Here ya go, Brad......

Ian

Notorious member
Lathe? Don't need no steenking lathe! Just need mad skills with a drill press and files. Turned a Lee Rifle Charging Die insert into a 300 Blackout powder-through-expander plug for the progressive. Makes just enough bellmouth for plain-based bullets, expands the neck to .3095" below the bell, and has a nice stop for the case mouth to prevent over-expansion when operating either the spring-loaded or pull-back chain type Lee powder measures. I can use this either on my Lee turret press with the spring-operated measure, or on the progressive with either measure.

Next project is to make a guide bushing for the opening at the bottom of the die to keep the case in alignment with the spud, something that's sort of an issue with small, long cases that are very wobbly in the shell holder. I've made these sorts of bushings before from various cartridge brass by simply selecting a case that fits tighly in the die and sectioning it in the place I needed to get the correct ID. For this one I'll need a bushing-within-a-bushing to make it down to the .223 case body size.

 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Well done!

And yes, you do need a lathe. You don't realize how badly you need one until you have one.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I'm in denial. What I need is to build about five more shops on my property to house all the goodies that I "need". A powder coating setup, a dedicated water transfer printing setup, a lathe, a mill, a better anodizing setup, rust blueing trough, a few more bench grinders set up permanently for metal polishing, and then there's all the automotive and woodworking equipment that needs a home and to be supplemented with more stuff like an above-ground automotive lift, a 5 HP planer, a couple of router tables, and a 37" wide-belt sander. Oh, and a spray booth. And a 100-yard underground shooting tunnel. Most of the time I try to concentrate on all the stuff I do have, and enjoy that. Reminds me, I need to get to practicing my TiG welding.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
What you need is a sugar momma so you have more time to play. Couldn't she work another full time job?
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Ian, be careful about putting too much radial load or force against anything held in a drill chuck. Chucks aren't designed to tolerate much in the way of radial load.
Also, be sure you don't have your quill extended while applying radial force against your spindle.

RE: your post #4, when wiill you have all that ready?
 

Ian

Notorious member
Smokeywolf, you're sure right about that. I use two 5202 alternator bearings bolted to a block of wood as a backup. The block is clamped in a mill vise and run in against the workpiece. I couldn't make anything round or concentric without it.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Too bad you don't know someone local with a proper lathe.......
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Forgot to mention Ian, very nice lathe work on a drill press. You obviously have much more than a passing knowledge of machining. I see folks with little or no knowledge of machining buying lathes and mills. You already have a foundation of knowledge but no lathe.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I'm the no foundation kinda guy. Luckily I learn quick and can figure out the process in my head. Always have been able to visualize things well that way.

I do think much of that kind of work is being able to see what the part needs to be and figuring out how to make it.

Ian's biggest advantage over me is extreme patience born from extreme OCD. I just don't have his patience.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I'll get a decent lathe one day, it's just not going to be a priority until I get our house finished, my wood shop built, some landscape work completed, and a roof over our vehicles. In the meantime I can mostly make do with what I have, and occasionally hire work done for me or beg L1A1's assistance. He was kind enough to trim and recrown one of my favorite old .22s last year, and it shoots really well now. I'm a po' boy but everything we have is paid for including property, and it's going to stay that way.

Now Paden, don't think I haven't thought of it. There are some fantastic open-source plans on the internet for building a lathe from scratch using poured concrete and common steel items. Thing is, I really don't know how to operate anything more than bench and on-the-car brake lathes, and all the gearing mechanisms make my head spin. One just about has to have a lathe and mill, not to mention a gear hob, to make a lathe.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Much obliged. The company is always good, too! Hopefully I'll end up with a usable .300 BLK mould soon and will show up bearing a large, heavy can full of my appreciation.
 

Paden

Active Member
Thing is, I really don't know how to operate anything more than bench and on-the-car brake lathes, and all the gearing mechanisms make my head spin.
Bah! It's really just a fancy drill press turned on it's side...
 

L1A1Rocker

Active Member
Much obliged. The company is always good, too! Hopefully I'll end up with a usable .300 BLK mould soon and will show up bearing a large, heavy can full of my appreciation.

I'm very curious about that bullet. I see a lot of potential in it.
 

smokeywolf

Well-Known Member
Until 1970 or so, MGM Studios had their own foundry. Optical printers which are used to create the inter-negative (master) for use on the high speed printers and create special effects, format/aspect ratio changes, have to be rock steady. To insure that vibration from the projector on one end is not seen by the camera on the other end, the whole thing is built on a lathe bed. MGM cast their own lathe/printer beds. The best the studio ever produced was the printer that was built specifically to do the optics on Ben Hur.
When it comes to film printing and machine shop equipment, mass is one of your best friends. One of the reasons I love my WEBB lathe; 2-1/2 tons.
 

L1A1Rocker

Active Member
Until 1970 or so, MGM Studios had their own foundry. Optical printers which are used to create the inter-negative (master) for use on the high speed printers and create special effects, format/aspect ratio changes, have to be rock steady. To insure that vibration from the projector on one end is not seen by the camera on the other end, the whole thing is built on a lathe bed. MGM cast their own lathe/printer beds. The best the studio ever produced was the printer that was built specifically to do the optics on Ben Hur.
When it comes to film printing and machine shop equipment, mass is one of your best friends. One of the reasons I love my WEBB lathe; 2-1/2 tons.

Yeppers! I wish my Atlas was. . . well, MORE. It's great for small jobs but I'm trying to build a titanium silencer and having to deal with some short comings. Lots of upgrades to my tooling, plus I had to add bearings to my steady rest.

It's always interesting when someone pops on to the silencertalk forum asking if this (insert chines name here) 6 X 12 hobby lathe will be good enough to build their titanium silencer. Most listen to the advice and wind up buying some old, but good, used American Iron.

It really is best to find a good used lathe most of the time. Although, Grizzly really has something with their "gunsmith" line of lathes.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Mine isn't 2.5 tons but it is around 1200 pounds. My wife told that if I was buying then I needed to get something where I wouldn't be wanting to upgrade in a few years. I decided a 12x36 would do all I needed to do.

Now about that mill.....