Blank sizing dies for sale.

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
Are you a home craftsman that wants to make your own custom reloading components? Do you have a small lathe? If you want to make your own sizing dies to fit your Lyman®, RCBS®, Saeco®, or Star®/Magma® luber sizer we have what you need.

There are two basic steps to making a sizing die - (1) turning the outside profile of the die and cutting it off from a long bar of steel, and (2) putting the proper size and shape hole in the middle of the die. Most of the cost of making a die is the cost of putting the hole in the middle. That's why manufacturers that make finished dies have to charge for that and also include the cost of stocking dies in many different sizes. Manufacturing time and inventory costs - and the consumer pays for that.

With our CNC equipment and access to quality steel at bulk purchase prices we can make blank sizing dies from top quality materials and offer them for a very reasonable price. As a home craftsman with a small lathe you can buy our inexpensive die blanks and make your own custom dies, knowing you are starting with a dimensionally correct (guaranteed to fit or your money back) die made from the best material for the purpose.

We use 1144 steel, which is a free machining resulphurized steel with approximately .44% carbon content. It machines beautifully and can be polished to take on a great surface finish. It can be quench hardened if desired but for sizing lead alloy bullets it isn't really necessary. If your alloy is clean (no gritty particles trapped in it from inadequate fluxing and cleaning) you can expect very little wear for hundreds of thousands of rounds.

Our dies are completely finished on all exterior surfaces, and can be ordered with no center hole or with a predrilled 3/16" diameter center hole. Each Lyman/RCBS or Star/Magma type die comes with two O-rings included loose in the package. You can easily install them after machining.

The Saeco type dies can be had with either a 11/16-24 threaded end (this is standard) or a 5/8-18 threaded end (originally intended for Herters lubers, they are dimensionally identical to the Saeco except for the thread specs). We also have 11/16-24 half-height nuts available, you won't find these at your local hardware store.

If you're interested simply start a conversation here or email me at keith@bigfoottech.tech

Prices
Lyman/RCBS type dies, with or w/o center hole - $7/each
Saeco and Star/Magma type dies, with or w/o center hole - $8.50/each
11/16-24 half height nuts - $1.50/each
Shipping, 1-10 pieces - $3, more than 10 pieces - free (can be mixed types or even other products)

Lyman/RCBS type die
Ldie1.jpg

Saeco type die
saecodie1.jpg

Star/Magma type die
stardie1.jpg
 
Last edited:

Ian

Notorious member
I'd be interested in some more Lyman blanks, the ones you sent me a while back are fantastic. I could make them, but my time on a manual mini plus materials/freight makes it impractical.
 

S Mac

Sept. 10, 2021 Steve left us. You are missed.
I bought some of your blank dies when you offered them on CB, top quality. I used a drill press and sandpaper to do my part, not perfect but usable.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
These are a great deal. I went thru 10 of the Star blanks a while back. With the time it takes me to make one I just can't justify making them from scratch.
 

Rally Hess

Well-Known Member
After looking at your Star/ Magma bodies, I'm wondering why mine don't have O-rings nor two grooves for O-rings? If they are suppose to use an O-ring, I've been naked for over ten years. LOL Bought my last four from Lathesmith and they matched what I had. Does Magma use a different/same die with two O-rings?
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
My Star has O rings inside the housing for the die. I have made many dies from Keiths blanks and am yet to install an O ring. Made some from scratch with no O rings. No leaks yet.

Is nice to know I can add O rings should leaks become an issue.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I've got about 25-30 Star dies, Star San Diego, Star Magma and Lathesmith, not an O ring in the lot. Machine either. I think Magma started doing that maybe 10 years ago but not ever having had any leakage it's not anything I've worried over.
 

358156 hp

At large, whereabouts unknown.
I just got a dose of sticker shock at the price of factory Star dies, and since I have a small machine shop at my disposal, I'm thinking about buying some of Keiths dies and finishing them myself. My main question revolves around finished bullet diameter. I'm trying to get a feel for what size finish reamers to buy to get my sizing where I want it to be. My first project will be centering around a die to size 50/50 WW & lino to .225. Since I primarily use scrap lead I need some sort of guidance for finished diameter with such a mix. I don't mind starting out a little on the small size, then lapping if needed to get my desired finish size, but starting out too big would be a bit frustrating. I suspect this could also be a sliding scale that varies a bit depending on bullet diameter.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I don’t use a reamer. I drill to .025 or more under spdesired size then use a small boring bar to get close to desired size. The use a split rod, emery, and oil to polish to final size. I use minus plug gauges to get a feel for where I am. I then remove from lathe, clean well, and shove a bullet thru to measure.

