Lee Turret Press Is Setup, Advice Please

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s1mp13m4n

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My B&D Workmate came in and I decided to mount the Lee Turret press to it using the Lee reloading press plate kit. That way I can remove the press and fold the work bench away after use. My first observation is "wow is this setup flimsy". A solid slab of concrete the Workmate is not. LOL I may have to mount the press on a corner because in the middle there is a lot of flex in the supplied wood. I do not want to break anything.
Now on to my question. Why is my brass not going straight up into the deprime die? I have to slightly guide the brass in. Is there an alignment problem? Next, is there a tray or something my Lee Turret press is missing? It de-pimes fine but drops the used primer on the carpet. A very small amount of lube made the depriming smooth and not tight of forceful.
 
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Did you determine what sizing die you have? As for the workmates you may want to take a piece of 5/4x6 pine to the bottom of the plywood board supplied by B&D. Make it about one inch shorter than the distance between the supports to give about 1/2" of clearance to keep it from binding on the adjustment jack screws. I would glue it and screw it to the bottom of the existing board to stiffen it up. I think the WorkMate will be more than heavy enough to load on, you just need to take the spring out of the board.
 
I put a cardboard box on the floor to catch mine. A plastic kitty litter pail with a slot cut out for the handle is more advanced. I'm sure others have come up with more ingenious solutions.
Nothing wrong with dies or adjustments, you have to guide them...although some dies have a bit more funnel to them and are not so picky about how the case goes in. It also helps to make sure the case is all the way back in the shellholder, if it isn't it may catch on the edge, just guide with fingers. Try mounting the press near a edge, either right or left side. I reinforced my top with a piece of steel plate about 3/8 inch thick, bolted press thru wooden top and steel plate and bolted plate down at corners. All that finally took the flex out. Have you looked at Lee's loading stand that might be an option if you can't renforce workmate's top.
Gary
 
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You might also be able to attach the press to a plank with bolts and clamp the plank to the Workmate. You may need another plank under the Workmate to clamp to. I made a "plank" by gluing two layers of 3/4 in plywood together, about 8 in by 30 in. This is thick enough to recess the bolts on the bottom when permanently mounting the press to the plank. I clamp my "press on a plank" to my workbench, but it should be possible to clamp it to any kind of "horse". I do this for other things I need to be able to attach to my bench, like a bench grinder and a bicycle repair stand. The 1.5 in thick plywood is very stiff, and I use heavy bar clamps. I am going to do the same for a bench priming tool.
I don't have enough room for dedicated work benches for all my hobbies.

Best,
Rick
 
I did exactly the same as riverrat38 did.
Kept me going until building a permanent bench.
Guide my cases too, esp. .38/357 in Lee sizers.
Never a problem, IMHO.
 
1. The brass should go straight up into the sizer/deprimer die . . . and every other die. If I assume the turret is indexing smoothly, the problem is not the die screwed in crooked or the turret head not installed correctly. The problem likely is at the shellholder end. Using the correct shellholder? Dirt or powder causing the case to lean?

2. Someone else already told you the press should come with a clear vinyl tube and a rubber end cap. You attach that to the bottom of the ram (where the primer is falling out :) ) and remove/empty the primers when you are done.

3. The Workmate isn't going to cut it. Dunno your situation, but take a look at the Lee Stand. I can vouch for the fact that it is rock solid . . . even with only one cement block installed, let alone two. If you're committed to the workmate, take a look at how Lee stabilizes the tripod stand with the concrete blocks suspended at the lowest possible point. Might work for your Workmate . . . dunno.
 
Rule3 said:
1) Cut a piece of 3/4" plywood and attach it to the top of the Workmate with 4 carriage bolts and wing nuts.
Click to expand...

That is what I did for my workmate knock off - 2' x 2' x3/4" plywood on top of it - works well enough while stuck in apartment
 
SteveFi said:
That is what I did for my workmate knock off - 2' x 2' x3/4" plywood on top of it - works well enough while stuck in apartment
Click to expand...
Take a look at the Lee stand I linked, and how dead weight (cheap) is suspended. Add that to your workmate, and maybe another hunk of 3/4" and you'll prolly be dead solid . . . for the Lee Turret.
 
I too have to guide the brass into the die. I was upset at first and sent it back to Lee to fix it. They replaced a part that didn't make sense (I don't remember now which part), and it was a little better, but I still have to guide it. I don't like it, but I deal with it. I had no idea it was such a common problem!
 
I started out on a Lee Turret, great little press. And yes, you just have to start the brass into the die to get it started. You'll get into a rhythm with it, it really is no big deal, does not take any extra time. If you are all thumbs, you could run the risk of pinching your finger/thumb in the die. Would probably only happen once... ;).
 
Typically the de-capping pin will contact the casing slightly before the sizing die. If you are getting a "hard stall" that produces a bit of a thump your missing the flash hole in the casing and hitting the bottom of the casing instead.

Causes for this are multiple and most can be blamed on the person pulling the handle on the press. First cause is to set up your press so that you aren't in a comfortable posture, such as leaning over slightly or sitting in a chair that is too low for the position of the press. I know you are anxious to get started but if you take the time to set up your workstation for maximum comfort your back will thank you for taking the time to do that. Second cause is sloppy technique inserting the casing in the shell holder and this can usually be attributed to fatigue. Third cause can be a bit of stray debris from the primers getting caught in the shell holder. Fourth cause can be a slightly bent de-capping pin, this can be such a headache I would recommend replacing any de-capping pin that isn't perfectly straight. Fifth cause can be brass with poorly centered flash holes, something that is actually fairly rare with name brand brass.

