Home Built Equipment Or Mating Different Brands Together

[JeepHammer]

Reloaders are a seriously creative bunch, and they often do really good work with really good ideas.
If you have something you made, or mating one brand to another seamlessly, then by all means post pictures & explain your idea/work!
Time to show off a little! Take a bow!

 

[Dead Duck]

So let me get this straight....
You want us to take our equipment out and introduce it to other equipment so they can "MATE" together PLUS-
you want us to take pictures of this while it's happening AND post it ONLINE?

What kind of sick crap is this?

 

[JeepHammer]

My wife calls it "Reloading Porn".

 

[bobjones223]

Soooooooo...is the reloaded bullet the happy ending or is it the spent brass?

Kind seems like the love baby is made before the happy ending?......my head hurts!

 

[JeepHammer]

My computer quit, like about all computerized equipment does around me, and my wife took it to the computer guy to get fixed.

He comments to her that the memory is simply chocked full of 'Jeep, Gun & Solar Power Stuff...'
Says I'm not right in the head since every other computer that comes in is full of Porn.

She tells him that is my 'Porn'...
That's where 'Jeep Porn', 'Gun Porn', 'Reloading Porn' comes from at my house.
She has a hard drive full of sewing stuff, but it just doesn't sound right when you say 'Knitting Porn'... Even looks stupid in print...

----------------

So, no one wants to kick this off,
How about a $50 bullet feeder in progress, PVC end cap ($7), drive motor ($20 eBay), wood rotor to get feed/drop angles right before I cut $10 HDPE rotors... The funnel shaped drop spring is plumber's spring type tubing bender ($10 eBay)...

It will need cord, switches, mount of some kind, sill looking for the easiest way to do that.

Salvaged cords, switches, even using wood rotors would reduce costs.
Adding speed controller, power supply, DC motor would increase costs a little.
Still, for well under $100 and a rotor to handle your SPECIFIC size/weight of bullet, this seems like a pretty good path...

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The most complicated tool used is a wood router to cut rotor disc & make bullet slots...

 

[Doublehelix]

That is pretty cool, but as someone once wisely said, "Time is money". By the time you design it and build it, then test and troubleshoot it so it works reliably, you could have bought a Mr. Bullet Feeder that works out of the box.

I get that there is the pride of building and designing your own, but you have to search for parts on eBay, buy them, wait for them to arrive, etc.

Like I said, pretty cool, but sometimes reinventing a well-established wheel does not make the best sense. Now... invent something that I can't buy, and you have my ear!

 

[Cameramonkey]

Lee Pro 1000 Powder check LED.

Tried the LED strips, but couldnt get them to stick well anywhere.

So I built this. Thats a Walmart special 200 lumen flashlight. It came in a bundle with a small 3 LED Headlamp suitable for reading.

I took a T bracket and trimmed down the ends. I bent it slightly, attached with electrical tape, and added some liquid electrical tape on the bracket for some extra friction.
I then stuck a HDD magnet on the outside of the press and use it to attach the bracket. Works beautifully, and lights up the inside of the case VERY well. And its easy to adjust.

Pics were taking over the screen, so here are the raw links for those that want to see.

http://www.kd9uri.com/pics/IMG_4498_sm.JPG
http://www.kd9uri.com/pics/IMG_4499_sm.JPG
http://www.kd9uri.com/pics/IMG_4500_sm.JPG
http://www.kd9uri.com/pics/IMG_4501_sm.JPG
http://www.kd9uri.com/pics/IMG_4502_sm.JPG

 

[Good on paper]

I’m with JeepHammer even though it’s probably a zero sum. $600 for a bullet and case feeder vs $100 and some time... the thing is if I wasn’t tinkering with this it would something else and I think it’ll be fun to design and build.

 

[bwframe]

I like it.

 

[JeepHammer]

My wife thinks reloading is like knitting or home canning, something that's productive instead of wasting time on video games, 'Social Media', etc.

As such, she is interested in the process, and keeps an eye out for anything that would help.
For lighting, an eBay search for 'Sewing Machine Lights' gives you MORE options, and much less money than anything 'Reloading' dedicated.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...machine+light.TRS0&_nkw=sewing+machine+lights


Power supply, switch & flexible LED light strips under $10... That's hard to beat...

I've become REALLY fond of the magnetic base, 30 LED, flexible neck lights and use them in a TON of places.
I have them stuck to milling/drilling machines, reloading machines, all over the place.

