I was looking at the swag-o-matic dies and thought I might try and make one on my little Unimat lathe. I figured I would use the hardest steel I can cut and then try to figure a way to harden it further. As for the nose punch I thought I would take a nose punch from one of lube sizers and work up the dia. I wondered what kind of steel to use. Someone posted something about air hardened steel? I will look into that. Any McGivers out there who make their own?

A suggestion. Dave Corbin has written 5 or 6 books on the art of swaging. As I remember there is info on how dies are made.
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The above address may have some info you can use.
Jim

I made my own wildcat resizing die. What you want to do is not difficult at all, just make the die you want and if you desire just case harden it.

Scrapshooter;

Making of any type bullet making/reloading die is not all that difficult if you have some basic machining skills and some knowledge of heat treating. Corbin's books would be an excellent way to learn how it's done. Perhaps there is a local tool and die shop you could visit for advice on how to make reamers and laps and to purchase small amounts of die steel. I use A6 and A10 air hardening steel for the dies and O1 for punches. Good luck!!