Reaming close to size would be faster but reamers get expensive pretty fast.

I keep some WD40 and patches handy for cleaning the grit from the die before I use the pin gauges.
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
Most of the cost of sizing dies is finishing the hole in the middle. I can do 90% of the work for 25% of the finished cost. My dies come with a 3/16” (.188”) hole pre drilled. A #3 drill is .213”, that would leave about .008-.010” to polish out.

Different alloys will have varying amounts of springback after sizing. The higher the compressive yield strength the more springback, although the alloy composition also has some effect. The springback would also be expressed as a %, so a .45 bullet would springback twice as much as a .22 bullet.

The info you are asking about probably exists somewhere, but as Brad mentions the easy way is to shove the real bullet made from the real alloy through the die and measure it.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Just made a .451 sizer tonight. No cross holes drilled yet, this one will initially get used to sized down already lubed bullets for a test.
Took me about an hour start to finish including a test sizing.
My .450 minus pin slides thru but the .451 minus pin does not. Sized bullet is right at .451. THis is what I am finding works best for me, get the next size down pin to go in but the desired size to not go in. As a rule once I get the desired size to go in I am .0005or more over. I think this is because polishing the hole like I do doesn’t make a perfectly round hole.
 

roley

New Member
Are you a home craftsman that wants to make your own custom reloading components? Do you have a small lathe? If you want to make your own sizing dies to fit your Lyman®, RCBS®, Saeco®, or Star®/Magma® luber sizer we have what you need.

There are two basic steps to making a sizing die - (1) turning the outside profile of the die and cutting it off from a long bar of steel, and (2) putting the proper size and shape hole in the middle of the die. Most of the cost of making a die is the cost of putting the hole in the middle. That's why manufacturers that make finished dies have to charge for that and also include the cost of stocking dies in many different sizes. Manufacturing time and inventory costs - and the consumer pays for that.

With our CNC equipment and access to quality steel at bulk purchase prices we can make blank sizing dies from top quality materials and offer them for a very reasonable price. As a home craftsman with a small lathe you can buy our inexpensive die blanks and make your own custom dies, knowing you are starting with a dimensionally correct (guaranteed to fit or your money back) die made from the best material for the purpose.

We use 1144 steel, which is a free machining resulphurized steel with approximately .44% carbon content. It machines beautifully and can be polished to take on a great surface finish. It can be quench hardened if desired but for sizing lead alloy bullets it isn't really necessary. If your alloy is clean (no gritty particles trapped in it from inadequate fluxing and cleaning) you can expect very little wear for hundreds of thousands of rounds.

Our dies are completely finished on all exterior surfaces, and can be ordered with no center hole or with a predrilled 3/16" diameter center hole. Each Lyman/RCBS or Star/Magma type die comes with two O-rings included loose in the package. You can easily install them after machining.

The Saeco type dies can be had with either a 11/16-24 threaded end (this is standard) or a 5/8-18 threaded end (originally intended for Herters lubers, they are dimensionally identical to the Saeco except for the thread specs). We also have 11/16-24 half-height nuts available, you won't find these at your local hardware store.

If you're interested simply start a conversation here or email me at keith@bigfoottech.tech

Prices
Lyman/RCBS type dies, with or w/o center hole - $7/each
Saeco and Star/Magma type dies, with or w/o center hole - $8.50/each
11/16-24 half height nuts - $1.50/each
Shipping, 1-10 pieces - $3, more than 10 pieces - free (can be mixed types or even other products)

Lyman/RCBS type die
View attachment 4652

Saeco type die
View attachment 4653

Star/Magma type die
View attachment 4654
Hi Keith do you make ready to go sizing dies for the Star lube sizer ? thanks Roley
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Keith does not make finished dies, only blanks for others to finish to desired size.
 

Devon

New Member
Is Keith still above ground? He hasn't responded to my email and he hasn't logged in in a few months. I hope all is well....
 

Ian

Notorious member
Did you email him directly at Bigfoot Technical Services? I bought some stuff from him last fall, at the time he was fine and very busy with work contracts.
 

JonB

Halcyon member
That is Keith's Dad. Our Keith wasn't 97 yr old and his wife's name is Nan.

"Keith is survived by his son, Keith G. Benedict (Nan) of Evansville, IN"
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Not too sure that's our Keith. I knew he was older than me but not by 25 years. Also the OB doesn't mention his being a professor at the college or that in the last couple of years he built a new building for his company which he would have been doing in his 90's.