.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/AC-110V-22...13.TR11.TRC1.A0.H0.Xsewing+machine+light.TRS0

 

[JeepHammer]

Not to put too fine a point on things, but the question was "What Have You Done?",
Not what your *Think* about DIY builders...

Some guys simply do not have time.

Some guys have more dollars ($$$) than Sense (not ¢).

Some guys can't change flashlight batteries without electrocuting themselves, or drive a nail without a trip to the ER...

Some of us like the process of making things work! We do for ourselves...

With parts ordered and laying in a pile, and basic hand tools available,
Finding center of the pipe cap, 2-3 minutes with divider/compass,

You can see the pencil marks in the cap when finding center of the INSIDE of the cap.



Or you can use center finder, string, etc.

Since these rotor type feeders are 'Slop' fit, no precision is required past 'Eyeball, Mk1' from this point forward.

Drill motor shaft center hole, push motor shaft into hole and mark/drill holes for motor mounting.

1/8" drill & 1/8" roll pin.
Drill motor shaft with 1/8" drill, insert 1/8" roll pin in 'T' or 'Cross Bar' to drive rotor.
This doesn't need to be precise since the cross bar fits into a slop fit slot in the rotor.
Hold motor w/cross bar up to cap, mark where the slot needed for cross bar to enter the cap, and remove material for slot.



I'm using #8 machine screws because they are dirt common, cheap & are tapered for counter sink for flush inside bowl use.
Counter sink is simply touching the plastic with a larger diameter drill, or most of you have counter sinks for deburring the inside of brass mouth...

Now you can mount the motor on the cap.
Since the cap is done, and the motor has a flat plate mounting surface, simply 'Double Nut' screws to hold motor stand-off distance and level/center shaft.



Depending on the motor you choose, you can use a nut under the bowl, then use two more nuts on the same screw to position the motor.
In this case, one nut against the bowl was enough to space/position motor, second nut attached motor.

Total time, about an hour since I had to drag out drill, hammer to drive roll pin, locate drills, etc.
This isn't difficult and it doesn't take a bunch of tools.
Hand drill motor, 1/8" drill, 3/8" drill for counter sink, hammer for driving roll pin, needle nose pliers for tightening nuts, flat blade screwdriver, and 'Dremel' tool for making slot in cap, but that could have been a row of 1/8" holes and knife or file just as easily, divider/compass.

$7 for cap, $1.50 for screws & nuts, 35¢ for roll pin, $20 eBay motor... $28.85 total. Drive is done.

Screws left long since I haven't decided on the mount yet...

------------------

The layout of rotor starts with measuring the inside of the bowl, subtract about 1/8", use ruler to set divider/compass for half your measurement, and DRAW A CIRCLE on your rotor material.

Once circle is drawn, and center marked, use ruler to draw a stright line across the circle.
Now your drawing/layout is 'Halved'.
Use something with a 90* SQUARE corner (corner of a sheet of printer paper),
One side of square on dividing line, the point on the center dot, mark the point where paper exits circle.
Use center dot, and the mark you made lined up with ruler, and bisect the circle with another line.

Your rotor layout is now quartered.
You should have a cross centered in the middle of your circle.

Now adjust your divider/compass for 'Sectioning' between quarter lines on the rim of the circle.
Adjust as necessary to come out with even 'Steps' around the radius between 1/4 section lines.
When you can walk the radius of the circle between 1/4 section lines, start marking the 'Step' points.
When the radius line is marked, lay the ruler down, using your 'Step' lines in the radius, and the center dot, start drawing lines sectioning your circle into smaller divisions.

The number of divisions determines how many bullets the rotor can potentially pick up on each round, and the distance between section lines is determined by the size of bullet you are building the rotor for.
You can get a bunch more 1/4" slots in a rotor for .223 than you can 1/2" slots for .45

It's time to cut the rotor out, the method you use is up to what tools you have.
If the rotor turns out 'Rough' & slightly oversized, drill center (SMALL HOLE!) And use a sander to smooth things out, get right up to the line,
Or I use a router which gives a smooth, precise cut.
Not everyone has a router & circle cutter attachment, so it's up to you to figure this part out...

This is about what you will wind up with, more or less...



If you cut bullet slots with Dremel tool or saw, you will probably make square back bullet slots.
If you use a router & depth stop, you will probably have round back slots.
Either works, and for large, square end pistol bullets, square back slots probably work a little better, while boat tail rifle bullets work a little better with round back slots.

