x2. Those Cratex-type abrasive wheels WILL remove metal. If it's just rust, 4x steel wool and a bit of oil shouldn't do any harm. Actually, you could do this with your hand drill with the wool wrapped around an old bore brush or on the end of a bit of dowel. If you really need to polish the metal, despite Chinbulco's caution, I still think a felt bob and some very fine abrasive (1000x or more) might be the way to go and won't remove enough metal to affect the dimensions of the die. A couple of microns difference won't throw your reloading off.
Polishing a die neck?
- Thread starter kamlooky
- Start date
x2. Those Cratex-type abrasive wheels WILL remove metal. If it's just rust, 4x steel wool and a bit of oil shouldn't do any harm. Actually, you could do this with your hand drill with the wool wrapped around an old bore brush or on the end of a bit of dowel. If you really need to polish the metal, despite Chinbulco's caution, I still think a felt bob and some very fine abrasive (1000x or more) might be the way to go and won't remove enough metal to affect the dimensions of the die. A couple of microns difference won't throw your reloading off.
- Location
- Ottawa origanally Muskoka
Guess no one here has ever seen what happens when a felt bob breaks off un expectedly and the metal screw mandrel contacts the work area...same with a steel cotter pin. Trust me a brass bore brush will reach AND won't mar the surface.
- Location
- Ottawa origanally Muskoka
Problem with a felt bob is 2 fold. 1) the bobs often suddenly come off, especially if you are working blind in tight confines. 2) they are on comparatively short mandrels that won't reach all the way up inside a die to the throat on anything but a short 9mm 45ACP type die.
If you had a section of a telescopic aluminum cleaning rod or an aluminum 6-32NC extension nut it would give you lotsenough reach and neither aluminum nor brass will mar your die
I've never had one come off but yes, it could be a problem, and the reach definitely could be. The bobs that go onto a shank with a threaded end could have an extension soldered onto the shank first, though.
Kamlooky hasn't told us what calibre it is so we don't know how deep the problem is. But if all it needs is a little polishing, v. fine steel or brass wool on an old cleaning brush and some fine abrasive and a drill will probably do it.
