning my head over to see the dial, got to get a better setup on the indicator. Might get a cheap tenth indicator and mount it face up. Hornady match out of the box was about one and a half thou out but the Winchester Supreme was pushing five. Now I want to check more but I can't handle looking sideways. That's what I did this afternoon, with my spare time.
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I’ve used the spacer you made for me on a few hundred pieces of .223. It for sure makes the throw much shorter and easier on me. I’ve been waiting to give a full review until I did some .308 brass. Some of the .223, had crimps removed, and as most know sometimes the crimps aren’t all gone making it harder to seat primers. So on a few pieces not having the full stroke made it harder. But I just snapped out the spacer and then had the full throw.
So far I’m really happy with it though.
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@norcal_in_az
I made a stainless one that is the same length as a RCBS extended shell holder. It would be a bit shorter than yours but not near as long as the one I plan to use. I just haven't needed to prime anything yet but in the near future I will. When I mess with brass that had crimped primers I usually use the swaging tool and also barely hit the pocket mouth with a chamfer tool. It puts a little lead angle on the diameter and the primers go in a lot easier. Some brass has a generous chamfer on the pockets like Hornady and some not so much on others like Federal. I'm still not so sure this new tool is telling me much, maybe bullet runout once it's been seated. Checking the necks on the center for true is debatable, I might just be seeing thickness variations. I was really surprised the resized brass was this true and I ran the indicator in several places along the brass just to see. I'm going to pull some range brass out and see what it looks like shot in other peoples guns. Just about every rifle I have was built in the same shop by the same gunsmith using his reamers but there has to be an ugly duck somewhere.
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Been making a few things with my old lathe, mainly some tools and a couple of spacers to go between my suppressor and the muzzle on my Remington 22. I had the barrel shortened and threaded and the tenon is a bit longer than needed so I made a spacer so the suppressor would shoulder up on the barrel. Usually these would be ground flat but I trust the lathe and I have a granite slab I can lap them on if they need it. I turned a piece of oil well sucker rod which might be 4140 or 4130 to make the tool steel boring and turning holder. I have some tool steel but no way to hold it so I made this piece, probably use it on plastic if i need to turn a piece. Minimum bore diameter is about 7/8th's so it's pretty bulky. I even machined the flat on it with the lathe using a 6mm end mill. Found out my tool post wasn't too square with the chuck so I straightened it up yesterday. Whatever that stuff was it finished like chrome and had a nice surface even with my old rig. Back to tiny boring bars the brass holder was made on the lathe to hold those in the tool holders. I have opposed countersunk set screws to hold them squarely on the flats machined on the bars and give them the correct angle. I just received an internal threading bar and some inserts so maybe I can do single point internal threads now. It's pretty small so I can't do very coarse threads, forgot what the max is on this one. Might never use it. Oh well, keeps me out of the beer joints.
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@bigfoot
Went space age this weekend. I installed digital scales on the old gal. I'm anxious to see how long these cheap things last. They measure right with the dial and with an indicator but refresh really slow. Nothing like the ones we had in the shop I worked in. Can't expect much for a little over a hundred busks for both of them. I wouldn't mind having one set up on my planer and shaper for woodworking if they could take the dust. I had one on my table saw and it died pretty fast.
With the guard on
Tiny readouts
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I had a request for some lathe work today. Very basic but I have pretty basic skills and equipment so I was the man for the job. I think you can order these shims for around seven bucks but they hammer you with shipping and handling for about the same. Ace Hardware sells a washer if your Ace has it that will also work but we didn't go there. Pretty simple operation, turn the OD then drill the ID and bore the hole for clearance for a reloading die body which is 7/8". The big trick is trying to part the piece off to exactly the thickness of the shim that is .135". In the real world these would most likely be made out of some kind of heavy wall tubing that is close to the dimensions needed that required very little machining then parted off and finished on a surface grinder for the thickness. For a seven dollar part I doubt if heat treating would be in the budget but I may be wrong. Ain't going on the space shuttle. I had a piece of cold roll and did the turning and boring then took a shot at parting and just guessing how my old lathe would do either it will be short or long and the first one was a smidgen long. I adjusted on the next one and it was still one thou long and the third one a half thou. I lapped them by hand on a flat piece of steel with some 400 and got them all to measure .135. Most of the extra metal was bad surface so it came off pretty fast. So what the heck do they do? My friend, a gadget master, saw these shims for sale to aid in reloading 38 Special and 357 Magnum. I'm confused at this point. Don't mess with pistol reloading much. Set the dies up for 38 and to switch to .357 remove the die and add the .135 shim. If you are seating the same bullets for both carry on just make sure each die has the lock ring tight. I just said why not adjust the die for each one and the next thing I was making one. Learn something new every day I guess.
Final dimension to hit my number with the DRO. The shim actual measurement after machining was .1355, .0005 over. You can see some of the surface scratches in the pic.
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I have used these shims before. They have a set for 44 special/mag too. There is a company that also makes this shim to go under or over a custom made Dillion toolhead so that it can switch the entire toolhead between 38 or 357. Another shim works for 44 special/magnum.