Notice 3 things about picture above,
1. Rotor is marked for direction of travel/rotation.
This is ONLY important if you use angled feed grooves, and as you can see from the markings, I screwed that up...
Angled feed grooves angle TOWARDS direction of travel.

Feed slots that follow the dividing lines (Straight, not angled), work in either direction.

2. Depth of slot sould NOT exceed diameter of bullet, bullet should be right out at, or slightly past/proud of the rotor edge.
The WIDTH can be sloppy, no problem.
If you wind up with slots too deep, the bullet won't want to flip.
I've had to 'Shim' depth of slot with plastic/duct tape before I learned this...

3. The RADIUS from feeder groove into bullet slot needs to be 'Played' with.
Longer bullets need more work than short-fat bullets.
Long square back bullets are the most difficult, they need a lot of radius to drop into slots and usually need a thicker rotor material.
This is a couple strokes with a file to change that transition radius, so it's no big deal.

This picture doesn't show it, but I number the slots on my trial rotors, so I know which slots/profiles are working better and which need work.
If #3 picks up a bullet every time & #6 won't pick up a bullet to save it's life, then the #3 profile is the way to go!

 

[rem788]

This is a link to a video of the case feeder I built for my L-N-L press. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jx749jtUQQ I used parts from an old Lee progressive press, a piece of oak hardwood and assorted other hardware. Works well enough for me.

 

[JeepHammer]

Rem788,
Like the rifle, like the fix!
Thumbs up with a wiggle!

----------

Good On Paper,
That $500+ for MBF, for 1 caliber, and $250 for a case feeder. $750+ for the pair.

Case feeder is even easier, 5 gallon bucket, drive motor for a BBQ grill rotisserie, and 12" sq. Of rotor material.
It's even sloppier than the bullet feeder in construction requirements.

My 3,000 an hour case feeder made of metal was about $150.
Hint: Water heater pans are metal and come in all diameters, a ketchup bottle & 1" wooden dowel rod will flip 3,000 rifle cases an hour with zero problems...

Watch this video and think inverted small rectangle ketchup bottle with 1" dowel rod run through it...

https://youtu.be/heJljPpk2DU

 

[Good on paper]

I’m going to try to build both the case and bullet feeder concurrently and decided to go bucket size for both to minimize tooling setup.
i have 3/8” uhmw for the base plates and 1/4 for the case feed and 1/2” for the bullet feed rotating plates. I laid out 8 slots for the bullet feed and I think I’m going to do 12 for the case feed. I’m planning on using a 3 rpm motor for both. I’m assuming 50% or less unfilled slots for both machines and 12 rounds per minute seems like a comfortable pace. I can always cut additional slots if needed. I’m going to try to use U shaped slots because they will be easy to cut with a Forster bit but will square them as needed.
I’m a uspsa guy so these will be dedicated to .40 cal and I use poly coated bullets.

 

[JeepHammer]

5 gallon bucket is a pretty cheap place to start!
Those short 'Drywall Mud' buckets have heavier bottoms...

When I got the details worked out using a 5 gallon bucket, I went for a metal $15 farm animal feed pan.
I was thinking durability, I didn't consider the noise brass dragging on metal would create.
Aluminum is about the same noise but doesn't scuff the cases.

My last big one was a plastic spill barrel for 5 gallon size buckets (yup, back to plastic).
Heavier bottom so I didn't have to reinforce it.
Not sure I'd buy a spill barrel new, but second hand I gave it a try and it's working well.

If you decide to go the DC motor route for speed control, a windshield wiper motor is high torque and well built, cheap & common.
I just saw a dirt simple speed controller on Instructables, but the transistor needs a copper or aluminum heat sink.
https://www.instructables.com/id/Si...L&utm_medium=email&distinctId=MURA7Z8IIAOJOGO

Some guys like DC because it's so much cheaper & simple to speed control, others like simple 'Plug In' AC and don't mess with wiring...
Some guys just don't like to 'Tinker', I enjoy the process of building, like I enjoy the process of reloading, so it's no big deal.

Several of my builds have 'Cordless' drills hanging off the bottom of them. $5 at yard sales and junk stores with dead or missing batteries.
If the battery is there, I gut it, solder wires into the terminals in the old battery, and connect wires to power supply.
This let's me work out speed changes and it's not like a drill motor isn't going to give enough torque!