The final cause can be mis-alignment between the dies and ram. I have a mix of dies and I've noticed that the lock rings that have a set screw tend to cock slightly when you lock them down. This is an invitation to a cockeyed die with it's mounted in the press. Personally, my experience has shown that the Lee O-ring lock rings work well as to the split clamping rings from Hornaday. If you have RCBS or Dillon die sets you'll probably find replacing the lock rings with a superior design will help a lot with maintaining the alignment of the die and ram.
 
Ditto what Twoboxer said. Also, there could be a sight alignment problem (that's an easy fix) or the problem may be with the bench; if there is movement as the case is pushed toward the sizing die it may be moving slightly off center in the shellholder. FWIW, I just put a empty plastic coffee container under the plastic tube (with the cap removed) to catch primers.
 
I am a little surprised at all the folks that have to guide their cases into the deprime/sizing die. I don't have to on mine. Are you having to guide them into the other dies? If so, you might need to adjust the indexing. Lee has information, and I believe a video on their sight to lead you through this, if you need to do it.

If you no longer have the tube that comes with the press, you should be able to buy a length at the local hardware/home improvement store. It appears to be just garden variety vinyl tubing. The cap could probably be made from a piece of wood or plastic of the right diameter. Alternately you could just run the tube into a container as was mentioned above. I would buy a long enough piece to be able to do this, if you have to buy some.

As to mounting, I can't imagine using something like a Workmate to mount on. Seems too flimsy in my mind. I understand many have space constraints and have to make do. I would definitely look into something more substantial. My turret is very smooth and solid. I did a temporary mount by bolting it to a 2x8 with a short piece of wood joined on the end at 90º. The short piece gets clamped into the wood vise on the end of my woodworking bench. The flat part sits on the top of the bench. This results in a very solid mounting that can be removed and stored when I want to use the bench for woodworking. Of course, you have to have a heavy woodworking bench for this solution, however many mount to a flat 2x6 or 2x8 and then use clamps to temporarily attach that to a solid bench or table.

You will love your classic turret. Get some extra turret plates for other calibers, and you will be set.
 
I've been loading on a Lee Turret Press for about 30 years now, and just loaded 1000 rounds of 40 S&W on mine today. Guiding the brass into the shellholder and then up into the die becomes natural with practice, I usually use the tip of my finger to push the base of the shell, it helps it line up properly every time. Some calibers don't seem to need that nudge, I think the shellholder is part of the reason, some are squarer than others. I have several of each, so I swap them out until I find one that works better than the others.

I agree with the folks who say to mount the press on something stout, then clamp it to the Workmate. But you'd be better off clamping it to something heavier and sturdier, to avoid any movement. My Turretpress is attached to the Lee Plate kit, which is bolted to a piece of 2-inch solid-core stuff that used to be a 200-pound door. I drilled a 1" hole in the mounting plate for the primers to fall through, a piece of rubber tubing guides them down to a collection jar on the floor just out of kicking range. Depriming a little slower will keep the primers from jumping out in all directions.

BTW, my press has been neutered to single-stage use since I got it, I load in batches and do one step at a time, 300 pieces per round. That way I can check EVERY powder charge under strong light before going on to the next step. My process is as close to idiot-proof as I can make it, because I'm quite familiar with the operator, and sometimes he's a bit of an airhead! ;)
 
It looks like you bought the Deluxe Turret. I have the Classic Turret and I don't have to guide the case home at all. I did read a thread not too long ago where they found the turret head wasn't milled right. The turret head should have milled in sections where the ball detent snaps it to each station. I assume if this is off at all then it won't line up. Call Lee and they will make it better.
 
dmar said:
I started out on a Lee Turret, great little press. And yes, you just have to start the brass into the die to get it started. You'll get into a rhythm with it, it really is no big deal, does not take any extra time. If you are all thumbs, you could run the risk of pinching your finger/thumb in the die. Would probably only happen once... ;).
Click to expand...

No you do not. For 223 yes, not pistol calibers. Something is not aligned. If that was true I would have thrown mine in the river many years ago.;)

Appears we have lost the OP, he is apparently just going by the seat of his pants so all the best and hope he chimes in as to what stage he is at.:)

As Bob stated he has the regular turret and not the Classic.

I vote for turret not aligned.
We have posted links to the LEE destructions and videos.
 
Rule3 said:
No you do not. For 223 yes, not pistol calibers. Something is not aligned. If that was true I would have thrown mine in the river many years ago.;)

Appears we have lost the OP, he is apparently just going by the seat of his pants so all the best and hope he chimes in as to what stage he is at.:)

As Bob stated he has the regular turret and not the Classic.

I vote for turret not aligned.
We have posted links to the LEE destructions and videos.
Click to expand...

I would agree. Turret is not likely aligned perfectly. I've run into this same situation now and again ( with the 11 different die sets I run in my two Classic Turrets.) and a slight tweak of the index rod nut usually cures it. It's a machine, not a magic wand. It's going to need adjustment from time to time.
 
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