Dillon Super Swage 600--A Caveat

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Macd
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Re: Dillon Super Swage 600--A Caveat

Post by Macd »

GasGuzzler wrote:I spent 20 minutes on my phone typing but it poofed into thin air. I'll try again early AM on the PC.
I feel the pain.
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Re: Dillon Super Swage 600--A Caveat

Post by GasGuzzler »

daboone wrote:I gotta say what the heck are the dimples in this picture you posted on the shell holder?
daboone wrote:So I wonder why all those "dimples" in you shell holder?
Previously posted, see below
GasGuzzler wrote:I peened a couple (9) divots in the stud where it holds the brass and knocked the edges of the holder down (again)
As stated, the dimples were an attempt to "rough up" the stud as per RD's idea earlier in this topic.
daboone wrote: On the other hand the the shell holders appear to be stripped. I'd send these picture to Lee and see what they have to say.
The shell holders’ threads are fine but there is erosion on the underside of them. As far as sending pics to Lee…
GasGuzzler wrote: I also ordered another guide rod and shell holder kit. At $7 shipped it makes no sense to fight it.
GasGuzzler wrote:I think the shell holder is worn out. I probably spun too many (but how many is too many when it's brass vs. steel?) cases in it. It's $7. I will sleep well.....
horseman wrote:
GasGuzzler wrote:except the 3-jaw and haunting me with its false merits.
Just a guess on my part but I believe the problem people have with the three jaw chuck is they don't tighten it down correctly. I know I made the same mistake when I first tried one on a Lee Zip trim. When you install the chuck on the "spinner" portion then place the case in the chuck, twist the big knurled knob to tighten the jaws on the case you need to continue tighten the large knob down onto the "spinner" (just as you would with the shell holder that you use with the trimmer set up) or whichever unit you're using it on ie; the zip trim for instance, until it's tight. The case will not spin if you do this. To remove the case you obviously do the opposite. The spinner stud I use for my power drill for neck turning has an O ring where it screws into the three jaw chuck so it does take a bit of effort. It works just fine, not as good as the K&N maybe but about a third the cost.
I don’t have a problem with the case spinning in the 3-jaw because it never tightens the second time.

To be useful to me I need to keep one hand on the drill (thumb on forward/reverse, index finger on trigger) and one hand to hold the case and the chuck against drill rotation to loosen and tighten. This is exactly how I use the regular size lock stud and shell holder parts of the trimmers Lee sells. It's very fast, the only downside is the small diameter of the regular size stud/shell holder. Because the 3-jaw holds depth adjustment poorly and centers poorly one must use two hands to load the brass case into it. I don't want to take the time to set the drill down twice per case.

horseman's post shows the two design flaws that prevents the 3-jaw from being useful in the capacity I need. The o-ring retention system is very cheesy and cannot hold adjustment when facing the torque of a modern Japanese 18V Li-ion cordless drill. The stud continually threads in and out (depending on which way the drill is being used to load or discard a case) of the chuck, it won’t hold adjustment.
The jaws themselves are a very thin and flimsy sheet metal that spring outward (flex) when tightened which also prevents the adjustment from holding.

If I could put stronger jaws in it and have the stud TIG welded to the chuck it would work. Instead, I bought an $8.00 printed plastic part off eBay I found on another gun forum. If no one noticed, the link is in my previous post. I will report back when it and my new length gauge/shell holder arrives Thursday.
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Re: Dillon Super Swage 600--A Caveat

Post by GasGuzzler »

This thingie does what I intended the Lee 3-jaw chuck to do but does not. :S

$8 off eBay.

Image

Even with the old worn out shell holder I was able to trim 12 cases in my test run with only one getting off center. With the new shell holder it ought to work really well.
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Re: Dillon Super Swage 600--A Caveat

Post by Macd »

Bet that case trimmer mods are the most common ones to be found in the reloading world. Bringing the trimmer and casing together in a controlled way that produces a precise case length in an efficient manner shouldn't be that hard. However I haven't found a simple method yet that makes me happy and doesn't aggravate my arthritis.
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