Doublehelix
Member
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2016
- Messages
- 1,059
I know case trimming is a personal choice, and folks are very attached to their chosen method.
I have been looking at the Giraud trimmers for a long time with envy, but could not justify the almost $500 price tag. I have a Hornady cam lock trimmer, and those are fine I guess, but I am lazy by nature, and I wanted something that did not require as much manual intervention. I do have the powered screwdriver chuck adapter which adds a little automation, but it is still not a Giraud!
Also, as I get older, arthritis is starting to rear its ugly head in my hands and fingers, so I wanted something easy to deal with without having to juggle a cordless drill in one had and a case in the other.
I got this idea from someone on another forum, so I cannot take credit for this, but basically what I am in the process of creating is a "poor man's Giraud Trimmer" for about $160.
Giraud makes a device called a "Tri-Way Trimmer", which operates similarily to the World's Finest Trimmer (WFT). It is basically the guts of the Giraud Trimmer in a small device that attaches to a cordless driver like a WFT:
http://www.giraudtool.com/Tri Way Trimmer.htm
This like gadget is about $100, and is appealing because it uses the Giraud technology in a less-expensive package.
Now the question is how to best power this device.
One suggestion is to pickup a small drill press from Harbor Freight for about $60, and you have a case trimmer that can also double as a drill press when not used for case trimming. I like that idea a lot, but space constraints on my loading bench made me want to look to other ideas.
The answer came by way of another Harbor Freight device, a buffer unit (Harbor Freight item # 94393):
![ATTACH]](/proxy.php?image=http%3A%2F%2F%5BATTACH%3Dfull%5D757452%5B%2FATTACH%5D&hash=a602ded93a29fa259c2c2a5eb571f007)
This guy sells for $45, but with the usual Harbor Freight coupons, I picked it up for about $35. The specs were perfect for what I needed, 1/2 HP motor that spins at 3,450 RPM.
The arm shafts on this guy are 1/2" in diameter, and the shaft on the Giraud Trimmer is 3/8", so I needed a coupler that goes from 1/2" to 3/8". Voila! Amazon to the rescue:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XHG7WC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This piece joins the shaft of the Harbor Freight buffer to the shaft of the Giraud Trimmer. It was a bit pricey at $33, and maybe if I shopped around, I could find something less expensive, but I was excited to find what I needed and pulled the trigger.
The next step was to cut off the threads one of the buffer shafts. I needed to use the side that would spin the Giraud Trimmer counter-clockwise when looking straight into the end of the trimmer, so this meant I needed to cut off the right-hand set of threads on the trimmer. I used my angle grinder with a metal cutting blade, and it took me literally 50 seconds to cut it off. (I videotaped it, and the entire video was 1:04, which included picking up the tool, starting and stopping the video, etc.)
Here is the shaft that needed cutting. I left the nut on to use as a guide to keep my cutting blade straight:
And then 50 seconds later, I had this:
I turned on the buffer and let it spin, and then grabbed a fine-toothed file, and chamfered the end of the shaft for about 60 seconds or so:
Perfect! Smooth as a baby's bottom, and ready to accept the coupler.
The coupler fits perfectly (thank goodness!), and spins true without any noticeable vibration or wobble, which is why I needed to cut off the threads.
Now I just need to order the Giraud Tri-Way Trimmer and I should have a "Poor Man's Giraud Trimmer" completed for about $160. This idea should work with other trimmers as well, such as the WFT, but I do not know the shaft diameter of the WFT. As mentioned, the diameter of the Giraud trimmer shaft is 0.375" (3/8"), and it looks similar to the WFT, but without having one in front of me or without contacting the manufacturer (like I did with Giraud), I have no idea if they are the same or not. The good news is that there are couplers for a lot of different sizes, so you should be able to find something.
One note of caution: I do not assume any liability if you try building this or something similar. You should only attempt this if you are a professional or have a professional available that can do the work for you. There is a very clear and succinct warning on the front of the buffer that states that you should not use "unintended accessories" on the buffer. I would say that this qualifies as an unintended accessory! The drill press is probably a better solution for most people. Also, as soon as you cut off the shaft, you have voided your warranty. I made sure that my buffer ran flawlessly for a long time before cutting. I have bought things from HF before and end up returning about half of them due to poor QC.
Here is the warning:
I will order the actual trimmer head soon. My wife has our finances on a short leash during the Christmas season, so I will probably wait until I get paid again before hiding this purchase... er.... I mean "BUYING" a trimmer head!
