Webster Hardness Tester Modifications

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[@brucemcpherson8832]

Interesting. I use a Webster hardness tester to measure the hardness at the neck of cartridge brass and had to modify the anvil and the indenter body I don't have a lathe or a milling machine, but I used a belt sander to get the anvil down to a size where it would accept 5mm calibre cartridges (without touching the contact surface of the anvil) and a round file on the indenter body to allow the neck of the cartridge case to reach the indenter tip Maybe the guy who wanted you to modify the hardness tester got his idea from here kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXeTiqCjmqp9gZY

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Hi! Funny, the customer sent me your video as a reference whats going on - It gave me a very good idea what he wanted to achieve.

[@Gottenhimfella]

When you struck that snag with the T nut, I thought you were just going to use a couple of same thickness packers between the work piece and the two faces of the vee block. However I'm glad you instead pulled out your crafty mod to a readily available ER holder, because I have a Harig punch grinder for which that would be a superb option, and easy to implement. Kudos, y abrazos, señor!

[@RobB_VK6ES]

Micrometer thimbles are typically held onto the spindle with a taper and screw. Remove the ratchet and locking ring and the spindle can be removed from the thimble. Use this same idea to re-clock a micrometer to read zero @ 90degrees rather than spinning the sleeve.

[@cvantrease1231]

This is more of an for your information rather than a correction. Where I’m at we call that large chamfer on a cartridge a shoulder and cases without are referred to as straight walled or tapperd. As always excellent craftsmanship and documentation I’m really impressed by being able to film and work at the same time.

[@wrstew1272]

I have gotten into the rabbit hole of precision shooting, and the required deeper holes of precision reloading…. And the elk tension and hardness is one of those areas where you spend time and tooling as well as precision measuring equipment to get a number of as similar as humanly possible, and then fire. Which changes everything. Now you want to return to the previous state of before the tremendous heat and pressure changes the brass, which actually flows towards the muzzle……….it’s complicated. Ergo the need to modify tooling that is specifically designed to do similar types of operations 😅. Once again “Ya did great job”. Mr. Metal Changer 👍👍

[@buckinthetree1233]

​@@joenicotera2991you're correct in that the brass flows from the base. One danger in reloading the same case many times is that you run the risk of case head separation. This happens just in front of the thick brass case head because of the high heat in that area. On a separate note, I have found neck tension has a great impact on accuracy. Accuracy is achieved by consistency. The only way I have found to measure neck tension is to use same lot brass, and after a round is loaded, push the projectile into a scale and determine how much force is required to push projectile back into the case. Obviously that round is no longer usable hence the need for a very consistent brass lot.

[@capncharlie7894]

the spiral groove allows the air in the bottom on your hole to push out the loctite you wanted to keep in the hole

[@MgBaggg]

Sure did enjoy this little customer project. More!

[@LabRatJason]

Stephan, the neck of the case is the section you are measuring. The term for the feature you were creating clearance for is called the shoulder. Very cool modifications! I'm sure your customer will be pleased with your work!

[@Chris-pb3se]

I know you said once that you like doing your videos in English because you enjoy using a second language conversationally. You probably haven’t realized that while you’re working with and improving your English, you’re really helping people like me work on our German accent.

[@than_vg]

thanks for taking the time to document this!

[@carlhitchon1009]

Off topic. I was watching another machining video and got an advertisement every 5 mins, but none in this video. I wonder why. Stefan is my favorite!

[@outsidescrewball]

Enjoyed,,,awesome discussion / demonstration, luv the various setups, tks for sharing

[@dingdongden]

I done the same as Bruce below. Stefan, your timing of this video couldn't be better. We were just discussing what was a better way....as I dug out the epoxy and released the anvil which you are correct is just an interference press fit. Are you taking orders.....😃?

[@Gertjan1975]

these are the projects that I really enjoy, very diverse in machining and different ways of workholding very nice job, well done Many greetzz from holland 😊 Gertjan

[@garysgarage101]

Wonderful tip on centering on the mill. Need to get myself a punch grinder. Going to practice now. Great video.

