.he CHAPTER 14 CORBIN HANDBOOK AND CATALOG NO. 7, PAGE #

                              CORBIN SWAGE PRESSES

          There  are  three  presses  currently made by  Corbin  for  bullet 
     swaging.   These are the Mity Mite press,  the Mega Mite press, and the 
     Corbin Hydro-press.  They are discussed in detail in previous chapters.  
     The  operation  of  the Corbin Hydro-press is discussed  in  the  book, 
     "Power Swaging", D. Corbin.
          On  special order,  Corbin has built air presses and other  custom 
     machinery for military and special ammunition manufacturing operations.  
     Whenever possible,  I would suggest that you consider the  Hydro-press.  
     This  machine will handle nearly any kind of job you have now or in the 
     future.   The cost of building special,  one-of-a-kind versions of some 
     other design, even if it appears to be quite a bit more simple, usually 
     involves  enough set-up and development time that a person  would  have 
     been  better  off financially to purchase the more  versatile  standard 
     product.
          A great many ideas which have merit also have development and set-
     up  costs associated with them,  which make them less economical than a 
     person  would  imagine  in  comparison  to  a  well-developed  standard 
     product.   I mention this because I am constantly asked to build or  at 
     least  to quote on modifications to reloading presses,  adding power to 
     the Mity Mite press, building dies that would fit into some punch press 
     or home-made press, etc.  
          The design of the press used for swaging has to be closely matched 
     to the punches and dies,  not only the ones made today but the ones you 
     might  need in the future.   Years of consideration have gone into  the 
     design of the present systems, in order to make them true systems which 
     work  together,   have  replaceable  components,   and  have  as   much 
     interchange as it is practical to obtain between various operations and 
     tools.  
          While  another press might be perfectly suitable to the one job at 
     hand,  when  one looks down the road a little way,  it becomes  evident 
     that  most  special  designs and modifications to  other  presses  have 
     built-in  problems with replacement parts,  expansion to new  products, 
     and  versatility.   Basically,  why re-invent the wheel every time  you 
     need  something different,  when so much time and thought  has  already 
     been put into developing swaging systems that can grow with your needs?
          It stands to reason that if a company makes thousands of identical 
     punches and dies, it will cost far less for much higher quality than if 
     they had to stop,  figure out what you need this time, and build it all 
     from  scratch.   In  the Corbin systems,  we have combined a degree  of 
     custom adaptation to your needs with a base of standard components  and 
     dimensions.   Thousands  of  blanks,  semi-finished parts,  are run  in 
     production.   Hundreds of  them  are turned into standard sets  in  the 
     popular calibers.   Then,  custom orders are filled using the  standard 
     dimensions  and  materials  with which the die-makers  have  become  so 
     familiar.  
          Rather than starting from scratch each time,  your custom order is 
     based  on  generations  of accumulated  experience  and  semi-finished, 
     standard  blanks  that can be more quickly finished to the exact  shape 
     and size you need without distrubing the versatility of the system.  
          The popular magazines often state that Corbin's major contribution  
     to  the shooting industry has been the development of a wide  range  of 
     swaging products and hundreds of articles on swaging techniques. I feel 
     that the most important single thing we have done for shooting has been 
     the development of the semi-custom production method, where most of the 
     benefits of mass production are retained,  and most of the benefits  of 
     totally hand-made,  custom products are still realized.  
          Small  wonder that Corbin has been swamped with orders for over  a 
     decade,  with no end in sight.   Prices are kept in the mass-production 
     range,  but the results are custom made with skilled die-makers working 
     one-to-one  with  you  on your order.   When I hear  someone  offer  an 
     improvement,  I listen... but looking at the whole picture, I think the 
     general welfare of most shooters is served well by the present course.

      
     CSP-1  Corbin Swage Press, Mity Mite Model
          The  Mity Mite is a 2-inch stroke,  balanced torque swaging  press 
     with  horizontal ram,  having the die in the ram and the external punch 
     in  a  floating  punch holder in the  press  head.   This  arrangement, 
     together  with  the  geometry of the  ram  and  punches,  permits  self 
     ejection on the back stroke.  
          The  CSP-1 press takes a die with 5/8-24 TPI thread,  which screws 
     finger-tight into the ram.   The external punch is held in the floating 
     punch holder (in the press head) by means of a hexagon-flanged threaded 
     bushing,  which slips over the punch and presses against its head.  The 
     floating punch holder and details of press operation are covered in the 
     prior chapter on the Mity Mite system.

     CSP-2  Corbin Swage Press, Mega Mite Model
          The  Mega  Mite  is a long-stroke,  balanced  torque  swaging  and 
     reloading press, built to accept reloading dies and shell holders, Mity 
     Mite  dies  and punches,  and Hydro-press dies  and  punches.   Various 
     adapters  and inserts change the press to suit the kind of  dies  being 
     used.  
          The  Mega Mite is quite possibly the strongest and most  certainly 
     the most precisely built hand press available for the handloader today.  
     It  is  machined from steel,  with the ram moving on  bearings  against 
     hardened  and  ground guide rods.   While it cannot substitute for  the 
     power and stroke control of the electronically controlled  Hydro-press, 
     the  CSP-2 fills a need for those who wish to manufacture bullets  just 
     larger  than the sizes which the CSP-1 can handle,  or in harder alloys 
     than are recommended for the CSP-1 dies.  
          Because  many other reloading manufacturers have  concentrated  on 
     progressive  type  presses,  most of which do not have the strength  or 
     simple rigid design features required of a heavy-duty reloading  press, 
     the  CSP-2  finds  use  as the ultimate hand  press  for  the  advanced 
     handloader  as  well as a premium choice for the person who  wishes  to 
     invest in only one universal handloading press.

