Forster Case Trimmer Cutter

wilee.wade

wilee.wade

New member
I recently bought a used Forster case trimmer on E-Bay. I have since purchased the collets and pilots for it and was sitting down to mess around with it last night. I thought the cutter looked good on the trimmer when I received it, but found that it takes A LOT of pressure to get it to start trimming (if at all). Upon further inspection, it does look like the cutter may be worn out. How long do these typically last? I am just assuming that it shouldn't take much pressure (towards the case) to trim. I have not done it before but was thinking that it would probably be the other extreme, it would be too easy to take too much off.

Thank you in advance for your help and suggestions.
 
Originally Posted By: wilee.wadeI recently bought a used Forster case trimmer on E-Bay. I have since purchased the collets and pilots for it and was sitting down to mess around with it last night. I thought the cutter looked good on the trimmer when I received it, but found that it takes A LOT of pressure to get it to start trimming (if at all). Upon further inspection, it does look like the cutter may be worn out. How long do these typically last? I am just assuming that it shouldn't take much pressure (towards the case) to trim. I have not done it before but was thinking that it would probably be the other extreme, it would be too easy to take too much off.

Thank you in advance for your help and suggestions.


Wilee:

The cutter will never wear out if it was used as instructed; as yours is used it may/may not have been misapplied i.e. the previous owner could have attempted [wrongly] to use it to trim steel cases! Who knows...

Call Forster to see if they will check it for sharpness/provide a re-sharpen. They will also likely send you instructions for free; their customer service is excellent.
 
Sounds like it was misused to me.
You can get replacement parts through companies like Midway. I've seen the replacement cutter shafts for sale.
 
If it's not too bad you can touch it up with a small sharpening stone and improve the cut. Have to be careful to match the angles of the cutter though or you'll make it worse. Like mentioned, Midway has a replacement cutter shaft for not too much and it'll be new again. I bought one for mine a while back.
 
Thank you guys for all of the help. Received my new shaft/cutter today from Midway. Tried trimming some cases, it is as easy as I thought it should be. The other one I had was definitely shot.

Thank you again!
 
People have a nasty habit of being impatient and putting too much pressure on the cutter when trimming. I have seen people do that with the Wilson case trimmers too. My wilson has done thousands of cases on the original cutter and zero problems. The forster should be the same way. Take your time and let the tool do the cutting.
 
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