Graphite dry neck lube prematurely using trimmer cutter?

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MartyK2500

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I am curious, my trimmer seems to have gone slightly dull sooner than expected.

In my reload steps, I dry neck lube before running my expander mandrel, then trim/chamfer/deburr 3in1 with a Giraud blade.

I was wondering if it was life of a trimmer as expected,
If it was graphite dry neck lube dulling the blade,
Or something else at play I may have to investigate!

Thanks!
 
I attribute my trimer needing a trip to Forster the result of trimming nickel plated brass.
It did not take long. Within 5 - 10 additional force was required.
 
I would suspect the neck lube itself is diminishing the effectiveness of the cutting action. After all, thats what lubrication does... You know the solution.
 
I doubt that dry neck lube is correlated to premature wear of your trimming blade.
I could be wrong, but machinist use globs of oil for drilling and tapping into metal in order to prevent premature wear of their tools.
Gunsmiths use generous amounts of lube on their reamers when cutting a chamber....
 
Since I’m not using real giraud blades, I just ordered a pair to see.
It mat just be that my blades are too cheap.

I’ll test again once the giraud blades get here.
As the dry neck lube helps me enormously during the expanding step, keeps things smooth.
Unless I would switch steps, as in FLS, trim, then dry lube/expand
 
maynard said:
Graphite is abrasive. Although free cutting it will dull carbide endmills in short order.
Click to expand...

This is correct^. I don't know for sure this is the issue here, but it could well be. No machine shop uses graphite powder as a cutting lube. There are applications where graphite works as a friction reducer but it is not kind to cutting tools.
 
Last edited:
Alright I'll switch neck expand a trim to see how it goes.

FLS
Trim/chamfer/deburr
Expand madrel (with some graphite lube inside the neck right before the mandrel goes in)
 
Just a small update

Once I pass with the expander I brush the excess graphite out of the neck.
And… I have just received my Giraud cutters.
Not the sane at all!

On the lookalike they use the same style and look, but weight about 25% less than the giraud cutters on my FX120, and even when new they never cut as well as the Giraud.

So if buying the knock-off trimmer, definitely get the cutters from Giraud directly.
Eventually I wish to replace my 2 trimmers for genuine Girauds, just waiting for the border situation to normalize a bit.
 
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