Needed a Lyman HP pin

[Pistolero]

I bought a mold on eBay, and it was NOT what the seller said, not the same number. I initially was a bit
irked, but the mold I got was a 311316 HP with a roofing nail in as some sort of a ridiculous attempt to
make a HP pin with no handle at all. I decided to make a new one. Turned the pin and decided to make
a socket for the knob with a setscrew to let me slide the pin in and out to get different depths of HP cavity.

Couldn't find a suitable wooden drawer knob so picked through my interesting walnut scrap pile and
found a piece with cool grain and way too small to make anything else.

First, made a mandrel, turned the end of a piece of 5/8 rod down to 1/4 inch and threaded to 20 TPI
for about 3/4 inch.
Then located the center on the scrap, marked it, and then put a 1 3/8" circle on it for rough sawing.
Drilled the walnut and tapped 1/4-20. Then bandsawed the scrap to rough shape.



Threaded it onto the mandrel in the lathe, started turning it to a true cylinder.



Then started rough shaping the knob.



Then shaping with a rasp, 100 grit sandpaper, then 220, 240 and finally 320 grit. And a first
wipe with poly finish.


Will take pix of the pin and socket when they are done.

Bill

 

[Brad]

If you can find them on EBay old wooden spools from thread make a decent handle. I have a box of them Khornet bought so I could make him a few HP moulds.
Very interested to see how you do the pin and how you shape it.

 

[Pistolero]

Pin is done. 0.130 diam, and the tip is 8 deg taper and the tip made into a .080 approx
half sphere. Still need to make a stepped pin to press into the ferrule, in that hole
and then fit it (file a flat on top) to JUST slide under the mold bottom locating bolt
as the bayonet lug. That pin can move in and out a lot by loosening the set screw.
Very painful to make a long pin to .130 diameter. The flex is murder. Had to do
sections. Between centers would probably be better.

Then drill out the 1/4-20 threads after the knob is finished to my satisfaction, epoxy
in the ferrule in and done.

I am sure a thread spool would be perfectly functional....but seriously ugly. Not going
to go on an HP pin I make. I get it that it is fast and easy, but geez, I have a bit
higher aesthetic std than that. And actually, the flat bottom may be more functional,
too.




Bill

 

[Ian]

Tirning wood on a metal lathe works great (can even use lathe knives if you clamp a rest bar in the toolpost) but it seems odd and makes a royal mess. Nice work on the knob.

 

[KeithB]

Run a vac, tape a hose to the tool post. Yes, nice work, a very pretty knob. My only observation is I hate separate-pin type HP molds. Lee used to make HP molds with an attached pin, could use them with a regular BP pot, worked fine for what they were. I'm not dextrous enough for all the extra hand motions that a two part mold requires and they won't fit under a BP pot. You're kind of limited to ladle casting.

But at least you will be ladle casting with a very pretty mold!

 

[Pistolero]

Me, too, Keith (not liking Lyman HP molds much) But I got the mold by accident, and it just needed it.
I had this really nice, figured TINY scrap of walnut, just too nice to just throw away. Now glad I saved it.
Thanks for the kind words.

I think I can move the mold rest on the RCBS mold, IIRC, I think have used it successfully on another Lyman HP.
Maybe only with the ladle, not 100% sure, it was some years ago. Prefer MP HP molds, A LOT. I usually
need to have a propane torch idling nearby to warm the Lyman pin just before putting it
back in. I have never figured out how to keep the pin hot enough any other way.

Thanks, Ian. I have a 3/4" diam, quite long boring bar that I can set up as a wood lathe chisel rest.
The grain on this is so wild that it tended to grab and chunk, so I had to give that up, mostly and use
the metal tools and then half round rasp and sandpaper after roughing.

Bill

 

[Bret4207]

Nice job! And a very nice mould, I love the 316. A bit OT, but I once turned both ends of a 42" cross bar for a set of bobs (horse drawn sleigh) on my little 6" Atlas lathe. The cross bar was shaped like an airplane wing looking down from above it, fat in the middle, thinner on the ends. IIRC it was 5" thick in the center. My sole "lathe tool" used was a 3" wide wood chisel. The ends were turned round and about 2 1/2-3" thick. It was an incredibly slow job with the lathe in back gear, doing about 30 rpm. The really sad part was that at the time I didn't know red oak from white oak as far as lasting qualities in the outdoors and made the bar from the wrong one. All the red oak pieces I made rotted away in 8-10 years.

 

[david s]

It's always nice when you can turn something back into being useful, and if you can make it look good at the same time well....

 

[Pistolero]

Thanks, guys. Made the "bayonet lug' pin today, .001 too big for the hole, then stepped up to .020 larger.
Tapped it into the ferrule, then trimmed the length, and then filed a small flat on top to clear under
the locking shoulder bolt.
Got a couple more coats of finish on the knob today. Should be able to drill it and epoxy the ferrule
in tomorrow.

Bill

 

[Pistolero]

Keith - how would you make a pin 0.130 diam and about 1.5 long finished length? So floppy,
I turned down about 1/2, then the next half inch, and then the last half inch. I did the 8 deg tapered
tip first.
I am guessing turning between centers would be better, but have never done anything that small.
Mostly turn overhung, not a lot of experience between centers.

Any pointers would be appreciated.

Bill

 

[Brad]

Bill, did you use HSS or an insert cutter? My understanding is that a really sharp HSS tool puts less side force on the part and reduces deflection.
What material? I’m sure that makes a large difference too as an easier to machine material should deflect less.

I can tell you what Buckshot did. Use the shank of a worn drill bill. It will already be the right size if you use the same size bit to drill the hole. Kinda cheating but damn effective.

 

[Pistolero]

I did the pin with an insert. I did the tiny pin today with a HSS cutter.
Certainly worth giving that a try, and I will. It was a piece of 3/16 4140 originally.

Don't have too many old drill bits, and not sure what .130 would be. 1/8th is
.125 and 9/64 is 0.140. I imagine there is a number drill in that range, but I
have no worn out number drills and this one would likely needed a longer
solid shank than you normally get on that diam, I think.

Bill

 

[RBHarter]

#30 is actually .128 . #29 I believe is .134........been a long time since I really looked at a set .

 

[358156 hp]

I have one converted mould that uses a #12 drill bit for an HP pin. I still haven't cast with the darn thing yet.

 

[Pistolero]

358156HP.....I have a near mint condition HP mold for that bullet, but have not had much success with it, a
and have entirely given up on GC bullets for handguns. I should sell it.

BIll

 

[Pistolero]

OK, it's done. Glued in the ferrule, extended the small hole deeper to let the pin move in farther.





I'm happy with the way it turned out. A tiny scrap of nice walnut finally is doing something useful.

Bill

 

[Brad]

Did you use a little pin to go under the screw to hold it in place when pouring?
I use a larger collar with a flat filed on it. The flat let the collar go under the screw when rotated.

Very nice work Bill.

 

[KeithB]

Very nice end result!

 

[358156 hp]

Excellent work Bill! Hey, wanna to some more? I've got a few Ideals that need HP pins and hollowbase pins

 

[Pistolero]

Thanks for the kind comments. I am happy with it, but haven't cast with it so far.

HMM. I might make some simpler, fixed HP pins and simpler oak or similar knobs.
What is something like that worth?

Brad, I considered the flange, was turning one, went to make my first measurement......was 0.010 too far.
So, back to the way Lyman does it. Maybe next time. I never claimed to be perfect. This one
is made to be adjustable depth, too. More work.

Bill