Once again: Do not attempt this at home kids, it could be dangerous or even fatal!!!
I have been looking at the Giraud trimmers for a long time with envy, but could not justify the almost $500 price tag. I have a Hornady cam lock trimmer, and those are fine I guess, but I am lazy by nature, and I wanted something that did not require as much manual intervention. I do have the powered screwdriver chuck adapter which adds a little automation, but it is still not a Giraud!
Also, as I get older, arthritis is starting to rear its ugly head in my hands and fingers, so I wanted something easy to deal with without having to juggle a cordless drill in one had and a case in the other.
I got this idea from someone on another forum, so I cannot take credit for this, but basically what I am in the process of creating is a "poor man's Giraud Trimmer" for about $160.
Giraud makes a device called a "Tri-Way Trimmer", which operates similarily to the World's Finest Trimmer (WFT). It is basically the guts of the Giraud Trimmer in a small device that attaches to a cordless driver like a WFT:
http://www.giraudtool.com/Tri Way Trimmer.htm
This like gadget is about $100, and is appealing because it uses the Giraud technology in a less-expensive package.
Now the question is how to best power this device.
One suggestion is to pickup a small drill press from Harbor Freight for about $60, and you have a case trimmer that can also double as a drill press when not used for case trimming. I like that idea a lot, but space constraints on my loading bench made me want to look to other ideas.
The answer came by way of another Harbor Freight device, a buffer unit (Harbor Freight item # 94393):
This guy sells for $45, but with the usual Harbor Freight coupons, I picked it up for about $35. The specs were perfect for what I needed, 1/2 HP motor that spins at 3,450 RPM.
The arm shafts on this guy are 1/2" in diameter, and the shaft on the Giraud Trimmer is 3/8", so I needed a coupler that goes from 1/2" to 3/8". Voila! Amazon to the rescue:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B003XHG7WC/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This piece joins the shaft of the Harbor Freight buffer to the shaft of the Giraud Trimmer. It was a bit pricey at $33, and maybe if I shopped around, I could find something less expensive, but I was excited to find what I needed and pulled the trigger.
The next step was to cut off the threads one of the buffer shafts. I needed to use the side that would spin the Giraud Trimmer counter-clockwise when looking straight into the end of the trimmer, so this meant I needed to cut off the right-hand set of threads on the trimmer. I used my angle grinder with a metal cutting blade, and it took me literally 50 seconds to cut it off. (I videotaped it, and the entire video was 1:04, which included picking up the tool, starting and stopping the video, etc.)
Here is the shaft that needed cutting. I left the nut on to use as a guide to keep my cutting blade straight:
And then 50 seconds later, I had this:
I turned on the buffer and let it spin, and then grabbed a fine-toothed file, and chamfered the end of the shaft for about 60 seconds or so:
Perfect! Smooth as a baby's bottom, and ready to accept the coupler.
The coupler fits perfectly (thank goodness!), and spins true without any noticeable vibration or wobble, which is why I needed to cut off the threads.
Now I just need to order the Giraud Tri-Way Trimmer and I should have a "Poor Man's Giraud Trimmer" completed for about $160. This idea should work with other trimmers as well, such as the WFT, but I do not know the shaft diameter of the WFT. As mentioned, the diameter of the Giraud trimmer shaft is 0.375" (3/8"), and it looks similar to the WFT, but without having one in front of me or without contacting the manufacturer (like I did with Giraud), I have no idea if they are the same or not. The good news is that there are couplers for a lot of different sizes, so you should be able to find something.
One note of caution: I do not assume any liability if you try building this or something similar. You should only attempt this if you are a professional or have a professional available that can do the work for you. There is a very clear and succinct warning on the front of the buffer that states that you should not use "unintended accessories" on the buffer. I would say that this qualifies as an unintended accessory! The drill press is probably a better solution for most people. Also, as soon as you cut off the shaft, you have voided your warranty. I made sure that my buffer ran flawlessly for a long time before cutting. I have bought things from HF before and end up returning about half of them due to poor QC.
Here is the warning:
I will order the actual trimmer head soon. My wife has our finances on a short leash during the Christmas season, so I will probably wait until I get paid again before hiding this purchase... er.... I mean "BUYING" a trimmer head!
Once again: Do not attempt this at home kids, it could be dangerous or even fatal!!!
