4" and 5" case formers

[mfstraydog1]

4” and 5” case forms on the cheap side

 

 

I have been working on the idea of making some case forms for some time know. But I had no luck on finding someone with a lathe that I could use. By some luck of faith I was working on a design project at work dealing with 4” PVC pipe and noticed the outside Dia. was 4.5 inches. This gave me the idea of using PVC pipe to make case formers. I had found that 3” and 4” PVC could be used to make a form without spending a ton of money that could be used for other tools or chems.

 

 

 

A 4” PVC pipe has a outside diameter of 4.5” which would work for a 5” shell. The 3” PVC pipe has a 3.5” outside diameter which will work for a 4” shell.

 

You start out by cutting the pipe to the correct length. A 5” shell form needs to be at least 11” long. And a 4” case form should be about 9” long. I had used a chop saw to cut the pipe to the correct length. This helped keep the ends square.

 

 

The next step of this project is to measure the inside dia. of the tubes and to layout and cut the end plugs for the forms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The end plugs were cut a little over sized so they could be fitted to the inside pipe for a snug clean look. A hole was the drilled in to the center of the plugs to allow another PVC pipe to be inserted as a handle. This works out nice because it allow for a cavity for the timing fuse. For handle on the 4” form I used a ¾” PVC pipe and a 1” pipe for the 5” form.

 

 

The plugs and handle were glued in to the tube with JB weld. I did not put much thought in the glue it was just what I had on hand. I had also used finish nails to secure the plugs and handle in place. Just be sure to counter sink the nails so they do not snag on the paper.

 

 

 

 

 

All you have to do know is go make some shell cases. The total cost for this project was around 10 dollars. Most of it was scrap I found at work and at home.

 

if the pics did not show up i did add a pdf file.

 

 

Mike

 

case formers.pdf

[SjeefOne]

Nice!