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The Dillon trimmer that never was....


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Got tired of waiting around for the 1500. Was even more disappointed in hearing that it was going to be the same RPM as the 1200 from a beta tester here on the forums.

So, a Bosch wood router motor and some lathe/mill work later...

I present the Brassaholic 2000 case trimmer.

2.25HP, 8k-24k RPM. Soft start, auto RPM correcting based on load. Carbide, 4-flute, 1/2" end mill, center cutting with chip breaker. Runs room temperature to the touch, can barely hear it running. Zero vibration.

Yeah, it's overkill, but it's mine, and it's bad ass. I snubbeth my nose at you Dillon. What you've been working on for months took me 4 hours, including the trip to Menards to buy the Bosch.

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Got tired of waiting around for the 1500. Was even more disappointed in hearing that it was going to be the same RPM as the 1200 from a beta tester here on the forums.

So, a Bosch wood router motor and some lathe/mill work later...

I present the Brassaholic 2000 case trimmer.

2.25HP, 8k-24k RPM. Soft start, auto RPM correcting based on load. Carbide, 4-flute, 1/2" end mill, center cutting with chip breaker. Runs room temperature to the touch, can barely hear it running. Zero vibration.

Yeah, it's overkill, but it's mine, and it's bad ass. I snubbeth my nose at you Dillon. What you've been working on for months took me 4 hours, including the trip to Menards to buy the Bosch.

Thats awesome! How does it work so far? Does it leave a burr?

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Cuts are absolutely perfect, and within 0.003" max variation. The 4-flute end mill did not work out. There's not enough room for chips to escape. A 2-flute end mill of the same variety is the hot ticket.

I have dies from CH4D (junk), GSI, and Whidden. Honestly, I like the Whidden the best. Zero case spin, with as much lube as you want. The Whidden also does a full length size on the case.

I do think, however, that a carbide insert with tool holder would work the best. On the lowest speed, which makes the vacuum louder than the router motor, it will rough cut with the GSI die at 2000 rounds per hour.

Finishing is the same rate at the same low setting.

If I crank up the motor to max speed, I can cut full length cases (including blanks) at 2000 rounds per hour. Interestingly, when doing the full length cases, it leaves them 0.004" longer than the short cases, so I have to re-adjust the trimmer. In either case, the router motor doesn't care. It barely slows down.

I'll get some video when I get caught up with work.

Edited by Brassaholic13
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What is the switch by the casefeed used for?

looks like a case counter to me. The case goes by and pushes the switch.

ETA: this looks bad ass. I wish I had the tools to be able to build stuff like this.

Edited by rjacobs
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What are you using the -.100" cases for?

Huh? Never said it was a -.100" length case. I said I was removing .100" from the case.

What is the switch by the casefeed used for?

Actually, my counter is on the case collator. The switch is for safety. In processing military brass, sometimes the rims are dinged and the shells won't go into the shellplate all the way. This causes them to hit the depriming station brass locator pin, which is rough on the indexing pawl of the press. The switch detects any cases that aren't fully in the shellplate and stops the press.

Additionally, if you notice the wiring continuing up to the tool head, there's a continuity check on the decapping pin. If the pin gets pushed up (This is why I like the Lee decapper), it hits the music wire suspended above the pin and stops the press.

Another safety switch is above the toolhead locating pin closest to the ejection of the shell case. It's the longest pin and comes in contact with the shell plate first. If a primer fails to drop free of the case due to primer pull back, the press will jam as the primer gets stuck between the casting and shell plate. This causes that tool head pin to be shoved up as the ram comes down without the shell plate in proper alignment. The pin then touches the music wire and shuts down the press.

The final safety switch is part of the VFD. I can set the VFD to detect motor load. I generally set it at about 2% over what it takes to process brass. If a jam occurs, the press will shut down if the overload is detected for 0.01 seconds.

These safeties are what keeps me from breaking the press.

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I guess you modified the too head locating pin because it shouldn't move on that tool head...or I am missing something?

Nope. It moves... When it moves, lol, you have to beat it back down with a punch and hammer. Dont underestimate the torque of that 1/4HP motor and VFD.

It may not supposed to move, but that's because it was designed for hand cranking, not for motorized action. I had thought about drilling that hole and making a new threaded pin. Also thought about putting a groove in the pin and cross drilling the tool head to use an allen screw. But then I realized, if I kept that pin from moving, something was gonna break, so I just developed a means to detect the movement.

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