Dave Wilson (fc60) Master Machinist

[Larry L. Lawson]

I received dies for 30 Carbine, bullet seating and taper crimp, from Dave Wilson.  I brought same dies to Al Holloway, Holloway Engineering, Quincy, CA. who is himself a master machinist (70+).  He inspected the dies thoroughly.  He stated that the workmanship was "superb" and he, himself, could not do better--true quality workmanship.  As an amateur machinist myself, I am more than impressed with the quality of his craftsmanship.  With Al Holloway's confirmation of my opinion, I want the Star Reloader's Forum to understand what a resource we have.  Everything I have seen of his is of top quality.  Larry Lee Lawson.

[fc60]

Greetings Larry,

Thanks for the kind words.

Cheers,

Dave

[tony barone]

I'm trying to think of something I need from Dave. The dies and seater stems I received from him should have been stamped Perfection.

[lobo solo]

[no e-mail]@ Dave,
Do you have Carbide dies 38 spec???

Jim
San Diego

[fc60]

Greetings,

Yes, I can machine new replica dies for the Star.

You would be better advised to place a "wanted" ad on the forum as 38 Special are rather common. This way you would get an original die not a replica.

There were three versions of the Carbide sizing dies. 1) The Perfection Die made by Shockey. It is black in color with red paint highlighting the roll marking. 2) The Lifetyme Die which is flash chrome plated in appearance. 3) Toward the end of Star's existence and both Lifetyme and Perfection had ceased to exist, Star had the dies made by a vendor unknown to me. They are very plain in appearance and the roll marking is not very well done. The latter do function well mechanically, they just do not have the professional appearance of the Lifetyme or Perfection.

Cheers,

Dave

[ktmridin]

Dave made me a complete set of dies and did some tool head modifications and I can tell you that his work is outstanding
 it looks better that the original Star parts

He knows Star reloaders inside and out,,if you need parts that he cannot make, I am sure he will know where to find it

Thanks again Dave


Bob Settle

[Welsh Rifleman]

More positive comments to an old thread....

I recently received my 38 special taper crimp die built by Dave Wilson.....and modified per my request to make it "case kicker" friendly.

Dave's work meets all the "form, fit and function" requirements that you would expect from a Master Machinist and worked like a charm.

Add my cudos to the other positive testimonies that I have seen about Dave's work.

[Stillwater]

I have a star coming in 45 Colt. I specified tht the builder have Dave Wilson make the dies for it. In our telephone conversation the builder said he couldn't think of a better person to make the dies.

We might want to be careful throwing all of these boquetes around, Dave might begin to think he is, really that good... 

[SeymourRocks]

Greetings Larry,

Thanks for the kind words.

Cheers,

Dave

Hi Dave,                               
          So very good to hear the praises a fellow machinist that has been around for a good while.  This September will mark my 40th year in the shop.  Becoming a machinist for me was like a duck taking to water.  I earned a Class A rating in only five years by watching and listening to the old masters in awe of what they knew.  An old machinists could do wonders with a piece of worn 120 or 180 after grinding their own tool steel.  Of course I entered the craft between two eras, the end of the manual machines and true skill, and the beginning of the computer age where everything is driven by software.  It is amazing what we can do now in such a short period of time.  I now focus on programming machining centers and other CNC equipment and most of my approach is purely mental now.  I miss the days of feeling what the machine was doing and how the metal was coming off by just listening with my ears to the sounds and listening to the handles and levers with my hands.  Even the different smells would tell you something if you paid attention.   
        I remember the names like Bridgeport, Index, Cincinnati, Clausing, Le~Blond, South Bend, Morrisieki.  All names I am sure that you know by heart.  Names like the Star Progressive Re-loader that are passing with the annuls of time. Every good machinist owned a Kennedy filled with L.S. Starret or Brown & Sharp.  If you couldn't afford the good stuff you at least had Mitutoyo that was almost as good.  I lived and worked by the standards passed down to me from your generation and those before you.  Today's young men in the business just don't seem to care about what we held dear in the way of standards.   Management pushes for cycle time and profits and all too often forget about quality and pride that made the American machinist a man that was respected around the world.  For the guys with skill and talent machining was never hard work and you never minded getting out of bed for another day in the shop.  I think the best compliment I ever received was from a salesman that said to the owner, "If you want it right and you want it fast give it to Don."  So much for the trip down memory lane I was just remembering the names like R.D. Wilson, Logan Grey, Joe Davis, Jim Waters and others that taught me so much.  I just wanted to drop a few lines to someone that shares my passion.  You don't stay in the shop as long as we have and not love what you do.
Blessings and Peace, 
Don