[@907jl]

Nice work Stefan. Really liked the ER collet chucks you adapted to your punch grinder. Will file that away for future use! Enjoyed your appearance on Spencer's live chat on Sunday. Missed out on the live part and had to stream it after the fact.

[@landraven0404]

Cool projects, nice work! As always😀

[@RRINTHESHOP]

Well done nice mods. Merry Christmas Stefan.

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Thank you Randy! Wish you the same :)

[@Metaldetectiontubeworldwide]

I realy enjoy seeying your genius toolmaker skills . 'Deutches grundlicheit ..' witch i realy love , you are the living youtube Proof of that ☆☆☆☆☆ Grtz from the netherlands Johny geerts

[@Metaldetectiontubeworldwide]

Btw that hamer looks real6 vintage ❤, is that a leather softblow Hammer? Realy cool and the best by far

[@Jbomb-ep4jr]

Brilliant! As usual Ty Stefan!

[@larryschweitzer4904]

Great video! You've accumulated a very nice set of tools. I've modified a Chinese tool & cutter grinder in an attempt to get good-enough-for-me accuracy. Can actually grind pin diameter and chamfer ±OK for small parts. Robin's videos take one of these Chinese machines to another level.

[@daniel_6741]

Great machine work as always. I guess the hardness tester will be very much compromised in accuracy since the stiffness of the anvil is massively reduced. If calibrated to 10 it will measure probably 9 to 11 but the full range will off.

[@jeffbonifield8981]

Missed you and the guys on the podcast! I'm glad to find you here!

[@TheUncleRuckus]

Another great video Stefan, thank you for uploading! 👍👍

[@georgesg10]

Helth and Happy holydays to You , your family , And freinds

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Thank you very much! Wish you and those near and dear to you the same :)

[@paulbadger6336]

Well done 👍 always enjoyable watching you problem solve.

[@richardlincoln8438]

Thank You for sharing Stefan. You always present interesting content. Best Wishes to You and Your Family for the Holiday Season.

[@hgbugalou]

Nice bit of kit here.

[@nutwiss]

Stefan, that's a Harig Grind-All or an Interstate Indexer of some sort. I can't quite work out the exact model as there are dozens of variations.

[@StefanGotteswinter]

I am 99% confident that its a indexer by GinTech - I talked to them at a tradeshow and they did a lot of imports to europe that where rebadged. www.gintech-tw.com/index?lang=en

[@ChimeraActual]

Love watching your work, and the way you solve problems. And, I want all those lovely tools! Doesn't make sense for me as a retired hobbista, of course. But, I just bought that same Mitutoyo dial indicator last week. Good enough for you is good enough for anything I'm likely to do.

[@djizomdjinn]

“Oooh, that hardness tester looks nice, I wonder how much they- never mind, I think I’ll stick with my Tsubosan files.” 😅

[@djizomdjinn]

Having actually reloaded myself, I’ve not heard of anyone using one before. Then again most reloaders in the US seem to operate off “add powder until something funny happens to brass or primer, and then back off a bit.” Very imprecise. In the case of brass hardening, most seem to just anneal every X shots, where X is an arbitrarily chosen number.

[@philipzielinski]

I don't think that's a fair characterization of reloaders. Reloaders know the risk of an overcharged case. Destructive and deadly. Yes, some do it by accident or even on purpose but that is a rare exception. As for annealing, precision reloaders will anneal every time they reload a case. They spend too much per brass to waste it by cracking them when annealing is straightforward. Bulk reloading (9mm or .223/5.56) annealing is less of an issue since the brass will fail in other ways before annealing would make a difference in lifespan. Precision annealing machines for brass cases exist and are quite accurste and fast. (At a price.)

