Cake cutter is not so bad

[bilmac]

Back in my childhood I used to lube bullets by melting the lube in a pan and putting the bullets in it and cutting the bullets out of the hardened lube with a cake cutter. Right away I had to do as the big boys did it with a lubrisizer, and have hardly touched a cake cutter since.

Lately I have been loading for a 32 long. I am using a Lee bullet that barely makes the bore diameter that I need, so I don't really want to run it through the lubrisizer. I have used lots of Lee's liquid alox in the past, and it is great for lubing bullets fast, but it coats the whole bullet, which is alright if you load them up and go to the range and shoot them. With my 32, the bullets might be in the truck or in my carry bag or even in a pocket, so having grease on the exposed noses is not an option.

So it's back to my childhood. I made a cake cutter by cutting the base off a 7.62x39 case. A 303 Brit would probably be nicer, but they are in short supply right now. My pan is a can cut off short. It only holds about 20 bullets but I work my process in with other activities, like posting on Greybeard. I melt with some sort of perfume heater I stole from the wife. I barely gets hotter than a light bulb so there is no worry about starting a fire if I forget my cooking. I'm using a commercial alox for lube. Rather than melt the lube and place the bullets, I put the bullets in the holes that I cut the previous batch from, and then melt.

What I'm finding is that discounting the time I spend melting and cooling when I do other things anyhow, this process is probably just as fast as a lubrisizer, and I'm not tied to the loading bench, I can do it in the kitchen. Sometimes I'm pretty sure low tech if better.

[BCall]

I pan lube a number of bullets, especially when I'm not wanting to change dies in my lubrisizer. I have trouble with some of the longer rifle bullets bending the nose when sizing as well, so pan lubing and using a Lee type push through sizer solves the problem. I rarely use a cake cutter anymore though. I use a pan that once the lube has cooled completely, I can pop the whole lube sheet out of the pan, then just push the bullets out the bottom of the lube cake with my thumb. Faster and easier on my hands than a cookie cutter. Then I run them through the sizer.

Then I just put new bullets in the empty holes in the lube, put it back in the pan, throw the whole thing in a toaster oven until all of the lube is remelted. Wait for it to cool and start all over. Billy

[patw]

I have problems with pushing the bullets through the pan lube.  It's ok for a few, then the fingers get sore.  I had a cake cutter for .30 cal way back when and it worked ok.  I was working at pushing bullets through the pan lube and figured there had to be a better way, like the cake cutter.  I was working with bullets for a 40-65, and I thought of making a cutter for the bullets.  I used a 444 case (I am stingy with the 40-65 cases) kept necking it down through the 40-65 die until the neck would just clear the cast bullet, then drilled the primer pocket out.  Ran a long screw from the inside and screwed into a piece of wood.  I just push the shell down to the bottom, pull the bullet out, then push it out.  I know it is not fancy or pretty, but it works pretty well and it saves my fingers.



BCall, I used to put the new bullets in the empty holes, but I found that the lube was settling in layers.  Do you have that problem?  I use beeswax, vaseline, parafin and crayons with a little bit of STP.

[BCall]

I find my fingers get more sore with the cake cutter than pushing them out. Perhaps your lube is stiffer than mine makeing it a little tougher, I don't know.

I have not had a problem with lube separating in layers like you said. I have used only 2 lubes, one is Darr lube, just like yours only no beeswax. The other is Bullshop's speed green, a combo of beeswax and Bullplate lube. I also havent lubed anything over 35 cal, maybe that makes a difference. Most of what I lube is small stuff, under 30 cal. Billy

[bilmac]

I hadn't noticed my alox separating but maybe I should watch for it. The way Bcall does it he could just turn his sheet over every time to keep things mixed. Do you use strict proportions when you make your lube, or just add stuff until it has about the right consistancy? Where can you buy beeswax? I like my alox because it smells good but it seems like the big companies don't want to mess around selling small potato stuff like lube anymore.

[bilmac]

Pat  I have made several cutters like yours. If you shorten up the rod so that the head comes almost to the end of the case but stays inside it would be easier to use.

[patw]

Bilmac, I looked around for a shorter screw, but despite all the junk in my shop, that is the only one long enough that I could find at the time.  I have been meaning to change it, never think of it until it is time to take the bullets out of the lube, and then I don't feel like going to the trouble of looking for the right screw.....
I got the beeswax off ebay, about $10 a pound shipped.  I mixed up one pound each of parafin, beezwax and vaseline, a couple of crayons and a tablespoon of stp.
The idea of turning the sheet over is a good one, I will try that.

[mdi]

I made my "cake cutters" from stainless steel tubing I found around the shop. I reamed out the I.D. to about .435"-.437" for my .44 boolits. I cut the tube about 6" long and tapered the edge, a cutting edge, and rounded the edges on the other end. It's comfortable, handy, and I can cut 6 or 7 boolits before I empty it (turn it up and pour out the boolits). On the one I use for 38/357, I put a piece of heavy shrink tube on the end, long enough to fit my hand, for a comfortable grip.

[res45]

If anyone needs a specific dia. cutter this guy make them to your specs for $20 there designed after the old Lyman Kake Kutters.

http://www.cnyauctions.com/the310shop.htm