When I get it figured out, then I order a motor in the correct torque/speed range, and the drill motor moves to another project,... Or not... Some still have drill motors depending on the price/availability of a dedicated motor.
It's not like $5 drill motors are going to dry up anytime soon...

Here is something that might help, should you decide to run different calibers...
In the bottom of the bin (bucket), where the case drops into the feed tube, I usually make a 'Squared' slot hole for case to drop into tube.
Length of that slot determines how the cases fall, mouth up or mouth down.
Being an 'Eyeball' measurer, I screw the length of that rectangle slot up on occasion...

Now I cut the slot a little long for longer cases, and bend a piece of tin or aluminum in a 'U' shape, one leg of the 'U' longer than the other (for a short screw) and use it to control the length of the slot.
That allows me to run every length case from .380 ACP to .223 Rem in the same slot, a rotor change is all that's needed.
I just close off some of the slot for shorter cases, open it up for longer cases.
When the cases come around mouth first, the bottom of the 'U' shape lifts the mouth up until the base clears the other end of the slot and they drop into the tube bottom down every time.

The side of a pop can works fine, and since it's on the side of the slot that cases aren't since they dropped into the tube, the 'Bump' the metal creates isn't an issue, no cases on that side, no snagged cases.
I stole the idea from Dillon, I know a good idea when I steal it!

 

[Good on paper]

Awesome tips Jeep!
I’m going to go with the big box store bucket but cut the bottom out most of the way and use the 3/8” uhmw plastic as a base.
I considered windshield washer motors, I assumed they would be pretty stout but I don’t know what the gear reduction is so I’m probably going to go with a $13 Amazon hobby motor. If they don’t hold up a wiper motor with a pwm speed control might be a good setup.
I've watched some videos on case feeders and since I’m starting with pistol ammo the tilt angle rejection method looks pretty simple, if the case is primer side up it falls out due to being top heavy but stays in track if the primer side is down. If this doesn’t feed reliably I can lengthen the slots and do the over center drop method. Good call on making an adjustable base slot!

 

[JeepHammer]

I *Usually* start with a DC motor to have easily adjustable speed until I figure out RPM requirements.
That means power supply...
Keep in mind DC brush motors don't like to run for long at reduced voltage, if you have to slow them down too much you will get good at changing brushes.

Once speed is figured out, I often look for surplus AC (induction) gear motors.
The whole "Just plug it in" thing is simple.
While people argue it all the time, $1.50 worth of diodes from Radio Shack will let you half speed an AC motor REAL simple like.
One side of double pole/double throw switch is directly connected AC, the other has a diode in one connection leg.
Half power means half speed...

Sometimes you run those stupid long cases (.30-06 & longer) and you just want to slow things down a little.
Those little .380 cases are what I slow down, my press just has issues seating bullets on .380 cases so I slow down, no sense in the case feeder loosing it's mind...

For a bullet feeder, have you considered one of the 3D printed units guys are making all over the place?
For about $100 you get what's pretty close to a MBF body, 2 or 3 specifically sized rotors, knocker, removable/interchangable flipper plate, the plastic connector for drop tube, clamps & small hardware.
I just bought two and I'm seriously impressed with the little buggers.
Now, the motor, speed controller, drop tubes/switches are up to you, but it will accept MBF if that's your thing.

I don't like worm gear motors, or running brush type DC motors without replaceable brushes, so I'm not going MBF.
Until people found the worm gear motors on eBay/surplus they were $13-$15, now they are nearly $100 for the same motor/drive MBF uses.
I'm going with a spur or planetary drive gear type, still $10-$20. Really good ones are $50 and still half what MBF are selling for and will outlive MBF 10 to 1.

Since you know about PWM you know what I'm talking about...
That old battery powered drill motor sounds pretty good about now! Really easy way to figure speed out... Flashlight batteries if that's what it takes!
Just don't do what I did and forget to check voltage before flipping the switch, I threw bullets across the room! Those 200 grain bullets hurt when they bang you in the head!

 

[JeepHammer]

I guess it was a different thread...
I never walk past the $5 'Cordless' tools at yard sales & junk stores.
Gut the dead battery, solder some leads on the terminals, and it's a corded DC drive motor for $5.
Increase or reduce voltage as needed to control speed.

Drill motors are usually planetary gear sets, chucks make attaching easy, and you can change speed with an adjustable power supply, or even cheap series connection dry cell battery holders.
Stupid simple for tinkers like me...

The ones with the side handle collar are golden. That collar behind the chuck makes for stupid simple attachments with a hose clamp.