[@djizomdjinn]

@@philipzielinski The most common advice I’ve heard given is “look for cratering / flattened primers, then down load a grain or so from there.” Which is essentially an unreliable version of the old copper crush test, since some primers are thicker than others. I’ve seen plenty of people say so and so reloading manual is conservative, you can push it higher than their max, which seems insane to me given they likely have a transducer and test gun setup, and most people do not. As for precision reloaders, annealing every shot is mostly for consistent neck tension more than anything. Unless you’re shooting complete wildcats with no parent case, brass cost is not really that much compared to projectile cost and replacement barrels. Maybe it’s different in other countries. But that’s been my experience.

[@philipzielinski]

@@djizomdjinn anyone reloading like that is reckless and irresponsible. There are so many books with tested loads. To just make it up is foolish and irresponsible. If they hurt someone, they should be held responsible for disregard for common safety.

[@djizomdjinn]

​@@joenicotera2991Measure the case neck dimensions, sure, I've seen those concentricity jigs that look like cylindrical grinding jigs all the time. Have you ever heard of someone hardness testing their necks before, though? I haven't.

[@Michal_Ce]

Hi Stefan, at 6:44 wouldn't be good idea to simply use two matched gauge blocks as spacers on both sides of V?

[@StefanGotteswinter]

yeah should work, but thats a lot of loose parts 😬 But could/should work, good thinking.

[@angelramos-2005]

Such an interesting video.Happy Holidays.Thank you.

[@624Dudley]

Thanks Stefan 👍!

[@jimsvideos7201]

Great fun as always Stefan; happy holidays!

[@TheWidgetWorks]

I though you may have just hard milled the anvil of that hardness tester instead of an insert but without a cnc that would be one wild setup to be able to spin that off center. Nice work as always!

[@hinz1]

Outside boring head, quite easy ;-D

[@hadinossanosam4459]

@@hinz1 For hardmilling, and starting with an interrupted cut since it's eccentric? That might very well be possible, but I doubt it's "quite easy". (Also Stefan said he initially thought the anvil was only case-hardened, so that was probably the main reason to do it this way)

[@MarkW321]

Well done.

[@toddcumberland132]

UGh, as an avid reloader, you have once again ruined my day. :) Now I have to find one of these and make the modifications you have done. IS there no aspect of my life that you do not mock. lol. :) Honestly, this is interesting. Wonderful excision. Keep up the wonderful work.

[@raindeergames6104]

Stefan im disappointed. This was the perfect opportunity to use that awesome new spindle dti holder You made to find centre.😂 Great Video. Fantastic work.

[@StefanGotteswinter]

The new one lives on the cnc in a dedicated holder :-)

[@raindeergames6104]

@StefanGotteswinter you now what that means right. You'll have to make another one💪🏼. Please make one on the cnc. That would be a banger to see the different setups.

[@robertklein1316]

Another piece of Chinese kit for testing aluminum cans, but there is another tester for brass. I'm waiting for the deep dive into the mini CNC mill ,but I imagine it's running 24-7.

[@matthewheaton4421]

The only part I was confused about is why you didn’t just dissemble the barrel of the mic? All of mine have a taper after the threads that fit into the barrel.

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Because i have to put it back again then :D

[@matthewheaton4421]

@@StefanGotteswinterfair enough, the way you did it worked super well anyway. Thanks for the great content as always.

[@tomaswilhelmsson5621]

I cant find the video where ”robin” dressed a diamond wheel with molybdenum. Can you please direct me? Thanks for great videos!

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Ah! Here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bX3OfX1udrlsq7csi=x-f4OKgr3LDOFBtQ

[@alungiggs]

Nice! Enjoyed that as usual. Thank you 👍🇳🇱

[@bobbob8229]

Is that a thin washer on your plate? Or is it just a grease mark?😮

[@Rob_65]

I was like "He Stefan, you are forgetting that little blue washer" but realized it also might be some blue grease that was on the tube nut

[@Tezza120]

I've seen you with an angle grinder before. It would of made short work of that hardened steel bar. Poor lil endmill worked so hard for it's last cuts hehe

[@StefanGotteswinter]

In hindsight i would have shortened the pin with an abrasive wheel on the surface grinder, but when i noticed its trough hardened, it was already all setup, so poor endmill :D

[@davidrule1335]

Of topic here. I'll watch video after we go out to eat. I use German made SATA Paint guns in the body shop $1,000 each 20 years ago. You don't have to take them apart to clean them. Very well made and slick inside. Pull trigger and paint comes out EVERY time!

