Author Topic: Powder Measures + hand made tubing die (Read 9623 times)

davec2 · « **on:** November 16, 2010, 03:23:12 AM »

Made a few of these thin wall, brass powder measures for a friend. The large one throws 95 grains of 3F and the smaller one throws 40 grains of 3F.

Larry Pletcher · « **Reply #1 on:** November 16, 2010, 03:49:50 AM »

Hi Dave,
Very nice looking. I always like seeing what you're up to. with your cool brass products, do you still have time for rocket club activities?

Regards,
Pletch

A.Merrill · « **Reply #2 on:** November 17, 2010, 02:17:38 AM »

Excellent work as always,

AL

david50 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 17, 2010, 03:12:22 AM »

i like'em,very nice work.

Bill-52 · « **Reply #4 on:** November 17, 2010, 03:45:23 AM »

Dave, Well done. Always a pleasure to view your new items. Bill

Tim Crosby · « **Reply #5 on:** November 17, 2010, 06:09:26 PM »

Really nice work Dave, Thanks for the pics.

Tim C.

eseabee1 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 17, 2010, 07:01:54 PM »

Very nice

skillman · « **Reply #7 on:** November 17, 2010, 07:36:31 PM »

Dave
Did you sheet and roll the tubes or did you use tubing? Just curious. Either way those are really unique. Love them.
Steve

Flinter · « **Reply #8 on:** November 18, 2010, 01:43:14 PM »

Nice looking powder measures Dave.

You have a taste level that I like.

Mike

davec2 · « **Reply #9 on:** November 20, 2010, 08:42:05 PM »

Steve,

Sorry I missed your question for the last couple of days. These measures are made with commercial thin wall brass tubing. However, since I make a lot of things with either gold or silver, I often have to hand make tubing out of these metals. The photos show a tube I made out of copper by pulling a piece of sheet through a die I made up out of mild steel. (The copper tube was a test piece for a gold tube I needed for a miniature kaleidoscope using colored gems instead of bits of glass.)

I took a picture of a tube with a soft soldered seem that is not complete so you can see how the tube is made up. You must cut the sheet material to a precise width. Too wide and it will wrinkle going through the die. Too narrow and it will leave a gaped seam that will be difficult to solder. If the tubing is hard soldered, as I do with silver and gold, you can make the tubing oversized to begin with and then draw it down to different sizes just like you would draw wire. Depending on how thick the sheet is and what diameter tube you are making, you may have to fill the precursor tube with lead or, better , cerrosafe / cerrobend to keep the finished tube from wrinkling as you draw it down.

RonT · « **Reply #10 on:** November 20, 2010, 09:10:13 PM »

WOW! Am curious how you grip the end to pull the shell through the die. How much reduction? What lube, if any?
TIA,
R

smylee grouch · « **Reply #11 on:** November 20, 2010, 09:12:01 PM »

Thats interesting Dave, but how do you get it through the die? Push or pull? Gary

skillman · « **Reply #12 on:** November 20, 2010, 10:59:52 PM »

Dave
Pretty slick die. I have experience with cerrobend. Neat idea for a lot of different applications.

Steve

davec2 · « **Reply #13 on:** November 20, 2010, 11:11:38 PM »

The sheet is pulled through the die with draw pliers. The strip of sheet metal is cut, of course, with parallel sides, but a long piece of the end is tapered to a clipped point that will fit through to the other side of the die. This is what you grab to pull the sheet through the die and form the tube. The tube in the photos has had the pointed end trimmed off.

Any light oil can be used as a lube...or soap. For heavy pulling I use STP oil treatment, sometimes thinned with a little kerosene.

RonT · « **Reply #14 on:** November 21, 2010, 01:08:38 AM »

Did you make your own draw bench? How do you power it, chain, hydraulic,other?
Am somewhat familiar with the cold draw process...25 ys. in the DOM welded and seamless tube biz.
Our benches were a tad larger, (800,000# pull and a few smaller 650,000#pull) but the process is the same.
Neat project nevertheless
R

davec2 · « **Reply #15 on:** November 21, 2010, 03:06:01 AM »

Ron,

WOW...800,000 pound pull. I would love to see that equipment ! I draw this tubing by hand. Soft, annealed material, thin...it draws easy enough to put the die in a bench vise and pull it through by hand with the draw pliers.

RonT · « **Reply #16 on:** November 21, 2010, 03:43:12 AM »

Yep, a fair sized bench...

We used an animal fat based lube, kinda' soapy feeling to the touch.
I have a couple small carbide dies that were scavanged from a tooling buyout that I used to draw Port Orford Cedar arrow shafting through by hand to compress the O.D. D@mn new herniated myself pulling ~.005 off the O.D., hence the question on your pull apparatus and lube. I wouldn't even consider pulling metal by hand.
You are certainly one talented individual...
Cheers,
R

davec2 · « **Reply #17 on:** November 21, 2010, 04:11:05 AM »

Not talented...just not smart enough to know I can't do it !

Rolf · « **Reply #18 on:** November 21, 2010, 02:46:27 PM »

Draw benches are easy to make. Here is a picture of my home made draw bench I use for making tubing. It's powered by a cheap manual winch. When making silver tubing for jem bezels, I start with 0.4mm sheet stock and roll it to a tube 10mm in diameter and silver solder the seam. Next I use the drawbench with a draw plate and reduce the tubing to 4mm in diameter. This increases the wall thickness to about 1mm. Works like a dream.

Best regards

Rolfkt

davec2 · « **Reply #19 on:** November 25, 2010, 04:06:31 AM »

TS Horn Guy,

I finished your measures today (top two in the picture 65 gr and 80 gr). They will go out Friday.

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Author Topic: Powder Measures + hand made tubing die (Read 9623 times)

david50

eseabee1

Flinter