Mini drill press for trimming brass

jmorris said:
It still is.
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My old Sherline has had a hard life but it is still kicking. We have a lot in common. :)
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I mostly just use it for cutting. For trimmings I have other things.
 
PWC said:
I have always used the Lee hand trimmer which is easy enough to adapt to hand drill or bench drill press. I have never done more than 200 cases at a sitting. years ago I used only by hand, then by drill press. Mount the lock stud / shell holder in a drill press vice and the cutter with the case length guage in the jaws. Lower the platform. Slide a deprimed case in the shell holder and lock it down so it won't turn. Lower the cutter / guage into the case and align everything. Lock the vise down and check that the cutter alignment can be lowered and raised without interference.

If you are trimming 30-06 the drill press platform will be lowered waaaay down. Shorter cases not so much. I use the lowest speed and a motor controller to lower the speed even more. The cutter works best at lower speeds. You will have to champher and deburr after trimming.

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If you are semi-handi and If you want to use a hand drill and your hand / fingers get tired of holding the cutter, you can make a holder kind of like the commercial jar lid openers......use straight grain wood, (no plywood or MDF) drill the appropriate size hole just smaller than the case.
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I use a form of this method. A low and slow speed I feel works best.
 
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A drill press setup can be both fast and precise. The trick to making it work successfully is having a way to hold the case securely and centered under the cutter. I've used the system shown here with a Forster quick release collet case holder for speedy neck turning with K-M neck turner, and a RCBS 3-way trimmer.

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irishlad said:
They do get good reviews. Mine should be here Wednesday.
Do you lower the trimmer to the brass or lift the brass into the trimmer? Thanks
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Raise brass into trimmer, wearing a leather glove on right hand to hold brass. I have the table set so it's just shorter than palm level with brass in hand, hard to visualize.. I found that clamps etc slow down the process too much, it's literally a couple seconds to trim a piece. I have bins on both sides of the press, untrimmed (L) and trimmed (R).

As drband says, take breaks! I'll leave mine set up and just run a hundred or so when I feel like it in between other reloading chores. It sits on the end of one of my benches with a mini-shop vac right below it
 
AJC1 said:
A mini lathe opens pandoras box on all kinds of cool projects. For my needs a lathe was the ultimate tool before a 3d printer came out.
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Yes, a lathe fits the category "you can't justify it before you have it, but you can't live without it once you get it".

I use WFT trimmers with a hand drill. Not the best system as my hand gets tired gripping the brass. If i remember, I use a work glove and it helps.

As Slamfire said, a large drill press has lots of power and can cause safety issues.

The Lee trimmer system can work well in a lathe or drill press. But, putting the case in the shell holder slows the process down.

I've not used a Giraud trimmer. I just cannot bring myself to ante up the cost for my benefits. Maybe someday if I get back into higher volume shooting of rifle cartridges.

As they say, "You'll be careful out there."
 
cfullgraf said:
The Lee trimmer system can work well in a lathe or drill press. But, putting the case in the shell holder slows the process down.
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Oh, heck yes! I did learn a lesson about that others might find helpful: off-center, undersized, and/or badly burred primer pockets will tear up the Lee pilot stems very quickly. I broke one on a GFL 9mm case and didn’t even notice until after I ruined the case. No great loss and I decided to use the broken pilot for 9mm Makarov cutting using a dial indicator to tell me where to stop but if I was trimming by hand I am pretty sure I might have noticed. Or not.
 
Well... here's my solution:

Drill Stand from Amazon... $24

Old worn out Makita cordless drill... $0

Giraud TriWay... $I forget.

Ziptie... $.01

sVIKJI7l.jpg

Test driving it, it seems to work well enough. I'll have to punch it into the loading bench to stabilize it, of course. I'll also have to wear earplugs... because it's pretty noisy. My goal of orienting the TriWay UP, so the shavings would collect at the bottom, and not foul the cutter seems to be pretty valid. It seems easier to use... not having to press 'up' into the cutter, vs pushing down.
 
sksshooter said:
This may be a little cheaper option and for sure takes up less space. This is what i intend to do when i get the tri way for 223

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I have done the same thing. I used a wen grinder off Amazon, cut the shaft on the right hand side off and used a coupler to attach the tri-way to it, and just stand it on the "left side" end. It lets me run the trimmer and shavings fall downwards, out of the brass. Have trimmed many thousands of pieces of brass this way with no issues.
 
PWC said:
You have left hand drill bits?
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They are available. Mostly at industrial supply houses that deal in metal cutting tools.

Among other uses, they are good at backing out broken bolts or studs.
Charlie98 said:
Well... here's my solution:

Drill Stand from Amazon... $24

Old worn out Makita cordless drill... $0

Giraud TriWay... $I forget.

Ziptie... $.01

View attachment 1130977

Test driving it, it seems to work well enough. I'll have to punch it into the loading bench to stabilize it, of course. I'll also have to wear earplugs... because it's pretty noisy. My goal of orienting the TriWay UP, so the shavings would collect at the bottom, and not foul the cutter seems to be pretty valid. It seems easier to use... not having to press 'up' into the cutter, vs pushing down.
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Nice set-up.
 
Last edited:
PWC said:
You have left hand drill bits?
Click to expand...

Absolutely, they are almost as magical as a TIG welder for removing broken fastener’s. On recessed stud engine blocks like some of the Mercedes use they are the only way that doesn’t cost a fortune.
 
Hmmm....I always used Ezee-outs to remove broken bolts or screws. If really hard, then EDM.
 
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