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Metal punch ideas...??

M

MetalStump!

Member
Does anyone have experience machining a metal punch to cut a circle out of soft metal, and then form it with a draw die..??

Trying to sketch ideas for a project, and since I have never done this kind of thing....I could sure use help or suggestions.
 
Brent H

Thanks for the ideas...!

For the time being, I have to plan well and borrow time on a friends machines .

I don’t want to waste any time.


Brent H said:
google up "this old tony" on you tube - he makes a metal die punch early on in his videos

@CalgaryPT would be knowledgeable about this I should think!
Click to expand...
 
YYCHM,

I reload ammo, as I shoot quite a bit with cast bullets, and I'm having terrible trouble finding gaschecks for several calibers.

The project is to design a semi adaptable setup to punch gas checks from copper or aluminum.

With the drought in reloading supplies, I'm at the point where I have to make a tool.

YYCHM said:
This is my failed attempt at making a shim punch. Might tell you what no to do.

https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/failed-shim-punch-project.1103/

What's your project about?
Click to expand...
 
MetalStump! said:
YYCHM,

I reload ammo, as I shoot quite a bit with cast bullets, and I'm having terrible trouble finding gaschecks for several calibers.

The project is to design a semi adaptable setup to punch gas checks from copper or aluminum.

With the drought in reloading supplies, I'm at the point where I have to make a tool.
Click to expand...

I've never had to resort to gas checks but then again I don't cast for rifle velocities. Powder coating has tended to eliminate gas checks as well. Seems to me there is a boolit caster on CGN, he is a mod for the casting thread that makes his own gas checks and can provided advice on making the punches. I'm pretty sure @historicalarms on this forum makes gas checks and can probably provide some advise as well.

The punch I made punched out circular disks ok, it just wouldn't complete the shim I was trying to duplicate.
 
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Could you send me his screen name...??

I am certainly interested in having a chat with him.

Thanks


YYCHM said:
I've never had to resort to gas checks but then again I don't cast for rifle velocities. Powder coating has tended to eliminate gas checks as well. Seems to me there is a boolit caster on CGN, he is a mod for the casting thread that makes his own gas checks and can provided advice on making the punches. I'm pretty sure @historicalarms on this forum makes gas checks and can probably provide some advise as well.

The punch I made punched out circular disks ok, it just wouldn't complete the shim I was trying to duplicate.
Click to expand...
 
As YYC says, I have made my own check-maker...but that was before I discovered Powder coating cast slugs...PCing slugs has basically made GC obsolete except to the most religious of sticklers of historical methods...my check-cutter basically has been retired to only a over-powder wad cutter for between grease cookies & powder in BP loads.

All that being said- if your hell bent on making a check-cutter, there are numerous blue print offerings in the CASTBOOLIT web site ( mine was patterned from one of them). It will cut & form the cup in one press.
I made that one check cutter and 3 more cutters for just card wads for the BP rounds in different calibers...the one thing I discovered very early is that the cutter plunger must be a very close fit as in slip-friction fit so there is no room for clearance movement at all. if you have any clearance, the cutter ram can move to one side or the other and cause a jagged tear instead of a cut to your material...lop-sided checks cause lop-sided rotation of your slug during travel (remember a slug from a tight rifling turn such as 1:10, will be rotating at many thousands of RPM...stabilization is paramount to accuracy).
Weather you want to build a check-cutter or learn the ins& outs of powder coating bullets CASTBOOLITS is your friend for many hours of learning from the boys that have already "been there-done that"
 
Could you post a link to the design....??

I'm also working on getting the required parts to powder coat as well.

Thanks



historicalarms said:
As YYC says, I have made my own check-maker...but that was before I discovered Powder coating cast slugs...PCing slugs has basically made GC obsolete except to the most religious of sticklers of historical methods...my check-cutter basically has been retired to only a over-powder wad cutter for between grease cookies & powder in BP loads.

All that being said- if your hell bent on making a check-cutter, there are numerous blue print offerings in the CASTBOOLIT web site ( mine was patterned from one of them). It will cut & form the cup in one press.
I made that one check cutter and 3 more cutters for just card wads for the BP rounds in different calibers...the one thing I discovered very early is that the cutter plunger must be a very close fit as in slip-friction fit so there is no room for clearance movement at all. if you have any clearance, the cutter ram can move to one side or the other and cause a jagged tear instead of a cut to your material...lop-sided checks cause lop-sided rotation of your slug during travel (remember a slug from a tight rifling turn such as 1:10, will be rotating at many thousands of RPM...stabilization is paramount to accuracy).
Weather you want to build a check-cutter or learn the ins& outs of powder coating bullets CASTBOOLITS is your friend for many hours of learning from the boys that have already "been there-done that"
Click to expand...
 
MetalStump! said:
I'm also working on getting the required parts to powder coat as well.
Thanks
Click to expand...

What parts? Powder from PA and a toaster oven from the thrift store, that's it. Maybe some parchment paper. I picked up a toaster oven for $10 at our local thrift store.
 
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I bought this off kijiji for powdercoating. The pot on top lifts off so I should be able to make a extension.
FCC10DCF-7455-4853-80B5-D58502EEC751.jpeg
 
Powder coating is the route my son and i are going to go for 9mm and 45 cast bullets. BIL says that is the way to go, he loads for several rifle calibers with cast bullets, no more mucking about with lube.
 
MetalStump! said:
Could you post a link to the design....??

I'm also working on getting the required parts to powder coat as well.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I'll be long dead by the time i learn how to "link" any thing on this confounded machine...Google CASTBOOLITS and search "free-check' cutters in there.
There are two ways to effectively PC bullets, the "shake & bake" method that requires the Value village oven & an old margarine container, this is the least expensive, $1 worth of powder will easily do
500 slugs ( as opposed to GC at $50 per thou).
Second way is with a store bought electro static gun...adds about $150 to the operation (provided you already have a compressor).

The advantages of PC over GC are multiple. I haven't done it but lots of antidotal evidence of guys shooting PC coated cast at over 3000 fps were as wax lubed/GC bullets are pretty much limited to 1700 fps unless you have a very hi antimony/tin content to your alloy.
I have a # of molds that drop GC shanked slugs but just coat them and shoot them as i would any BT jacketed bullets.
 
historicalarms said:
I'll be long dead by the time i learn how to "link" any thing on this confounded machine...Google CASTBOOLITS and search "free-check' cutters in there.
Click to expand...

The way I have found works is by going to the site you want to link to, go right to the top in the window address (the little area in the Center of the screen), then highlight it with a right click on the mouse (or just touch the area if using a tablet). The title and all the associated gobbledygook letters and characters will change colour. Select “copy” and then move the cursor into the post you are working on and select “paste”. Now the whole string of characters will show up. After you post, we can just click on the link you gave us and we will be taken right to what you were looking at.
 
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