Neck Turn Tool??

[FroggyOne2]

when I get around to getting my lathe, I am going to start doing the neck turning on it.

 

[timeout]

I've had two kinds. Hated the one, but won't trash it on line. I have a 21st Century with lathe. This works pretty well. I like the carbide cutters designed to the case shoulder angle. I would like to see a carbide pilot with cutter on the end like K&M for it. If I had a regular lathe, I would probably use that. Reason being, is it would be easier to keep the speeds and feeds consistent. Takes a little practice with the variable speed drill to get that right on the 21st Century.

 

[fdshuster]

xswanted: The Sinclair NT-4000 will turn any caliber outside neck walls. You buy the expander & turning mandrels for whichever caliber you need.

Expanding mandrels are stainless at $10 each, turning mandrels are available in stainless ($10) or carbide at ($50). All shown & described on page 24 of Sinclairs 2012-B catalog.

I started out with the NT-1000 & found it all but impossible to make accurate, repeatable changes in cutting thickness, all trial & error. Mostly "error" with some ruined brass. Then bought the K&M & was very pleased with it, except for the very tiny size of the cutter body. Very difficult to hold on to.

Sold it, after buying the NT-4000, and then, of course, the oversized clamp-on handle became available for the K&M. Too late for me.

The NT-4000 has a very heavy, easy to hold cutter body, accurate changes in cutting thickness are easily made with the rotary dial, the wide cutter blade leaves a very smooth cut, without the "screw threads".

If I have a large number of cases to turn, I use the Sinclair caseholders ( top of page 25), chucked into my drill press. For smaller numbers I'll turn them by hand. Either way, I get perfect cuts.

Very pleased with the NT-4000. Still have my NT-1000, but have it permanetly adjusted for one dedicated thickness.

 

[TominSWNY]

21 century with lathe. Much easer on arthritic thumbs.

 

[amlevin]

A trick that some might find useful is sitting the turner on a ziplock of ice between cases to nix heat buildup.

Wouldn't icing down the cutting assy cause a dimensional change? Wouldn't it just be better have a fan and hang it in the air stream. That way everything would start at ambient and measurements would be more exact. Either that or ice down the cases as well.

What kind of lube do you use, if any?

 

[ddkearney]

Another vote for the Pumpkin turner, although I do really like the looks of the 21st Century unit as well. Don

 

[KT]

21st century here. Very easy to use. Great people to deal with.

KT

 

[nosualc]

Another vote for the pumpkin with PBike's neck turning lathe.

I've also used a K&M, and there is no comparison. The pumpkin is worth the extra $.

-nosualc

 

[GSPV]

A trick that some might find useful is sitting the turner on a ziplock of ice between cases to nix heat buildup.

Wouldn't icing down the cutting assy cause a dimensional change? Wouldn't it just be better have a fan and hang it in the air stream. That way everything would start at ambient and measurements would be more exact. Either that or ice down the cases as well.

What kind of lube do you use, if any?

The Nielson mandrels are *tight*. Even with the STP-Mobil 1 mixture, you can feel a tad of heat in the turner. That's what all the aluminum is there fore, btw, a heat sink.

I sit it on the ice bag between. It sucks the heat right out and keeps it from stacking. If get interrupted and am spending a longer amount of time away from turning, I set the turner off of the ice bag.

Is it necessary? I don't know. It's just a bit of insurance. I do know that I get very consistent necks.

 

[Steve Blair]

I sit it on the ice bag between. It sucks the heat right out and keeps it from stacking. If get interrupted and am spending a longer amount of time away from turning, I set the turner off of the ice bag.

Is it necessary? I don't know. It's just a bit of insurance. I do know that I get very consistent necks.

[br]
The diametral change for a caliber .30 carbide mandrel is approximately .0001" per 100°F. Probably not necessary to cool it, but it probably won't hurt, either. I use an STP/Type F ATF mixture as lube and don't see much temperature increase, even when using a cordless drill and running hundreds of cases. I do use the 21st Century lathe setup and don't hold the neck turning tool. It may make it more comfortable to hold when cooled.

 

[wapiti25]

I just bought a small UniMat table lathe. I have been using my 12"X36" lathe in the past. This 3"x8" should be fun. It needs cleaning real bad and the motor is missing but I had a 1/30 HP motor, so a mount and pulley will have to be made. It will free my 12" up as in the past I would have it set up to turn brass when I wanted to do some other job.

 

[FroggyOne2]

I think that using that small lathe is a perfect idea!

 

[amlevin]

I think that using that small lathe is a perfect idea!

For Neck Turning? Seems like overkill.

 

[fdshuster]

Another way of doing it when a lathe is not available, as in most home workshops, but bench mounted drill presses are very common.

Takes me less than 1 minute to get a perfect cut.

 

[FroggyOne2]

I think that using that small lathe is a perfect idea!

For Neck Turning? Seems like overkill.

not when you do a thousand cases at a time

 

[amlevin]

Another way of doing it when a lathe is not available, as in most home workshops, but bench mounted drill presses are very common.

Takes me less than 1 minute to get a perfect cut.

Have you changed sheaves to get the speed down? My drill press is just a little fast for neck turning at the lowest speed.

Found that those old B&D Cordless Screwdrivers are just the right speed.

 

[SeabeeKen]

I've used the neck turning attachment for Forster's case trimmer for over 20 years and find it works great.

 

[fdshuster]

amlevin: Yes, I have it set at 620 rpm. For me, the speed is ideal.