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@dddoo7 Yes he did mention the 44/44mag also. I don't know the dimension for that one and don't have any 44's. Beats having to adjust the dies when you switch. He was loading some 38 Special and wanted to run some magnum's and talked me into making a couple and didn't have to wait on the mailman. :)
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I had another lathe job come up for one of my items. Just a simple thumb screw and it is for something valuable to me that's been in our family for quite a few years. I have four custom fishing rods and two were built with Featherweight Reel Seats which I believe are extinct now. The screw corroded up and at one time was attempted to remove and it snapped off in the finger that holds a reel in place. I was lucky enough to get the pin out and remove the broken piece without too much trouble and make a new one. Pretty basic stuff just turning and a light knurl and some free hand radius work that wasn't too ugly. Threading was done with a 10-32 die. I made small parts like this when I worked in a job shop with a much larger lathe and sometimes the little parts take as long as big ones do to complete. Anyway, it works and got a good coating of grease on the threads as well as the other one I have. These two rods are forty five years old but have been refurbished once with new ceramic eyes and tip. The wraps at the but of the rods have been untouched because they tell the history of the rod. My parents names are on their corresponding rods and the makers name and our old address. The young man that built these had just started his career as a custom builder and was unfortunately killed in a car wreck not too long after he built these for my dad. Lots of memories in those two sticks.
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After shooting a couple of pistols last week I looked into some replacement parts for my XDM 45 trigger group and decided to make a couple of aluminum drift punches. Not a bad idea to have them when messing with polymer guns or for any as far as that goes. You just can't whip on them with a big hammer, mainly for pushing pins out by hand rather than impact from a hammer. I have some delrin plastic pushers I use on AR's that I bought somewhere in my tools also. Anyway, one is for 3mm the other for 4.5mm. The pins need to be undersized a little for clearance but not too much so they align the parts back up for assembly if needed. The 3mm pin started deflecting and was climbing the turning tool at about 3.5mm so I had to take a bunch of passes and finally just used emery paper and a file to get the end down to my dimension. I bet there is more finish nails used for punches than actual punches when it comes to working on guns at the house. I have been known to do it.
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@bigfoot Good job!
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I did a test piece for a science project I might be working on. The threads are 24 per inch and .950 diameter in aluminum running the lathe around three hundred rpm. I never took any classes on threading or thread geometry so it's all new to me. Next I need to do an internal thread and see if I crash the tool. I did a couple of threading jobs at the shop I worked in but that was years ago. Those little threading inserts cost a few dollars and I don't like breaking them.
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I did the internal threads and the diameter worked out but my thread depth was off a little. Guess I had better study my handbook some more.
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@lathoto Thanks, I'm slowly getting the hang of this old clunker of a lathe.
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I made a nifty tool for the lathe yesterday. I got the idea from a You Tuber so I can't take any credit for it. I made it out of cold roll and cut the slots with a band saw and finished them with a belt sander. For turning short tapers I use the compound and turning it by hand doesn't do too well and usually ends up with a funky looking part. This adapter goes on a cordless drill and slips over the handle of the compound feed and is then power fed. Easy to control your feed rate and get a good finish.
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I finished these parts this weekend for the science project DDD007 sent me. They are caps to protect the muzzle brakes during the cerakote process. I made the first one from start to finish and then the remaining three assembly line style. I did the cutting, facing, drilling and the larger od first on all three and once they went into the lathe for the threaded end they stayed until the threads, taper and back bore was complete then knurled the other ends last. I fudged on overall lengths and od's because they don't have anything to do with the function of the part. Basically whatever it took to clean them up and not be grossly different from each other. Other than some heartburn with the internal tapers they all are usable. :)
Doing the taper.
Three complete and one ready to finish.
Checking threads.
Finished.
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Brake covers are going to be a life saver. Currently I tape off the brake, but with these I just screw them on and they mask the brake and give me an easy way to hang the barrel.
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@dddoo7 said in My Latest Acquisition:
Brake covers are going to be a life saver. Currently I tape off the brake, but with these I just screw them on and they mask the brake and give me an easy way to hang the barrel.
Nice! Good work @bigfoot !!
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@tscustoms Thanks, coming from you that's a heck of a compliment. My old boss used to say if this was easy everyone would be doing it. I guarantee you they're not perfect but they should do the job. Anyway, it was fun to do something new and get a little better feel of this old machine. Every lathe has it's own personality I guess you can say and some are just flat worn out. This one is pretty loose but not as bad as some I have seen. I think my cousin used it more for a drill press than for turning.
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A few days ago I was loading some more 6.5 x 55 using my old Lyman powder throw with some 4350 powder in it. I get the Lyman pretty close then trickle to get as close as I can get with a balance scale. This stick powder gives me a fit with this thing and I finally figured out something was going on in the drop tube. I have to admit I rescued this old relic out of a pile of stuff a guy was throwing away years ago but I cleaned it up and used it for years now. It just wouldn't drop the powder anymore so I took the little tube off of the bottom to see what the heck. I figured a spider got in it or a dirt dobber but the dang thing was rusted up solid. Plus, it had a tiny little hole drilled in it maybe 3/16 or so. No wonder stick powder hung up in it. I messed with it trying to polish it so I just made a new one out of brass and put a 3/8 hole in it. Problem solved but turning brass with the carbide tools I have didn't suit me so today I messed around trying my hand at grinding tool steel. I couldn't get a decent finish at all with carbide and I remember my old boss telling me sometimes you just have to use tool steel on soft stuff to get a good finish. I ain't worth a flip grinding tools but I finally made one that cut some red brass pretty good with a light final cut. If my lathe feed rate was a little slower I could really get it slick.
You can see the difference
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This tool looks similar to wingnut drivers that we use to put up our hurricane shutters. Saves a lot of manual turning when nasty weather heading our way.
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I came up with a new tool. Redneck radius cutter.
Yep, that's a carbide router bit in a lathe tool holder. Might get the nerve up to put it against a piece of steel to see what happens. Works good on aluminum.
Made this too. It's a holder for grinding tool steel. No more burned fingers.