[@Warped65er]

Thx for the vid.

[@samuelschuur7044]

Who makes the punch you show at 9:26 - looks nice!

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Those are made by Rennsteig: www.rennsteig.com/produkte/detail/4500020.html

[@bmalovic]

34:48... Why not just hex set screw in the clamp? BTW.. that "thump thump" sound, that can be heared from time to time whlile you are grinding? Festool vac self uncloging filter?

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Because the clamp by itself is to tall to ;) The thump thump is the filter cleaner of the shop vac, yeah (Flex VCE44 H AC - The festool died on me after 12+ years of abuse)

[@MegaRiffraff]

👍🏻

[@ApukEldar]

👍👍

[@jeffreyhalpern5718]

What vacuum do you use on your grinder? It has auto clunk for the filter. Nice feature.

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Flex VCE44 H AC - after my festool died on me after years.

[@jeff1176]

Machinist's are like watchmakers, there is a tool for EVERYTHING! Lol

[@seabreezecoffeeroasters7994]

So was the spindle in the background a tease or just a random customer job? 😀

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Oh, thats just a random customer drillpress spindle :)

[@WillemvanLonden]

You got a fan running in the background?

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Yep, Air Cleaner like in a woodworking shop - Its up in the ceeiling, not only to keep dust under control, but also to circulate the warm air that rised up to the ceeiling.

[@EitriBrokkr]

Where does one acquire molybdenum rod that's not $300/ft? And what diameter do you use to dress your wheels with?

[@StefanGotteswinter]

I got mine from ebay - It is very expensive, yes. But a Stick 8mm Diameter, 100mm Long will get you very far and should be about 20..50eur/dollar

[@EitriBrokkr]

@@StefanGotteswinterThank you. Thats far more reasonable than the places I was looking

[@sheldoniusRex]

Very informative. Are you using metric indicators, or are you doing the conversion mentally? Where do those bronze bodied t handle clamps come from? Do they ship to the States? Since that soft materials hardness tester is likely American, I'd wager that the piston you measured at 18.98 mm was actually .750 inches. Might the oops with the false reading on the face of the pin be an argument for using hardness testing files?

[@mattmanyam]

Welcome to the channel.

[@sheldoniusRex]

@@mattmanyam I've been around before. I just haven't sat down and watched a whole video in a few years. The fact that these are gunsmithing tools is why I stuck it out.

[@Joelsfilmer]

The clamp is made by Kopal.

[@mattmanyam]

What would give you the idea that he would possibly be using anything but metric indicators??

[@sheldoniusRex]

@@mattmanyam watching on phone so low res, but the indicator face looked like a Starrett inch indicator.

[@mathewritchie]

If the carbide dust is so dangerous then you should shave before putting the mask on other wise some will bypass the filter.

[@joell439]

👍👍😎👍👍

[@davidsalzer4887]

I’ll be back. Lol

[@captainbackflash]

Was ist nur aus dem guten alten Poldihammer geworden?

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Ich trau mich wetten, dass der bei so dünnem Material fürchterlich funktioniert - Meinen hab ich vor Jahren weiterverschenkt.

[@captainbackflash]

Klingt sinnvoll.@@StefanGotteswinter

[@RambozoClown]

It's easy to nap, with a gun in your lap.

[@jdmccorful]

Kept my attention; interesting to see these fine tools. Thanks for your time!

[@wktodd]

Mo-lib.den-um. in English . Are you still in love with your grinder? I'm planning to make a poor man's copy (same slide and rotating head arrangement ) using bits I've collected. How would you improve it?

[@StefanGotteswinter]

Yep very happy with it - I would make the column a bit taller, but thats all :-)