Carbdoards template's, first iteration:
Upper base disc
Lower base disc
Sidewall
Carbdoards template's, first iteration:
Upper base disc
Lower base disc
Sidewall
Last edited by Chuteur; 05-28-2017 at 01:09 PM.
Dear god, this is amazing and timely.
#RESIST
I am, what we British call, kack handed (ten thumbs) and if I can put my thinking head on and build one then anyone can. Tools required were: Router (I had a small router/trimmer too which was convenient but not necessary); bench drill (an el-cheapo job from L*we's for about $99 (if you don't have one a friend will); jig saw; ruler; compass; assorted drill bits, screwdrivers. Just a case of thinking the problem through, test driving it in your head two or three times then doing it.Originally Posted by LittleLebowski
BTW today I put the Mr B*11etfeeder expander (extravagance but well worth it) die into the powder die, connected the feed tube to the Hornady dropper die today and was testing individual bullets. Happy, happy, happy so far.
Last edited by Chuteur; 05-28-2017 at 04:02 PM.
Post any pictures of the assembly process you might have, if you could. I would appreciate it.
#RESIST
This is what I found online which prompeted me to make one. Apparently he used to sell the kits and stopped, maybe he got a hard time from a manufacturer, who knows? I have effectively made my own parts and put them together following his instructions.
http://entirelycrimson.com/diy/collatorinstructions.pdf
But, I will happily put up the pics as I get to it so you can follow how to make the components for yerself. Shop around and you can get the motor and controller board cheaper too.
Last edited by Chuteur; 05-28-2017 at 04:07 PM.
3. Positioning motor and control board.
I used 1/42" HDPE plastic for the lower disc and 1/4" HDPE for the upper. The reason for this was:
a. I planned to fasten both discs together to make a single unit.
b. The motor shaft was not long enough to go through 3/4" or 1/2". But it should go through 1/4" and protrude enough to locate a bullet collating disc.
b. The lower 1/2" HDPE disc will have the sidewall screwed into it
MADE SURE I DRILLED A 1/4" HOLE SMACK DAB IN THE CENTRE OF BOTH DISCS. This kept the discs centred and allowed me to poke through the motor drive shaft to draw around it to determine the material to remove.
Once I had removed material I could then mock up to determine where to mark screw holes for drilling and switch placement.
4. The router table.
When I had built the router table I could start cutting at discs.
It had already been determined that the discs would have an inner diameter of 6 1/4" and an outer diameter of 8".
There fore the router table needed two holes drilling to act as spindles to cut the disc. One at 3 1/8" the other at 4" THESE WERE DRILLED SO THAT THE EDGE OF THE HOLE NEAREST THE ROUTER BIT WAS THE RELEVANT MEASUREMENT.
......
First cut was done using some MDF I had around, just to practce technicque. As it turned out I was able to use the MDF disc as a copy jig for routing the HDPE versions.
Last edited by Chuteur; 05-28-2017 at 05:30 PM.
5. Cutting the HDPE.
I have never worked with plastic, I have not actually done much routing, I was surprised by:
a. How easy it was to work with the plastic. I made a couple of boo boo's, and learned that it needs a SLOW STEADY CONSTANT PACE to avoid burrs and screw ups.
b. If I say that 1 cubic inch of plastic when routed turns into 100 cubic inches of plastic waste I would not be exaggerating.....I very, very, quickly had a vacuum cleaner nozzle near the router bit.
NOTE: For the general cutting I used a 1/4 " straight bit.
The bullet collator disc is one complete round disc without the flipper tray section. I just drilled a 1/4" hole, put through my 1/4" bolt, put the bolt into the 3 1/8" hole and used a 3/8" straight router bit. 3/8" because it is a bit smaller than the base discs and should rotate freely around the 1/4" centre when it is all done.
6. MDF lower with motor cutout.
Test fitting the HDPE upper to the MDF lower, just to make sure everything fits as I moved along.
7. Forming the sidewall. I have never doen kydex or Boltaron before so it was a totally new experience for me. Child's play as it turned out after my initial worry.
Anyway, I had revised my original sidewall design. To make the nicely rounded upper corners I used a 6" steel target as the jig to run the boltaron through the router with a copy trim bit, marked the holes for screws which I had worked out my measuring and marking on the MDF lower disc plate.
Then, I had read that thermoplastic like kydex is workable at 225 degrees. So I set the oven, let it warm and popped in the boltaron on a non stick sheet.
I checked the floppyness (thats a technical term used by people who have'nt got a clue) evry 30 seconds and at around 90 seconds it was floppy enough to use and not liquid.
I lifted the boltaron out and put it over the 6" pipe I had and positioned it so that the edge of the boltaron was in line with the edge of the pipe - wearing gloves. Then the cardboard you see I wrapped over and round the boltaron pulling it tight so that there were no sticky out bits and it was all nice and round.
The bits so far. Don't worry, I shall explain how I did the inlet for the flippers on the upper disc.
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