With the short, rainy days upon us here in the northwest, good days at the range are few and far between. So that makes it a good time to clean out my workroom and build the area I've always wanted for reloading, rifle maintenance, etc. This weekend I built the two benches shown below. Now I just have to figure out how to place the various presses, etc. Anyone have recommendations, or want to share what they've done? I currently have a single stage press, a case prep center, a scale & dispenser combo, and a primer pocket swager. I plan to add a turret press sometime soon, so I want to leave a spot for that.
Really interested to see replies to this thread. I've been struggling with how to set up my work benches as well.
Your press and swage mounted over legs of the bench are good planning, if our next press fits better in the middle of the bench just add another leg under the press, diagonal bracing to if needed.
Wall cabinets will provide storage for components and cleaning supplies.
Your powder, primers, and ammo, will benefit from more stable temperature if stored on the concrete wall.
Give some thought to having an interchangeable workstation for trimming, case prep, powder charging, and other tasks that do not require leverage. Your tools can be screwed to a piece of plywood and clamped to the bench for quick change.
There's a lot of logic in the post by Mark Davis. I suggest you heed it.
That is good advice indeed. I had not considered the benefit of the concrete wall for temperature purposes. Though the whole room maintains a pretty constant temperature, those concrete walls are the foundation for the front of the house and there is a hillside on the other side of them. But I bet those walls are at least a few more degrees more stable then the rest of the room. I'd been planning to get a wheeled craftsman toolchest or the like to hold consumables, but maybe I'll just build a cabinet on the wall. I do plan to finish the room, either drywall or wood paneling, but that's not going to change things much. I had considered making swap-able platforms for things, and I still might, but obviously the presses aren't going to be mobile, so the only two things that could be interchangeable are the case prep center and the dispenser. If I had more single-purpose tools, that would make a lot of sense.
I considered making a platform for the press itself, basically a block of wood thick enough to stably mount the press to, and then quick-release bolts to mount that platform to the bench, with each press on it's own platform. With the Summit press shown, that would work, it's very neutral in terms of pressure on it's mount. But I don't know that the Redding turret press I plan to add would be as forgiving.
I have limited space so I use a rock dock system to be able to swap presses as needed.
Www.Patmarlins.Com
Pat Marlin is a good guy and some tools he built are in my reloading room.
Never looked closely at the rock dock before, was already using 1x lumber with a couple drill press clamps. The rock dock would certainly be nice.
You are going through the same process as I went through when the ammo shortages began to creep in. Hand loading was the most viable way to do any shooting at all.
Space: I was limited by space available. My bench wound up being roughly 49" X 24". It's been my experience that it is plenty big for my purposes.
Cleanliness: hand loading components are very sensitive to solvents, oil, grease and other substances used in midnight gunsmithing (including cleaning). I try not to do anything but hand loading on this bench (I'm not always successful, but I've also paid the price.
Equipment: Size constraints forced me to have only one item permanently attached. I've had good luck with gear from In Line Manufacturing (www.inlinemanufacturing.com). Essentially their "towers" to which, with the proper plate, you can mount your press and easily swap it for a different press if the need arises. One of those towers is bolted to the bench and that is where I put the press I'm using at the time. A second tower "floats" where needed and is attached by "C" clamps.
I have two presses. I use a single stage for bottleneck cartridges and a turret for handgun cartridges.
Dies are dies (take your pick).
My swaging tool (for military brass is bolted to a piece of wood and "C" clamped in place where needed.
My powder dispenser (when needed) is mounted on the second "tower" I mentioned.
My tumblers are kept in the garage.
Here is the procedure I use (for handgun ammo; rifle is different): First I attach a decapping (only) die to my single stage press, which is mounted to one of my floating towers; my turret is mounted to the fixed tower. After decapping all the brass I plan on reloading, I put it in the tumbler (I'm partial to walnut media).
My turret press has 4 stations, which index with each stroke. I set my dies the following way: station 1: sizing die with the decap pin removed (priming is done on the down stroke of this station; station 2: powder dispenser which also bells the case; station 3: bullet seater; station 4: crimp die.
Unlike progressive presses, I only have one case going through all the stations at any one time.
Rifle cartridges are more work intensive, so I do them on my single stage press.
I'm by no means an expert. I just do what works for me.
Hope this helps.
AJ
I've built a few reloading bench's in my life, and the one thing Ive learned is once you get started loading there is always something you wish you had don't a little different.
I have an old upright 21 cubic foot freezer that I keep my cartridges, powder, primers, bullets, and other shooting related materials in. If you make sure the drain (if there is one) is sealed you can put desicant packs in it and keep the interior environment very dry and temperature will be quite stable especially if in your basement. Put a hasp and lock on it and it is very secure. NOBODY that has seen my 'freezer' suspects what is inside until I open it up. You can get them for almost nothing.
John