Lee micro disk hole sizes

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wakmeister

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I have given up trying to find this discontinued item and now want to try and make my own by using one of the standard disks that I do not require (at least right now)--I am reloading 380 auto w/bullseye powder and I need less powder throw than.30 disk will give me ( .26-.28 ) I want to epoxy the larger disk holes with something (to be determined) and then drill out holes as appropriate--does anyone out there have the dimensions in inches of the 6 hole sizes on the micro disk, or could measure for me--thanks for any help--am playing with the adjustable charge bar and as everyone knows @ lower dosages it needs work, have tried the shim solution with business cards but am concerned about powder buildup on the card stock?--any way I want to try a disk rework per above--
 
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I have the pro auto disk as well that came with the 4 disk but im not sure what your asking someone to measure. IS there another disc out there called the "Micro disk"? Or is there something on mine you want me to measure?
 
Here are the CC of each drop however the micro disk is thinner requiring a spacer, than a standard disk. So drilling them to the same diameters will make them larger in CC. Now if you can figure out the drill size you can fill the holes on an existing disk then drill them to match the CC required.

0.12, 0.15, 0.18, 0.21, 0.24, 0.27
 
If you get someone that has one to measure the holes on one, please have them measure both sides as the holes are tapered with the larger size at the bottom.

edit to add: Lee used to offer a micro disk that had even smaller holes as listed above. They broke the mold and chose not to replace it.
 
what I need is the hole diameters on the micro-disk, did not realize they were tapered, just looking for a starting point in drilling new hols to make one work--dont know what would be possible if anything just a thought to get proper drop consistenly--Lee states somewhere there is approx. a 7% reduction in volume from hi to low across the disks--here is a picture of what I tried on the charge bar and the spacer I made, not satisfied with it yet and that is why I want to drill smaller holes???
 

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wakmeister,
I did some cyphering and came up with this list of drill sizes to get the listed volumes. Assumption is the disk height is 11.33 mm. That's for a straight through hole.

drill size
#25
#20
#15
#10
#4
#2
 
well david r you are now my hero--one reply sez buy one but none available anywhere, is dicontinued by Lee--I am continuing to improve on ACB unit, just replaced business card stock with flex plastic, used the SD camera card case which flexes somewhat enought to bend to shape--just tried it out and got 2.2 grains consistenly with no powder hangup---I still intend to fill and drill as I posted--thanks for all the help david r thanks again, will have that drilling done this weekend and will report on this thread--Wakmeister
 
david r--measured height of disk I will use , it is .445-6", 11.33 mm is 0.4460"--I will use the number drills and throw charges measuring grains from each and record---thanks again--volume #'s on disk are a starting point for developing grains of powder drop--thanks
 
Even though that Personal Choice place linked to above seems to be having problems keeping up with the current buying frenzy they did not have a bad rep prior. For just under $8 I would take the chance considering the OP really wants one of those micro-disks. I know I have one and it's a very useful tool. I wish I would have bought a backup before they discontinued them. (I wonder why they did)
 
I'd think someone would pick it up. Two molds would probably cost between 4 & 7 thousand dollars so you would have to sell a few at $10 to start making money.
 
You can fill and drill a standard disk for those small volumes, but it will be a long skinny hole. It will be practically impossible to accurately meter most powders because of that.

What makes the micro-disk work for those small volumes is that the transfer area is half the height of a standard disk.

I think Lee has let its customers down by discontinuing that micro disk. They are not offering any method for metering small loads. If re-tooling is expensive, they can add a couple of bucks to the price of the disk to help recoup their mold costs.

(BTW, yes, I have the adjustable charge bar, but even it is not too predictable with 3 gr shots of Unique.)
 
JB Weld will work to fill a spare hole - then just start drilling out the one hole smaller than you think you need - do a few throws and weigh them - easy to make a hole bigger.

I have a micro-disk kit myself and for my sole powder Win 231/HP-38 I only use one of the holes anyway.
 
Why couldn't you use the JB Weld to remodel the Adjustable Charge Bar? All you are trying to do is extend the fixed end more toward the center, so the cavity will be under the hole in the bottom of the hopper.
 
Go back and read Kingmt and Leadchucker's posts.

The essence of what makes any volumetric measure workable is that the height and diameter of the cavity are nearly equal. If one is much different than the other, repeatability (precision) suffers.

You CAN take a standard disk and cut a channel in the bottom of it to emulate the micro-disk, then fashion a shim to fill the channel (out of popsicle sticks would be easy)

You could make one from scratch with a hand drill, hacksaw (or jeweler's saw) and a little thought.

Good luck.

Lost Sheep
 
If you get someone that has one to measure the holes on one, please have them measure both sides as the holes are tapered with the larger size at the bottom.

edit to add: Lee used to offer a micro disk that had even smaller holes as listed above. They broke the mold and chose not to replace it.
Click to expand...

Actually the one I listed is the one Lee used to make and broke the mold on that is no longer available. I have one I bought off of ebay some time back.
 
With the onslaught of 380s I wonder why Lee discontinued the micro disk.
Were they really not selling enough of them?

Or was there a problem with inconsistency with such a small amount of powder?
I have their Auto-Disk Adjustable Powder Charge Bar & it's wildly inconsistent.

& it's so weird.
It worked great for several months & then all of a sudden started dropping all manner of charges.
I wiped it down with a dryer sheet & that didn't help any.
I also added the stiff cardboard to move the charge back.
That didn't help either.

I bought an RCBS Uniflow & it fixed all the charge issues. :D
 
That is weird because I had a Uniflow & it couldn't keep the load between starting & max. I went back to dipping until I got the Pro Auto Disk. I tired the charge bar also but for less then 5 gn it didn't work well ether so I went back to the disk.

I like most of Lee tools but there are two things I don't like one being that charge bar & the other the hand press.
 
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