Home-Made Case Feeder

[RaymondMillbrae]

Just happened to come across this YouTube video.

I though someone might find it interesting.

There are a few other cool "doo-dad's"...so just follow the links if you wish.

In Christ: Raymond

Edited October 17, 2009 by RaymondMillbrae

[blue edge]

Anyone tried this?

[juan]

I wonder if it would work on straight wall pistol case,

It makes you wonder why they cost so much ?

[Treym7]

Thought I saw a few cases go in upside down. Went back and watched it again and saw I was wrong. Nice job.

Edited October 20, 2010 by Treym7

[jmorris]

Anyone tried this?

I built a bullet collator that I later turned into a case collator. I changed it from 3 o’clock to 12 o’clock exit and added another 4” section of aluminum to make it deeper. It’s not as lazy as the Dillon collator you can fill it with three times the brass and never even get warm air coming out of the fan.

[m134b]

Care to share some specs jmorris? I have.... oh... about 10' of 8"o.d. aluminum tube that just MIGHT work for such things!

Ken

[jmorris]

Care to share some specs jmorris? I have.... oh... about 10' of 8"o.d. aluminum tube that just MIGHT work for such things!

No problem, what do you need?

[m134b]

How thick is the collator plate itself? What size/type motor are you using, any caveats or things to watch out for in regard to tolerancing, What diameter and wall thickness is the "bowl" you're using? Perhaps an explanation of the how/why of the two tabs and what looks like a spring at the top of the bowl? Is there anything special about the hole the bullets drop into the feed tube through? And, last but not least a good explanation of the assembly that feeds the bullets into the die.

I've made some pretty wild stuff before, but I've always taken a great deal of time and worked them out in SolidWorks and GibbsCam before I even started work. Yours looks to be a very heavy duty assembly and I'd like to gain enough info to get it right the first time

I sincerely thank you for posting the pics, and for the info you offer!

Ken

[angus6]

How thick is the collator plate itself? What size/type motor are you using, any caveats or things to watch out for in regard to tolerancing, What diameter and wall thickness is the "bowl" you're using? Perhaps an explanation of the how/why of the two tabs and what looks like a spring at the top of the bowl? Is there anything special about the hole the bullets drop into the feed tube through? And, last but not least a good explanation of the assembly that feeds the bullets into the die.

I've made some pretty wild stuff before, but I've always taken a great deal of time and worked them out in SolidWorks and GibbsCam before I even started work. Yours looks to be a very heavy duty assembly and I'd like to gain enough info to get it right the first time

I sincerely thank you for posting the pics, and for the info you offer!

Ken

I'll jump in here and wait for more info also, as were just starting on this project myself.

Have things roughed in, now need to make some stand offs to position the motor

[jmorris]

How thick is the collator plate itself? What size/type motor are you using, any caveats or things to watch out for in regard to tolerancing, What diameter and wall thickness is the "bowl" you're using? Perhaps an explanation of the how/why of the two tabs and what looks like a spring at the top of the bowl? Is there anything special about the hole the bullets drop into the feed tube through? And, last but not least a good explanation of the assembly that feeds the bullets into the die

The photo you are referring to is when it was in bullet collator configuration (top photo) it now is setup differently to feed cases (bottom photo).

In the top photo the tabs and spring steel attempt to correct bullets oriented incorrectly or cull them from the wheel. If they are in the right spot they continue around to the 3 o’clock position and drop from there. It’s really just a crude copy of a MA Systems collator. The other device below is a fail safe that insures 100% of the bullets are oriented correctly or they are culled through the trap door before entering the GSI bullet feeder. I built this before GSI had collators and the KISS didn’t exist either.

The plate is ¼” Tivar bolted to 1/8” steel plate I used a double split set collar on a 1” shaft to act as a clutch if anything ever got jammed. The bowl is 1/8” aluminum, 4” tall for the bullet collator extended to 8” tall for case collator. The case collator works at a greater angle (and has 12 O’clock drop) than the bullet collator and is adjustable using two additional set collars.

Tolerances have to be reasonably close but your not building a space ship. Simple fixtures make it a pretty easy job. You can make the dimensions pretty much whatever you want, I rolled the ring of the bowl first then machined the plate to fit. The notches I made using a fixture similar to the two in the photo below. Drill a hole in the center and place it over the dowel then one hole at the edge of the circle index “X” amount to another dowel, continue all the way around.

I don’t remember exactly what the motor is, somewhere around 4-6 RPM fan cooled AC gear motor from Granger.

[angus6]

The large M/A collator uses a 1LPV9 Dayton motor which runs around $140, of course that is a lot better motor then needed for a bowl full of brass. i found a little 12vdc motor that is seeming to work fine in a small 5 gal bucket type unit