Hi, all -

I have a small carbide sleeve (inner diameter a little less than half an inch) that I want to put an angle on. Conventional attempts so far have yielded damaged tools and no success. What can I use to cut or grind this? I have access to a full machine shop; I just don't know what the right blade/grinding element is.

Thanks...

 

I can't imagine what a carbide sleeve would be for, but the best way to grind it is with a diamond grinding wheel, if you have such a thing. Borazon wheels work good, too. There is a so-called 'green wheel' that will grind carbide, but it is a last resort, and the results won't be all that good. Bear in mind that carbide has been determined to be a possible health hazard if you breathe in the dust. For a quick modification it's no big deal, but if you do a lot of it, wear a dust mask.

 

Thanks, Jay. The sleeve is an insert in a die that's used for handloading firearm cartridges. The bevel I need to put on goes on the inside, so a wheel won't work, but perhaps I can find a cone-shaped diamond stone somewhere. At first glance, MSC doesn't offer one, but I imagine they must exist.

 

Green wheels are used for sharpening carbide machine tools. I don't know where you would get a green burr. There are a lot of cheap diamond tools around now that you can run in a dremel tool.

 

I bought a whole set of diamond plated burrs at Harbor Freright for $2.99. They have a 1/8" shank that will fit a Dremel or air grinder. They would be perfect for that.

 

G'day.
Depending on how much of an angle or radius you need use the toolmakers standard of "lapping" by using grinding paste. Make sure you get Diamond Lapping Paste. You can buy several grades, coarse, medium, fine etc..

You make a "former" out of aluminium or even wood to the shape you want then "load" it by rolling the former in the paste. Then with the loading die fitted in the lathe chuck rotate the die at about 500-700rpm and apply (by hand) the former and grinding paste.

Depending on how much you need to remove will depend on how long it will take you. Go easy and check often as you can't replace material once it's removed. This is exactly the way they are brought up to size in the factory, except it's done by machine with no human holding the lap......unless if it's custom made.

I've altered dozens of carbide pistol Full length resizing dies using this method. Some carbide dies are real rough ex-factory and need smoothing to improve the resizing performance. Check the surfaces with a magnifying glass.

Also if the surface is rough it will "pick up" brass or nickel which imbeds in the carbide. Then everytime you try and resize another case they jam or squeal. Remove the brass or nickel fouling with Bore cleaning solvent and fine grade Steel Wool on a former or Cleaning Jag. It will take a while if there's a lot in there.

The whole idea of carbide in reloading dies was so that you didn't need to use case lube in resizing. But with mass production and rough finishing techniques, reloaders have needed to use lube anyway, particularly with the cheaper made dies.

Hope this helps ya' out...............Barry.

 

Great post Barry.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, Barry. I'd do that if I were going to be doing a lot of this, but I'm just looking for a down-and-dirty solution for now.

Gargoyle: I went to Harbor Freight's web site but couldn't find what you were talking about. Do you happen to have a p/n handy?

Thanks...

 

Sorry it took me a while to get back to you. I found 2 similar sets on HF website. One is 30165-8VGA, and 40547-5VGA. Both sets are $7.99. I got mine at the store on sale for $2.99.

 

Thanks, Jay. I think those are just a bit too small for what I need -- the inner diameter of the case is about half an inch, and I want to put about a 1/16" taper on it. I'll keep looking, or maybe try what Barry suggested.