Frankford Universal Case Trimmer - Trouble Aligning Case Body Collet

[Reformedcitykid]

Hi all, I just got a Frankford Universal Case Trimmer and am trying to trim some 223 brass. I’m having trouble aligning the case body collet to keep the case straight in the trimmer, leading to some wonky, inconsistent trimming.

Am I just an idiot and overlooking something or has anyone else had this issue?

Thanks!

 

[lariat]

I do not have this tool but I deal with collets every day. Here is what I would do.

1. Check if there is trash in the tool, especially the collet.

2. Check the tool for bad workmanship.

3. Check the collar the collet is in. A collet seats in two places, the tool and the collar. Either one can be a source of issues.

3. Check for fit of your brass to the collet. If you have a snap-cap or some such that would be a good general control to see if it is your brass.

If someone says they are having an issue with something that has a collet I automatically go listing the things that can knock it out of concentricity in order of likely to unlikely. The answer is usually in there somewhere.

 

[B y r o n]

From their instructions: "Rotate case ½-turn clockwise while trimming. This helps ensure a square cut on the case mouth"

 

[Reformedcitykid]

I do not have this tool but I deal with collets every day. Here is what I would do.

1. Check if there is trash in the tool, especially the collet.

2. Check the tool for bad workmanship.

3. Check the collar the collet is in. A collet seats in two places, the tool and the collar. Either one can be a source of issues.

3. Check for fit of your brass to the collet. If you have a snap-cap or some such that would be a good general control to see if it is your brass.

If someone says they are having an issue with something that has a collet I automatically go listing the things that can knock it out of concentricity in order of likely to unlikely. The answer is usually in there somewhere.

I appreciate the thorough reply/advice! I trimmed some excess plastic off one of the collets and will take measurements of each side to make sure it’s not an issue with the collet itself, as well as checking the rest of the steps. Thanks again!

 

[Reformedcitykid]

From their instructions: "Rotate case ½-turn clockwise while trimming. This helps ensure a square cut on the case mouth"

Yes I’ve been doing this but the alignment is sometimes so off initially that it doesn’t help. Was wondering if there’s something else I’m missing. I’ll fiddle around and see if I can get it to align more consistently. Thanks!

 

[lariat]

Something I left out: I cannot tell from your pics but the collets may snap into the collar. If they do and it’s not snapping in all the way around the collet or not snapping in at all the way it should then that will for sure cause issues. Your brass is so crooked I’m willing to bet there is an obstruction or incorrect assembly somewhere in the mix. Let us know what you come up with, I’m genuinely curious as to what the issue is.

 

[Reformedcitykid]

Something I left out: I cannot tell from your pics but the collets may snap into the collar. If they do and it’s not snapping in all the way around the collet or not snapping in at all the way it should then that will for sure cause issues. Your brass is so crooked I’m willing to bet there is an obstruction or incorrect assembly somewhere in the mix. Let us know what you come up with, I’m genuinely curious as to what the issue is.

Ok, so from what I can tell the issue is a design flaw with the shoulder bushing and body collet not being sized to the trimmer and specific case sizes, but rather with ranges. The body collets don’t provide a straight path for the case to follow, since they accommodate a range of sizes. The locking head only applies pressure to the head of the collet, which has 4 separately moving sections, instead of tightening around the body of the collet as well. So when you tighten the head, you do it enough that it theoretically applies even pressure so the case doesn’t wobble, but the inside between the head and shoulder collet still has a void, so the case is able to move around in there. The body collets all are different widths, and the only one that actually rests against the wall of the case housing in the magnum size. Additionally, the shoulder collets don’t lock in, they just sit on the lip of the case housing. Therefore they have some play. An easy solution on Frankford’s part would be to allow the shoulder bushings to lock into place, and to size each body collet to rest on the wall of the case housing, and increase the thickness of the collet walls according to case range.

Not sure if I explained that well or if it makes any sense, but that’s the best I can figure. I’m going to see if anyone makes aftermarket collets and bushings for this. Rotating each case is a pain since the entire trimmer spins, so I’d either need a free hand to stabilize it or keep the trigger depressed. I’m going to try to build a jig for it in the meantime.

Here is a like to an Imgur album with a few clips showing the play with the collets and bushings, since I can’t post them here:

 

[CK1.0]

Not to sound snarky, but IMO the problem might be you, I think you might need more practice is all lol.

I’ve used that same FA trimmer thousands of times and if you have the case’s shoulder up against the bushing you should easily be able to do a good, clean, consistent job on each case. Rotating the case a little while doing it helps it cut even cleaner but isn’t necessarily even needed to hold a respectable tolerance IMO.

Since the case shoulder has a slope to it, some of the responsibility does fall on the operator doing a decent job of not holding the cases off-axis.. but with a decent cordless drill set on fast it’s not that hard to get a feel for it and be able to burn through cases as fast as one can grab them.

 

[John Glidewell]

Not to sound snarky, but IMO the problem might be you, I think you might need more practice is all lol.

I’ve used that same FA trimmer thousands of times and if you have the case’s shoulder up against the bushing you should easily be able to do a good, clean, consistent job on each case. Rotating the case a little while doing it helps it cut even cleaner but isn’t necessarily even needed to hold a respectable tolerance IMO.

Since the case shoulder has a slope to it, some of the responsibility does fall on the operator doing a decent job of not holding the cases off-axis.. but with a decent cordless drill set on fast it’s not that hard to get a feel for it and be able to burn through cases as fast as one can grab them.

I was thinking this too. It sounds like the metal bushing may be in backwards. I used one of these for years without issues.

 

[Reformedcitykid]

Not to sound snarky, but IMO the problem might be you, I think you might need more practice is all lol.

I’ve used that same FA trimmer thousands of times and if you have the case’s shoulder up against the bushing you should easily be able to do a good, clean, consistent job on each case. Rotating the case a little while doing it helps it cut even cleaner but isn’t necessarily even needed to hold a respectable tolerance IMO.

Since the case shoulder has a slope to it, some of the responsibility does fall on the operator doing a decent job of not holding the cases off-axis.. but with a decent cordless drill set on fast it’s not that hard to get a feel for it and be able to burn through cases as fast as one can grab them.

No snark taken! So there definitely is some user error, I am new to it. I’ve been playing around with it and have gotten them more consistent, it just takes a certain touch. I do think that there is an inherent design flaw with the fitment of the collets/bushings which leaves room for the case to move, but for the price it’s not surprising. I wonder if anyone makes any aftermarket bushings/collets that fit better to the trimmer/case, just to take some of the human error out of it.

 

[Reformedcitykid]

I was thinking this too. It sounds like the metal bushing may be in backwards. I used one of these for years without issues.

Bushings aren’t backwards, but there definitely was some user error, as per my above comment.

 

[supercorndogs]

No snark taken! So there definitely is some user error, I am new to it. I’ve been playing around with it and have gotten them more consistent, it just takes a certain touch. I do think that there is an inherent design flaw with the fitment of the collets/bushings which leaves room for the case to move, but for the price it’s not surprising. I wonder if anyone makes any aftermarket bushings/collets that fit better to the trimmer/case, just to take some of the human error out of it.

If the collets were too tight, lots of people would end up brass that didn't fit in them. With different chambers and dies returning brass to different sizes.

 

[Near miss]

This sounds like you should check brass shavings have not entered under the collet while installing it.

I also suggest rolling the 223 brass against the collet with some cutting agent to fine tune it. This also eliminates marks on the brass.

I picked the largest collet size that fits the case shoulder, not sure if it helps but I do the 223 and 308 with the same collet.