Forster case trimmer shaft seized.

diopter

diopter

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Has this happened to anyone else?

Just letting oil seep in for a few days before trying to move it.

Have not used it much since getting the Hornady case prep center.
Friend came over to trim his cases on the hornady and was showing the Forster to him and I saw it would not turn or move in or out.

20181011_090935.jpg
 
Emailed their Tech support last last night(Sunday) and get a reply at 8:30 this Monday morning. I'm impressed.

"Re: TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Original Case trimmer
Thanks for contacting us about this, our suggestion usually is to soak the two in a high quality solvent over night (as you did) and then often it does not take much effort to free the two pieces. If you would want to send the parts into us, we would be happy to see if we could assist in freeing the two parts. the components can be sent to:

FORSTER PRODUCTS
310 SE LANARK AVE.
LANARK, IL 61046

There would be an $8 charge, plus the actual return shipping.

Scott"

I switch yesterday to a 50/50 mixture of ATF and Acetone. The two need to be mixed like oil and water.
20181015-091759.jpg
 
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I had one seize and managed to free it.
Suspect I added a drop of RCBS case lube as a lubricant which worked for the time but it is probably not oil based.

The cutter dulled from trimming nickel plated brass and I believe Forster charged $12 to re-sharpen.
 
From Practical Machinist Forum:

In a thread in the antique machinery forum, there was a discussion what to use to free up a part. Southbendmodel34 had mentioned a study in Machinist Workshop stating that Automatic transmission fluid and Acetone mixed was the best.
I just received a newsletter today from Tim Carter mentioning the same study. He had included the results of the test, which I thought interesting.

A study done by Machinist's Workshop magazine in their April 2007 issue looked at different penetrating oils to see which one did the best job of removing a rusted bolt by measuring the pounds of torque required to loosen the bolt once treated. If the study was scientifically accurate, it turns out a home brew works best!
Here's the summary of the test results:

Penetrating oil ..... Average load

None ...................... 516 pounds
WD-40 ................... 238 pounds
PB Blaster .............. 214 pounds
Liquid Wrench ...... 127 pounds
Kano Kroil ............. 106 pounds
ATF-Acetone mix....53 pounds

Link:
h ttps://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/general/ot-penetrating-oil-196347/

Still stuck by the way. Don't want to hammer not to damage either the cutter or the threads for the turn handle.

I'll retry using a dead blow hammer again and our decent sized arbor press at work next week. Meantime keeping mixing the the two parts 4 times a day since they separate rather quickly.
 
Thats amazing that the ATF & acetone reduces the torque by 90% overall and twice as good as the best commercial product.
 
I've never used ATF-acetone mix so cant compare but here on our farm the go-to failsafe loosener used to free up bearings that have been frozen to farm equipment shafts for sometimes 30 years is plain drug store Iodine. usually works in a couple of hours.
 
Now that is interesting. Iodine accelerates rusting. Perhaps it de-composes existing rust first. I see an experiment in the near future.
 
Diopter

My older gray Lyman case trimmer has a bronze bushing inside the steel body that the cutter shaft rotates in.

Does the Forster trimmer have a bronze bushing or does the trimmer shaft rotate inside a steel body. Meaning steel on steel, the reason I ask is Forster does not list the shaft holder body as a replacement part.

So you may need to send the trimmer back to Forster if the parts rusted together even if you get it loose. Meaning even if you remove the rust the cutter shaft it may become loose and wobble and a new shaft body may be needed.
 
diopter said:
Emailed their Tech support last last night(Sunday) and get a reply at 8:30 this Monday morning. I'm impressed.

"Re: TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Original Case trimmer
Thanks for contacting us about this, our suggestion usually is to soak the two in a high quality solvent over night (as you did) and then often it does not take much effort to free the two pieces. If you would want to send the parts into us, we would be happy to see if we could assist in freeing the two parts. the components can be sent to:

FORSTER PRODUCTS
310 SE LANARK AVE.
LANARK, IL 61046

There would be an $8 charge, plus the actual return shipping.

Scott"

I switch yesterday to a 50/50 mixture of ATF and Acetone. The two need to be mixed like oil and water.
20181015-091759.jpg
Click to expand...
I found them to be extremely good on tech support for my Forster purchased products.. It' like they actually care. a rarity these days
 
The ATF and Acetone reminds me of the "Bug Juice" AR15 mixture for running the rifle "wet".

Below are three "Bug Juice" mixtures.

2 parts - Good quality motor oil (multi weight)
2 parts - Good quality ATF
3 parts - Lucas heavy duty oil stabilizer
1 part - Marvel Mystery Oil


2 parts Castrol Synthetic Oil, 10W50
1 part Castrol Synthetic ATF
3 parts Lucas HD Oil Stabilizer
1 part Kroil Penetrating Oil


2 parts Royal Purple Synthetic Oil, 10W50
2 parts Castrol Synthetic ATF
3 parts Lucas HD Oil Stabilizer
1 part Hoppes #9
1 part Marvel Mystery Oil
 
That was nasty looking. Bushing is obviously steel. I now know what sort of rusting to expect.

Did your buddy HAVE to use a hydraulic press to move it, or he just decided not to waste his time with lesser methods?
 
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Magellann said:
Thats amazing that the ATF & acetone reduces the torque by 90% overall and twice as good as the best commercial product.
Click to expand...

Atf and acetone are the two largest ingredients in "Ed's Red" homemade gun oil. IIRC the other main ingredients are varsol and lanolin.

I use that shet on everything. Mixed four liters 5 years ago, use a old oiler.
 
diopter said:
That was nasty looking. Bushing is obviously steel. I now know what sort of rusting to expect.

Did your buddy HAVE to use a hydraulic press to move it, or he just decided not to waste his time with lesser methods?
Click to expand...


I had it soaking in penetrating oil for a week and still it wouldn't budge. I didn't want to damage it and knew he had the proper equipment to deal with it. Took him no time with a little heat and a press.
 
Going through pretty much the same. Tried arbour press and no go, even with heating by a propane torch before going to the ATF/acetone mix

I take it you friend made the threaded(?) extension piece so the hydraulic press had a larger surface to contact on the shaft?
 
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Is there any wobble in the shaft now that it has been sanded down and polished. Meaning how much smaller is the shaft now and how much larger is the hole in the body.
 
diopter said:
That was nasty looking. Bushing is obviously steel. I now know what sort of rusting to expect.

Did your buddy HAVE to use a hydraulic press to move it, or he just decided not to waste his time with lesser methods?
Click to expand...

diopter said:
Going through pretty much the same. Tried arbour press and no go, even with heating by a propane torch before going to the ATF/acetone mix

I take it you friend made the threaded(?) extension piece so the hydraulic press had a larger surface to contact on the shaft?
Click to expand...

That was part of a forster power adapter. I had it on there to protect the threads.
https://www.forsterproducts.com/product/power-adapter-for-case-trimmers/
 
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