Any DIY baffles for Redding Model 3.

[tpcollins]

I bought a used Redding Model 3 powder measure and wanted to get a baffle for it - Midway has them for $5.89 but wants a $3 special handling fee plus another $7+ for shipping. Has anyone ever made their own baffle? Thanks.

[Unclenick]

I made this PDF file of templates some time ago, and used to have it up for download at drop.io, but the service was bought out and extinguished. The cut at the end that lets the powder through can be any shape you prefer if you don't like mine.

[overkill0084]

That pdf is great.
Here I was going to suggest he cut up a beer can, bend it to suit, and use that.
With midway, I tend to wait until I need several things before placing an order. Ordering just the powder baffle would suck.
Just curious, did the used measure come with the Universal chamber or the Pistol chamber? If you load pistol, the pistol chamber is almost mandatory for the smaller calibers. Ask me how I know...

[tpcollins]

Unclenick - that file was fantastic. I hit print, went upstair to get the 3 pages and here was all these templates of various sizes. I'm ready to rock.

Overkill - I don't know what tube chamber I have since it hasn't arrived yet. But I'm going to make two baffles for it when it does.

[wncchester]

"Has anyone ever made their own baffle? Thanks."

Yes.

[Mike / Tx]

"Unclenick" - I made this PDF file of templates some time ago, and used to have it up for download.....

Hey there Nick, Man I got that a LONG time ago, in fact forgot just where I got it from. I have made several from it. As soon as I saw the title of the post I was going to shoot it to him.

Thanks for making that up, I have shared it with LOTS of folks since I got it.

[Unclenick]

Glad folks are finding it useful.

BTW, this being tax season, I'm reminded by IRS PDF forms just how many extra pages PDF files sometimes contain that you don't need to print. Its hard not to use the clicking reflex before you remember, but you can usually select in the printer dialog box which pages you want printed and skip the others. Spray glue them onto your tin can or whatever material you want to use, get out the tin snips, and away you go.

Next, paper airplanes for training the beginner on shotgun…

[jchurchwe]

Can anyone repost the pdf file, it appears corrupted. Thanks

[FrankenMauser]

The file is fine. Try downloading it again, and making sure you have a current and clean Adobe Reader installation (or suitable substitute).

[Mike / Tx]

Well that was what I was going to pass along as well.

Nick, I got that seemingly forever ago. Like mentioned by others, I have also passed it on to plenty of folks via email. It's one of those little things that just works and works well. I know I have mentioned it in the past but again thanks for putting it up all these years.

[LSU]

Great PDF. Thanks.

[GWS]

Below is a PDA similar to Uncle Nick's only the cutouts are like the RCBS cutouts, for those who prefer it. The patterns are specific for Redding and RCBS Uniflows.
Attachment 91293 These are made with Autocad so are easily modifiable to fit any brand hopper. I just have to rescale it to another diameter.

Those who wish one specific for a hopper with a diameter not included with these or Uncle Nick's only have to post the exact inside diameter of their hopper and I'd be glad to resize the drawing and post it. BTW, these only have to be printed out. Most ink jets will size them perfectly, 1 to 1. I size the patterns exact inside diameter of the hopper minus .05" to allow it to slide in easily.

I like to use aluminum license plate blanks. Copper or brass sheet works great too.

[Unclenick]

GWS,

Thanks for adding that. I had considered adding that and the straight sided slot to my original file, which is also a CAD file that's simple to scale. Note that my RCBS Uniflow measures 2.073" while yours is 2.076". I suspect the target is 2.075" with some allowance for mold wear and for resin and operator variables.

I find few printers scale exactly equally on each axis, but the trend toward photo printing capability has certainly improved them. Oddly enough, one of the worst offenders was the "professional" HP inkjet large format plotter at work, which made CAD drawings about 3% wider than long. It's also due to paper feed precision. Anyway, that's why I included corner registration marks in my templates as a check. The PDF file should not distort pixel count, but paper feed mechanisms can sure fail to advance the paper an exact number of pixels.


All readers:

This thread might be a good place for folks to post the diameters of various powder measure hoppers, then GWS or I can add drawings for specific measures. I'll add in the following from my other powder measures:

Dillon hopper ID: Ø=2.375"

Lee Perfect hopper ID: Ø=2.300"

PACT dispenser hopper ID: Ø=2.225"

JDS Quick Measure hopper ID: Ø=1.875"

I'll go ahead and modify a page with these and attach it and also add the two slot patterns. Just pick the color of the slot pattern you want and cut out along it. If someone comes up with the Hornady or Lyman hopper sizes, one of us can add them.

(Link now in post #17, below)

[GWS]

Ahh! You are the draftsman as well as the guy with the idea. Super....and your updated file handles things very nicely. I like the "named" dimensions on the new file, but adding the original decimal would be nice to have included given the difference between individual hoppers. If you will add the Redding with the 2" I.D., I'll just delete my PDF....no need to duplicate. (Well, I would've deleted it....the edit button disappeared....not sure why vbulletin has that really really annoying feature.)

Illustrating the size difference between individual Uniflow hoppers (as you pointed out): I have 3 from 2 different time periods and the I.D. diameters of the hoppers varied from 2.086" to 2.074". I just went with the largest since it's easy to file it down....not so easy to add metal. I even found a difference in diameter down the hopper....it got smaller a little as it went down....requiring a little more filing still. I measured with my calipers as deep as they would go.

