Machining Dies......How Hard Are They

[bsekf]

I have several Full Length Lee dies. How hard are they? I want to try making a Body Die out of them using a cobalt drill to enlarge the neck area. Am I leaping over dollar bills to save small change…….again?

 

[Nightraider]

Carbide......

 

[swd]

Sizing dies laugh at anything short of carbide.

 

[Walt Krafft]

After you have messed up $20 of cobalt drills and the die you have, you can go spend the money for the die you need.

 

[rgc54]

Some are very hard. I tried to shorten a Redding sizing die on the lathe with a carbide insert tool with light cuts the surface of the die flaked off. Ruined the die

 

[Fast14riot]

I did just that with a Lee FL die and a TiNi coated drill bit. I also stamped letters into a Lee shell holder with HSS letter stamps. Lee stuff isn't always that hard.

 

[LA50SHOOTER]

I have several Full Length Lee dies. How hard are they? I want to try making a Body Die out of them using a cobalt drill to enlarge the neck area. Am I leaping over dollar bills to save small change…….again?

Am I leaping over dollar bills to save small change…….again? - Answer - IMO YES - Why not just purchase a Redding Body Die ? and be done. - Time would be better spent to pursue shooting or reloading other cartridges or working on projects.

- Ron -

 

[bsekf]

Lee FLR was free, cobalt drill $7.00. Redding Body die $40.00. However most of you say die is too hard to cut with a cobalt drill. fast14riot, sent you a PM.

Thanks you all,

Bill

 

[boltfluter]

A carbide boring bar is your friend. Done it several times, no problem.

Paul

 

[Alex Wheeler]

I use a small solid carbide bar with an insert to open the necks on dies often. I do it on my 300 Norma improved dies if we want to do a 338 norma improved, I do it on 28 nosler to make 30-28 nosler dies, and so on. You want it concentric so you should dial in the id of the die, and bore the neck. I wouldnt drill.

 

[bapayton]

I've used carbide single flute drills, die drills and carbide tipped reamers to open necks for similar purposes as you're describing. Didn't have a problem on the few I did.

 

[TAJ45]

You can get an indication of hardness by trying to mark the die w a file....inexact but may give you an idea .

 

[Fast14riot]

You can get an indication of hardness by trying to mark the die w a file....inexact but may give you an idea .

I prefer using a center punch, dull files can be misleading.

 

[edwardware]

You could always hone the neck open with sil-car paper on a spindle. It's slow, but it works, and it's cheap

 

[mperry]

I did not have any luck boring RCBS dies with solid carbide or carbide inserts. I did not try to drill.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Some are surface hardened like case hardening. Once you get about .005 in theyre soft as butter

 

[Taylor Stratton]

I use a small solid carbide bar with an insert to open the necks on dies often. I do it on my 300 Norma improved dies if we want to do a 338 norma improved, I do it on 28 nosler to make 30-28 nosler dies, and so on. You want it concentric so you should dial in the id of the die, and bore the neck. I wouldnt drill.

Do you indicate it in in two spots inside an action truing jig or truebore alignment chuck just like doing a barrel? Also will the small boring bar leave a good enough finish or do you get close with the boring bar then ream it or use paper to polish the surface?

 

[bapayton]

I'd think a collet would be best but I've always just used the 4 jaw. In the 3-4 inches of total die length i wouldn't think there would be significant enough misalignment to cause any real problem.

A chucking reamer/die drill would somewhat self-align.

I'm open to hearing of my assumptions are incorrect.

 

[INTJ]

After ruining a carbide parting tool shortening a Harrells Dasher die (rookie machining mistake), I was leery about opening a 28 Nosler Redding bushing die to make a 33-28 Nosler die. I bought a $40 solid carbide drill bit--in .375 I think--and drilling out the die on the lathe was quick and easy.

Since it was a bushing die, all I had to do was open the neck up enough to clear the OD of the necked up case. Meaning a drill bit was fine. If that area needed to be precise then it would need to be bored with a boring bar or reamed with a reamer.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Do you indicate it in in two spots inside an action truing jig or truebore alignment chuck just like doing a barrel? Also will the small boring bar leave a good enough finish or do you get close with the boring bar then ream it or use paper to polish the surface?

Not that critical, your just making clearance. Nothing will touch the spot you machined.