WFT II I am a Fan!

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horsemen61

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Hey everyone

just wanted to take a moment to talk about my newest purchase
the little crow Gun works Worlds Finest Trimmer II

so far I love it I’ve only used it once but it made short work of 50 pieces of 2x fired 6.5 Creedmoor I bought a small table top drill press from Harbor Frieght to mount it in it takes a 1/2 inch chuck to mount it in,the inserts work well. It is a well thought out design I trimmed all 50 pieces in under 5 minutes I highly recommend you look into it for bottleneck rifle cartridges
 
The only thing I don't like about the WFT trimmers is that you still need to chamfer and deburr after trimming which can take some time.

The Giraud Tri Way is a similar setup, but it also chamfers and deburrs the case while trimming it. This saves you the extra step. I wish I'd bought one of these a long time ago for the calibers that I reload in bulk. It's a huge time saver.
 
Thanks Horseman61. I've been looking for a trimmer (223) for a while and its nice to hear that you like the wft. 50 in 5 minutes would be a dream :).
 
How long do the cutters last on the two (WFT and Giraud) mentioned cutters. Are they carbide?
 
How long do the cutters last on the two (WFT and Giraud) mentioned cutters. Are they carbide?

Alot! I have swapped mine a couple of times in 60000 pieces of brass. I'm currently testing a 2 flute end mill in my WFT2 instead of the 4 flute it comes with. Its cuts pretty fast and clean. The cutters are cheap, like $10 each on Amazon. I'm just using HSS as TiN coating doesn't seem to make a difference in cut quality. Carbide would have a longer service life, but is about $50 a cutter IIRC. Carbide also doesn't cut brass as cleanly.
 
I have the WFT not the ll in .223. What variance in length do you normally get?I bought it to do once fired brass it been a while since I used it but that was the only issue I had.What range do you find acceptable?
 
Carbide also doesn't cut brass as cleanly.

Do you know why carbide doesn't cut as well as HSS?

My experience differs. When I wore out the original cutter after about 2500 cases, I got a replacement cutter from Midway. The quality of the replacement cutter was really poor. It was as if the cutting edge was rough grind only. Not really sharp. Decided to get a kodiac carbide cutter instead. The results have been amazing! Still cuts like new after 4000+ rounds.

So maybe it's because the HSS cutter is of poor quality...perhaps a higher quality cutter would have done better
 
I don't have the II just the plain WFT.
At first I didn't want to spend the money, but once I had it I decided it was money well spent!
I don't even measure my .223 brass anymore.
I just run all of it thru, if it needs to be trimmwed it gets trimmed, if not it doesn't.
Really like my WFT,
 
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Do you know why carbide doesn't cut as well as HSS?

My experience differs. When I wore out the original cutter after about 2500 cases, I got a replacement cutter from Midway. The quality of the replacement cutter was really poor. It was as if the cutting edge was rough grind only. Not really sharp. Decided to get a kodiac carbide cutter instead. The results have been amazing! Still cuts like new after 4000+ rounds.

So maybe it's because the HSS cutter is of poor quality...perhaps a higher quality cutter would have done better

Because I asked a machinist friend who runs and programs a multi axis multi million dollar CNC milling machine, but started out on a Bridgeport 25 years ago :)
He told me very simply, carbide doesnt do as well in brass because brass is kind of sticky/gummy in nature. They still run HSS tooling on brass and copper in the shop because carbide really doesnt hold an advantage in such a soft material and the quality of cut just isnt as good as a sharp HSS cutter. One thing he also told me on was to ensure I was running enough RPM to the cutter. 2000ish RPM seems to really do a nice quick job. Too slow of RPM in combination with to high of a feed rate will dull your cutter prematurely as well. Better off to spin it fast, and feed it just a hair slower, to preserve cutter life and get a better finish.

HSS is just fine. I got about 20-25k cases out of my first cutter. I used a 4 flute TiN coated HSS cutter for about 20k pieces, then another standard HSS cutter for about 10k. I switched to a 2 flute HSS and thus far it cuts great, really fast and clean, but may have a shorter service life due to being a 2 flute. Time will tell on that. Im not buying anything fancy. If I can get a 10k piece service life out of a $9 cutter, Im totally good with that.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ADBHFJ4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1
 
I have the WFT not the ll in .223. What variance in length do you normally get?I bought it to do once fired brass it been a while since I used it but that was the only issue I had.What range do you find acceptable?

If Im doing 223, I have a target OAL of 1.750, but Im happy with +/- .002", but I mostly see +/- .001".
You're splitting hairs when you get down around 2 thousands and it probably doesnt have any real effect on accuracy.
 
All these type of trimmers work off the shoulder. So if your consistent on setting the shoulder back the OAL will be pretty close. I'm using a Cobalt endmill in my trimmer. Colbalt is a little sharper than HS so it cuts super clean, like HS but should last a little longer. Like said you need to run the RPM up to get a good smooth consistent cut. I only run mine in the 800-1000 rpm. Which is about max my lathe will do. Carbide works best when you have to remove a lot a material fast, does not do well will light finish cuts, unless your using a micro grain.
 
Because I asked a machinist friend who runs and programs a multi axis multi million dollar CNC milling machine, but started out on a Bridgeport 25 years ago :)
He told me very simply, carbide doesnt do as well in brass because brass is kind of sticky/gummy in nature.

I full understand and appreciate his years of experience....but our lowly drills are typically spinning at a much slower speed than multi-million dollar CNC machines.

I will let you see the results for yourself. I just don't want anyone to not look at the potential of using carbide for the WFT because it's not typically used in other applications...

The left case is cut by the original HSS cutter with about 2500 rounds cut. The right 2 cases are with a carbide cutter that have seen over 4000 rounds.

Brass_3.JPG
 
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I full understand and appreciate his years of experience....but our lowly drills are typically spinning at a much slower speed than multi-million dollar CNC machines.

I will let you see the results for yourself. I just don't want anyone to not look at the potential of using carbide for the WFT because it's not typically used in other applications...

The left case is cut by the original HSS cutter with about 2500 rounds cut. The right 2 cases are with a carbide cutter that have seen over 4000 rounds.

View attachment 875731

Yeah, his CNC can spin up to some crazy speeds, maybe 10000 RPM, probably more. Definitely not safe for a hand tool.

What are you using to spin the cutter? I switched to a corded drill and Im probably at about 2500 RPM. My cordless just wasnt up to the task unless I slowed down my feed rate alot. A faster speed with a moderate feed rate seems to produce excellent results for me with a HSS cutter, both 2 and 4 flute, and Im getting pretty incredible life on the cutter.

Your left case is definitely a dull cutter. Dulling the cutter fast is caused by too fast of a feed rate or force in combination with not enough RPM on the tool. It builds heat in the cutter, making it dull, which in turn is basically melting the brass instead of cutting it. Myself, I just havent felt the need to go carbide, and if its working good for you, then its working good for you. :thumbup:
 
I'm using a corded drill that is capable of 2500. But I set the speed based on how the brass is cutting. I back off the speed until I can feel chatter. Then bump it up 2 notches and the set the lock. I wanted to keep the drill speed low because I tend to run it continuous for the 200 to 300 batch that I run at a time.

I think you are right, maybe HSS just need to be higher speed.

I use the carbide bit at the same speed as the HSS. So it's nice that it is able to keep the cutting edge much longer.
 
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