A pattern is just to get you close.....like bore sighting. A vice and a file finishes the fit in another few minutes.

Unclenick, this is your show, whatever you want to delegate I'd be glad to help out and post.....otherwise I'll defer to your drawings. (I will clean up my cad standards ... didn't know a professional was watching. )

BTW, Unclenick what cad software are you using?.....at home or at work?

On the printers: The old HP large format I have at the office is a pain....you had to calibrate it often or it will do exactly what you describe. The paper drives also have to be kept clean. If you work in a large office you are usually at the mercy of others for that. The el-cheapo Cannon ink jet (to 11X17) I have here at home does it perfect. They are improving to be sure.

[Unclenick]

I thought about including the dimensions, but ran out of space on the page. I suppose I could just shrink the text.

I'm using the TurboCad Platinum pro version at home. It gets me full 3D capabilities at close to Autocad LT prices. Also, I've used it since it first came out, so it's familiar to me. It exports .DXF and other common formats. I've also used AutoCAD and SolidWorks at work in the past.

A lot of the hoppers are injection molded, so it's not surprising there'd be a draft angle for release from the mold. Others, like the Quick Measure, just seem to use a length of plastic mailing tube and should be uniform in diameter. I should go back and stick a small hole gauge into my measures to check for that change in height. I just used the width at the opening for that page. As you say, you can always take metal off.

I'm just assuming a sharp 90° bend in the baffle, so the underlying ellipse long axis is just the square root of two times longer than the narrow axis, and then is truncated further by the powder drop slot cuts. I didn't bother to add a bend allowance. Neither the angle nor the exact long dimension are very critical. If you make it short short you can just have a wider angle and vice-versa. So, the way the page is oriented it's really only the height dimension that needs to be fairly close (10" between my corner marks).

[GWS]

I'm using the TurboCad Platinum pro version at home. It gets me full 3D capabilities at close to Autocad LT prices.

Interesting...I use Autocad Architectural at work and home...yeah...I have to take work home sometimes....when you own your own business there are perks and not-so-perks. My 3-d skills are not what I'd like....in my business I don't get a lot of practice. Most customers won't pay for the extra time involved. TurboCad is way cheaper and I hear the 3-d is easier to grasp....I should try it. I could send you either .DXF or .DWG......but it appears there's no rush on people clamoring for this. Most people will buy 'em. I want to buy one of the fatter Uniflow hoppers for rifle loading....just haven't yet. Don't know what they measure....in fact I think they have two sizes oversized.

A lot of the hoppers are injection molded, so it's not surprising there'd be a draft angle for release from the mold.

You're right....I didn't even think about mold release.

I'm just assuming a sharp 90° bend in the baffle, so the underlying ellipse long axis is just the square root of two times longer than the narrow axis, and then is truncated further by the powder drop slot cuts. I didn't bother to add a bend allowance. Neither the angle nor the exact long dimension are very critical. If you make it short short you can just have a wider angle and vice-versa. So, the way the page is oriented it's really only the height dimension that needs to be fairly close (10" between my corner marks).

Square Root! LOL! That reminds me of school. Do you remember learning how to use a slide rule? Do you still know how? I gained & lost that skill in the 70's, but I always think about how astronauts in the Apollo mission went to the moon and back using slide rule calcs to aim their ship!

I'd be in big trouble without my cad computer. When the lights go out its back to the dark ages. I just used a side view....and 2 lines at 45 degrees from the centerline of the hopper (perpendicular to each other) to the hopper inside edge....dimensioned then added both lines together to get my long dimension. This might amuse you. I printed out your Uniflow pattern and super-imposed it over mine over a light box and there was less than a sixteenth difference in length! See...there is hope for the illiterate.

[Unclenick]

Ahh. I thought maybe that was a bend allowance as some of the aluminum baffles that are commercially made are thick enough to warrant one. But an aluminum can skin doesn't really need it.

I still have a nice bamboo 5" slide rule that the engineer father of a college girlfriend gave me when I did him a favor. It has trig functions and other niceties, but getting past the third decimal place with one is unreliable. Calculators and computers help with that.

I'll have to change my Redding outline to 2". I borrowed your 1.950" number because I couldn't locate my 30BR's hopper. Some years ago I had swapped it out for one of the Sinclair kits that adapts a rectangular bottle on top, like the the benchrest measures use. It's still there somewhere in the cellar, but I just couldn't lay my hands on it in a timely fashion (like, I need time to clean up the whole basement).

Attached at the bottom is the updated page. I took the basic 1" short dimension model and exported it in .DWG format. The exports often mess with texts and dimensioning arrows, so I can't guarantee that will come out, but basic geometry should be right. You can download a copy, here:

Download link.

[MEATSAW]

I'd be interested in getting one for hoppers for my Lee auto disc pro. I tried the 2 3/8" baffle and it didn't work because I didn't take into account the fact that the hopper inner diameter got less near the bottom, as I just measured the top ID.

[Unclenick]

We need a diameter, and I don't have one of those measures. Can you cut a strip of paper and go around the inside of the hopper with it in firm contact at the height where you want the baffle to be, then mark it where the end of the last turn of the paper laps the first turn, then remove it and measure that length? Divide the length by pi (3.14159…) to get diameter at that point.