Deprimer automation

I built deprime tools to deprime brass (.38SPL and .45) by inserting the tool in a drill press, and using the feed handle to lower the tool into the brass, and pop the primer out. Effective, but laborious.
Any ideas on how to power, or automate this process, short of buying a commercial depriming setup?
Perhaps pneumatic, or electric solenoid? I'm keen to build something that takes the arm work out of the operation, and is quicker. Somebody must have been down this road before.

Rent a depriming Sherpa! 
Get a Lee APP for close to $100…works great for that purpose. Yes, it is commercial….

Some progressive presses have automation kits available, but that seems to get pricey.

+1 TonyH

The Lee APP is a great little tool. I clean my brass to get rid of any range debris, spray a little Hornady one-shot on about 200 cases at a time in a deep Aluminum Roasting pan (Dollar Store). I've got a mount above the APP so that I can easily switch my Dillon case feeder over. Size and deprime as fast I can pull the handle, almost effortless. Brilliant. 

Then I run the brass again briefly through the vibro to get rid of the one-shot and shine it up. Perfect for loading.

this is what I came up with for my process; essentially a holder for the brass, and you pop out the primers with a handheld deprimer rod and a mallet.  Takes about a second each and there's no pulling a handle.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTxmTUc-mgH6euO_mfXRsQw

Look up SPEED-DE-CAPPER on Facebook.

I am wondering why you deprime brass in a separate operation?

BE Mike wrote:I am wondering why you deprime brass in a separate operation?

In my case, I deprime all fired brass on a Lee APP prior to wet tumble cleaning with steel pins. The pins clean out the primer pockets as well, and as an added bonus, there is no primer gunk in the press during the reloading process. Just how my own process has evolved over the years.....no more dry media tumbling for me.

BE Mike wrote:I am wondering why you deprime brass in a separate operation?

Found out the hard way that not depriming before cleaning caused a buildup of crud in the primer pocket that prevented a new primer from seating properly causing "no Fires". This was after 4-5 reloads. .38SPL

Speed Decapper very cool! Where do I get one?

Centerline- same question- where do I get those plastic blocks?

That Lee APP may save me lots of machine development time!

Thanks all!

jwax wrote:Centerline- same question- where do I get those plastic blocks?

I'll PM when I get a chance tonight.  It's an invention I developed to speed up my steel pin cleaning and loading process.  Right now it's a direct ship 3D printed thing.

Centerline - very cool invention. Very well thought out, good job!

I use tool head with Lee Universal decapping die on 650.  In combination with case feeder it is relatively fast and not very tiresome. 

AP

There is this.  NFI.  https://www.ebay.com/itm/265194116568?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=711-53200-19255-0&campid=5338273189&customid=&toolid=10001&pub=5575378759&icep_ff3=1&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg&ul_ref=https%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%252Frover%252F1%252F711-127632-2357-0%252F16%253Fswd%253D2%2526itm%253D0%2526mpre%253Dhttps%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.ebay.com%25252Fitm%25252F265194116568%25253Fmkevt%25253D1%252526mkcid%25253D1%252526mkrid%25253D711-53200-19255-0%252526campid%25253D5338273189%252526customid%25253D%252526toolid%25253D10001%252526pub%25253D5575378759%252526icep_ff3%25253D1%252526ipn%25253Dpsmain%252526icep_vectorid%25253D229466%252526kwid%25253D902099%252526mtid%25253D824%252526kw%25253Dlg%2526user_name%253Dreddutch1%2526spid%253D2380784%2526mplxParams%253Duser_name%25252Citm%25252Cswd%25252Cmpre%25252C%2526sojTags%253Dswd%25253Dswd%25252Cdu%25253Dmpre%25252Citm%25253Ditm%25252Cuser_name%25253Duser_name%25252Cspid%25253Dspid%25252Csuri%25253Dsuri%25252C%2526srcrot%253D711-127632-2357-0%2526rvr_id%253D2959459242648%2526rvr_ts%253D1ae190b217a0ac6b83d20b6fffdb2322

Not cheap.  The Lee APP is much more versatile.

Centerline, neat idea!

Have you tried a matching block with decapping pins to deprime all at once? Maybe a smaller pin module would work to reduce the force needed.

I guess I'm on the other end of the argument. I never cleaned pistol brass primer pockets and never had a problem. To me, wet tumbling requires a lot more time and effort than dry media tumbling. Actually I don't think tumbling brass to polish it actually does any practical good, it just makes brass pretty and easier to find in the grass. I must admit that I dry tumble my brass in a Lortone QT-12 with crushed walnut shells and a little liquid Flitz. I don't decap the brass prior to putting it in to pretty it up.

bruce martindale wrote:Have you tried a matching block with decapping pins to deprime all at once? Maybe a smaller pin module would work to reduce the force needed.

I've thought about it.  Not being specifically for decapping, there's probably better single-purpose machines.  This is more of a multi-use helper for the whole process, from decapping to drying to inspecting to loading.  Because it's modular it does have the ability to interface with other units like it does with the decap module, so there is potential.  I think the decap all at once would require a lot of force, really good alignment (and not all brass is perfect), and also it would be expensive for all the pins.  The way it is now it sped up my process significantly and gave me better confidence in the outcome, so I'm happy with how it works.  I think there's a potential of having other units which work with the modules such as trays to drop into loading blocks or drop loaded bullets into storage bins and such.  Or have a special tray to go into a dehydrator/dryer.
I was thinking after they were oriented vertically they could be lined up single-file and fed through a decapper quickly, but again, probably not much faster than the "pop it with a mallet" version.  It's pretty quick.

https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutube.com%2Fshorts%2F1oLLZ9o97yk%3Ffeature%3Dshare%26fbclid%3DIwAR25f_eNCgzLeHYlTU-S-4a4MOF-ySZjrFSwFJJ03FymV7iygSSjK2gk50g&h=AT0FmDptCyaJAbCPXEFsBFpC3YcHcr7UKSNngVt5GYb5Nc6TAb8NkD_Nzx__3j_CxKW_2Xap3yw8RdhWdhZR1sdW25jKcmCDIRelmrOxQEXc9eCqFSCt7_ct4u2MeWhoEbCG

Check it out, running the prototype.


This 12 pounds took about thirty minutes with a collator shaker assistant.

Neat machine Multi racer.

Centerline- Haven't heard back from you.
Also waiting to hear if they are available in .38SPL also.

Hey jwax, I got your e-mail and sent a message back from the casemgr100@gmail.com address; it might have gone to your junk mail.  In short, I'd be willing to send you a unit to evaluate.  .45 works for .38 spl with some workarounds (the unit is made for automatic cases; there's nothing to grab to for .38; they tend to slide thru unless you hold it just right, but it works).  Send me an address somehow and I'll get one out to you in .45. -cl

Thanks for the reply Carson!
Looking forward to using your tooling!

Carson, I got the setup tonight. It is an exciting idea and I look forward to testing it. I appreciate your speedy shipping, clear instructions and personal note. Class act.