     CHP-1 Mark IV  Corbin Hydro-press
          The  Hydro-press (trade-marked name of the CHP-1 series) has  gone 
     through  four generations of development.   The current model (Mark IV) 
     incorporates  all the features of the earlier models,  plus  electronic 
     proximity  sensing transducers and pressure  transducers,  solid  state 
     dwell time control,  and accuracy far beyond the ability of an ordinary 
     hydraulic or manual press.  
          The  great  power  of this system is secondary  to  its  precision 
     control.  The ability to precisely set stroke length, maximum pressure, 
     the  time the pressure will be held,  the speed with which the ram will 
     move,  and the point of ejection of the bullet (as well as the stopping 
     position for loading in another component),  is coupled with programmed 
     stroke cycles that offer manual, one-stroke, or automatic stroke modes.
          Even  the various modes offer programmable methods of  determining 
     how the component will be formed.  Operations which depend upon precise 
     volume  generation  use  electronic position sensing and  stop  when  a 
     precise volume has been achieved in the die.   Operations which  depend 
     more  on accurate pressure levels use the built-in pressure transducers 
     to  apply  a  pre-set level of pressure and then hold  it  for  a  pre-
     determined  length of time before backing off the ram and ejecting  the 
     part.
          The  ram  can be set to move like the hour-hand of  a  clock,  for 
     set up of a new operation.   Then, the throttle control can be adjusted 
     for  ram  velocity  of up to 120 inches per minute -- faster  than  any 
     conventional electric hydraulic system of 20-ton capacity,  capable  of 
     operating from ordinary household current.  The secret is the multiplex 
     or time-shared technology that makes the system appear to be developing 
     impossible  efficiency  from the 1.5 HP motor,  gaining both speed  and 
     pressure out of proportion to the power used.
          Since  swaging  only  requires maximum power at  the  end  of  the 
     stroke,  most  operations  utilize the high speed only to move the  ram 
     into  position and apply the first 500 psi of drive pressure.   If  the 
     system  calls for more than 500 psi drive,  then the second pump  takes 
     the load and moves up to 2000 psi more pressure into the lines.   Since 
     the  movement  has already been handled by  the  high-speed  pump,  the 
     automatic  pressure  switching  circuits make the press  appear  to  be 
     running  at  both  high  speed  and high pressure  at  the  same  time.  
     Actually, the system switches from one mode to the other instantly, and 
     is  only using the exact amount of power required to handle either  one 
     or the other.
          The  drive  line pressure is multiplied 8.3 times  by  the  system 
     before  being applied to the swage punches.   A drive line pressure  of 
     only  1000  psi produces 8300 pounds of ram force.   The ram  force  is 
     further  multiplied  by  being channeled through the punch  face  area,  
     which can result in pressures well over 170,000 psi inside of the swage 
     die.   A  chart of pressures in the dies for a given gauge pressure  on 
     the CHP-1 can be found in the book "Power Swaging".

     EX-10 Lead Wire Extruder
          This machine is not a swage press, but a special purpose lead wire 
     manufacturing machine for commercial operators.   It is one of the most 
     economical and versatile extruders available today,  costing a fraction 
     of  what most lead plants have had to invest in  their  machines.   For 
     making spools of 1,  5,  or 10 pounds of lead wire, hollow core fishing 
     wire,  or special extruded shapes for stained glass work, the EX-10 can 
     serve as the basis for a profitable home business.   Utilizing a 2-inch 
     diameter  billet,  the EX-10 operates from 220 volt single phase 60  Hz 
     power  (using the same kind of electricity as a standard electric dryer 
     or  range in the USA -- special versions can be built for 50 Hz  or  3-
     phase operation).  
          The ram automatically advances into the huge extrusion die, and is 
     controlled by pressure transducers.  When the pressure reaches a preset 
     safe level at the end of the stroke, the ram reverses and retracts from 
     the die.  If anything should cause the system to meet undue resistance, 
     the  ram will reverse and back out of the die.   At the full extent  of 
     the  back-stroke,  the  ram stops and the system goes into  idle  state 
     again, waiting for another billet to be inserted.
          Lead extruded from the EX-10 can be coiled or cut as it comes out, 
     in order to make convenient packages.  Extrusion rate is fast enough to 
     be  practical,  yet slow enough so that it is easy to handle the output 
     without  expensive high speed coilers and feeds.   Even a simple  hand-
     wound  bobbin  is adequate.   The billet size and  machine  design  are 
     suitable  for one-man handling and operation.   Unlike larger  machines 
     which use billets too large for safe handling by one person,  the EX-10 
     makes a compact package for the garage operation.
