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Neck Turning

PatMiles

PatMiles

I've had a lathe in the garage/shop for many years and never thought about trying to turn necks on it until seeing a video by Jackie Schmidt a year or so ago. I posted a couple of queries here about doing so and Paul, aka Boltfluter, felt sorry for me and started digitally tutoring me a while back. There was a shallow learning curve involved that led me to do a good tuneup on my lathe and then the trial and error portion started.First hurdle is turning an accurate .243" mandrel. Several iterations later I had one that I was happy with. Pushing on a fireformed 220 Russian case with a live center in the tailstock was simple enough but my first attempt with a very shallow cut stopped the case on the arbor. Paul was patient enough to give me the info on the insert he uses so I order up a couple TCGT inserts as well as a 3/8" holder. After a few days later they arrive and it's back to the lathe. I soon realize I have no way to set my cutter height so I pull the arbor and chuck up a piece of aluminum. Several face off cuts and the new insert is set to centerline. Dial back in a 1/2" length of steel rod and start making cuts to turn a fresh .243" arbor. That done it's time for the real thing. RPM at 470, .0007" travel/revolution on auto. Handfeed from the chuck to the shoulder of the cartridge for a light cut at said shoulder and then engage the auto feed for the final cut back to the mouth of the cartridge. Holy chit Batman, that looks great and best of all, the cutter didn't stop the cartridge on the arbor. As it turned out, my original insert had a much larger radius on the nose than the insert Paul recommended. Measuring the OD of the neck while still on the arbor showed that my cut was to shallow for the .0087" neck thickness I was looking for, .262" neck chamber in my 6PPC gun. A bit of judicious tweaking on the cross slide and I'm there.
Anybody in the market for a 21st Century neck turning lathe?

THANKS PAUL! GET WELL!

NECK 1.JPG

NECK 2.JPG

NECK 3.JPG

NECK 4.JPG
 
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jimmymac said:
That’s very cool. Different ways to skin a cat.

I’d be careful with that .0087 wall thickness though. You are running things pretty tight with a .262 neck.
Click to expand...

Agreed, I'll be dialing the cut in to .008" so I end up with a .259" OD loaded round otherwise I might be living with a nylon chamber brush in my off hand.

Paul, thought your hip tuneup was yesterday? Quick recovery? Best to ya!
 
PatMiles said:
Agreed, I'll be dialing the cut in to .008" so I end up with a .259" OD loaded round otherwise I might be living with a nylon chamber brush in my off hand.

Paul, thought your hip tuneup was yesterday? Quick recovery? Best to ya!
Click to expand...

.0087(2)=.0174 + .2433= .2607 (using a .2433 bullet). This does seem too little clearance. Good shooting....James
 
PatMiles said:
Tough crowd today!:D
Click to expand...

I don't know about that. I was just trying to be helpful. Nothing more than that. No good deed goes unpunished.

Didn't know the ultimate goal was .008 since that wasn't stated in the original post. Since I didn't know that I was just conveying that 0087 is really tight, regardless if your bullet OD is .2433 or .2435 at the pressure ring.
 
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jimmymac said:
I don't know about that. I was just trying to be helpful. Nothing more than that. No good deed goes unpunished.

Didn't know the ultimate goal was .008 since that wasn't stated in the original post. Since I didn't know that I was just conveying that 0087 is really tight, regardless if your bullet OD is 2.433 or .2435 at the pressure ring.
Click to expand...

Jimmy,
Just adding a bit of humor, I agree with your suggestion that .0087 is too tight.
 
See, you can teach an old dog new tricks!
Figured out that if I clean the mandrel after each turning and swab the inside of the neck with powdered moly, the cartridge comes off the mandrel easier.

Neck 5.JPG
 
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PatMiles said:
Agreed, I'll be dialing the cut in to .008" so I end up with a .259" OD loaded round otherwise I might be living with a nylon chamber brush in my off hand.

Paul, thought your hip tuneup was yesterday? Quick recovery? Best to ya!
Click to expand...

Pat,

Thanks for asking. , procedure was yesterday morning. Good to be home tonight. Getting ready for physical therapy. Doc says the procedure went great. More fun to come shortly.:D:D

Paul
 
boltfluter said:
Pat,

Thanks for asking. , procedure was yesterday morning. Good to be home tonight. Getting ready for physical therapy. Doc says the procedure went great. More fun to come shortly.:D:D

Paul
Click to expand...


WOW! You will be dancing on the tables soon. Do the PT, do the PT, do the PT!
Again, thanks for all the help.
 
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