3D printed Lee Micro Disk.

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

The Lee Micro Disk is long been discontinued and it's difficult to find a used one.
Someone here mentioned there is a program in Thingverse for 3D printing it. I have a friend who does 3D printing, so I asked to have a couple sets printed last week.



The Thingverse program for Micro Disk had a few notes about needing to be finished, meaning they need sanding for fit and function. I've seen some printed items that have considerable lines making a rough texture, I am assuming that might be what the original programer ran into. I told my printer this info, and that the slide bar part needs to be super smooth. She suggested a couple filaments and printer settings that would do that and using her best printer (she has seven printers), which was a much better type of printer then the one mentioned by the Thingverse programmer who created the file.
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I had her make two sets. Interestingly, if you enlarge the photo, you can see lines that are typical of 3D printed items, but these parts she made, feel smooth as can be, weird.
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I have tested both sets, testing each cavity. The quick answer is they worked flawlessly, there was NO sanding or polishing or adjusting needed of any kind. I had almost zero powder spillage with those two powders and drops were every bit as consistence as the standard disks (with large cavities) that Lee provides.
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For my testing, I used the Lee Pro-Auto Disk powder measure, mounted in a 4 hole turret with a 9mm luger Die set, so I could replicate the typical vibrations the turret press provides, which helps eliminate powder bridging with flake powders like Red Dot.
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I tested all cavities of the two disks. I used Alliant Bullseye with the first set and some 1970s vintage Hercules Red Dot in the second set. These are the two most likely powders I'd use in the micro disk (charges under 3.0cc).
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Pre-test setup included 7 powder drops through each cavity to prep/equalize the disk/bar set, which also puts a tiny layer of graphite from the powder. I then measured the next 3 or 4 drops through each and documented. I would rotate the turret press with handle in auto-indexing mode for each drop, to simulate actually loading of ammo.
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