How I do it

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I decided to HP the 429244 mould I have on hand. This is the process I am now using.

Here I am putting the mould in the vise and rough centering it using a gauge pin. When the pin smoothly enters the cavity I know I am close. It took me a few tries to get the right sized pin and then It was a couple thou small.

I spent a good 5-10 min with a .0005 indicator getting it centered. I don’t do well reading an indicator when the dial is facing the column. A coax indicator is on order to make this process easier. This is my absolute least favorite part of the entire process.
 
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Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
The more you do the easier it gets. That is only because you have a much better idea of what NOT to do.
I am very happy I tried the mill I won’t be going back to the later for this.
 

Ian

Notorious member
You'll like the coaxial indicator.

Indicating the mould cavity at both ends would really add some complexity, but is the only way to ensure the pin is true with the bullet. If you start tramming all the surfaces of a Lyman mould it quickly becomes a question which one of the six you want to go off of, or none because the cavity isn't perpendicular to any of them. The last one I re-bored got the top faced off while still clamped in the position the cavity was cut. The cavity and top were the only two parts of the mould which were true to each other, and only after I machined both.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I can easily enough use the coax to indicate both ends of the cavity. Will be interesting to see how far out they are.
So far I have not been indicating other than the base band. With a relatively short pin I don’t know how much it matters for shorter range handgun use? For 100 yards and beyond in a rifle it would begin to matter far more.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I think you could get it close enough with a bench vise and cordless drill, but for me at least it's fun to go for maximum precision just for precision's sake. I always learn a bunch of new things about measuring....and the real condition of the part I'm working on....with every project.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Are you still experimenting with inset bar type pin carriers?
I would like to but need to find a way to get the pins to be identical or as close as possible. I also need to grind a tool for groove to fit an E clip on the ends or the slide rods.
The concept is simple, the details are the hard part.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Making parts that fit together in a precise, repeatable manner in multiples is not the realm of the amateur machinist with a manual lathe and no DRO. Thst is pretty much required for the insert bar for multiple cavities.

I have been thinking about an inert bar for a 2 cav mould to drop 1 HP and 1 solid. That eliminates some of the “hard” part.

For those who don’t mind really thinking outside the box I have even considered a hollowpoint wadcutter. Maybe a wide hollowpoint for those who like the HBWC backwards type stuff.