RT-1200B cutter blade.

[crasher]

New user of a 650 and case feeder, so I started at the end, and I'm reading forward through the archives til I got to the front.

I'm using my 650 just to size 5.56 brass, so there's no powder/primers, or other dies involved beyond a Lee universal decapper in station 1 and the trimmer/die in station 4.

I was wondering what kind of life I could expect from my trimmer cutter blade, based on a 3 sided blade costing ~$20 + shipping, and I was reading the archives for comment.

In a discussion on vacuum set-ups in this thread started 02-Jan-2011:

My link

- post #21 -

"I use a $30 2gal shop vac I found at target. I was using a larger unit, but it was way to noisy. I bought 3 feet of clear tubing from Home Depot, it fits the attachment perfect, other end goes into a 5 gal plastic bucket. I put a hole in the lid to just fit the clear hose, in the opposite side of the bucket lid I cut a hole for the vac hose. 95% of the chips go into the 5 gal pail, and the vacuum doesn't get full or clog my filter. I get a 3/4 full 5 gal pale every 2 days"

That is a LOT of brass trimming.

What's the life expectancy? I was hoping for some comment/discussion on your experience, with any tips for the care and feeding of a healthy cutter.

I already put a CPU heat sink on the top, with thermal paste, and lowered the temps of the unit between 10* and 20* depending on where the measurement is taken.

I'm thinking I might need 2 or 3 spare cutter blades, and that's a batch of cash right there. Are there alternatives? Alternative sources? I like my new/Blue a lot, but costs are costs.

Ways to sharpen that little cutter?

Thanks for helping a noob.

Edited May 14, 2012 by crasher

[dillon]

The cutter blade is carbide, and has three cutting surfaces. Each cutting edge is good for about 750,000 cases.

[crasher]

Thanks for the reply.

I quoted the post because I got about 3/8 of a 5 gallon bucket of Federal 5.56 brass cuttings before I had to change to the 2nd surface. I'm going to have to order at least a 2nd blade just to feel safe. I noticed that the cut rim of the shell was looking like it was being rounded over instead of the clean cut, so I swapped to the 2nd surface and asked the question.