Reload bench setup help

Pinard

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Ottawa
Hi first of, I am looking forward to reload .308 on a single stage press

This kit: LEE CLASSIC CAST BREECH LOCK SINGLE STAGE PRESS KIT

Before I place the order, anyone advising not using this one?

I'm on a budget and this is a complete kit I can start with for under 500$


Second: I have a relatively small available space for my bench

I have 56'' x 32'' how should I use that space? What height should I build it? desk height to work sitting or higher to work standing?

Never built a desk before so if you have already made plans I can modify dimensions to it and be sturdy and stable; I can't bolt anything to the floor or wall.

Finally, any advise on material I should use for it, no need for fancy stuff, just functionnal bench to start.

Cheers !
 
Not much help on the desk building, but the kit is what I started with. I still use the press, but upgraded the scale and thrower. I've made sub MOA ammo all day long with it.
 
There are some great ideas in the forums on benches just do a search ..

:agree:

Been doing some looking myself as I am getting back into reloading.

Previously I had a simple workbench I got off of kijiji, similar to the ones you can get at CDN tire, about 4 feet long 30 inches deep.

One thing I really found to be nice was I got a piece of 1/4" aluminum sheared for a table top, made it nice to work on.

Another thing to consider is good lighting.

Other than that use your imagination and be prepared to switch things around as the amount of equipment grows over time.


PS, definitely want to be able to do all this while seated.
 
I'm not a huge Lee fan these days due to having reloaded with a bunch of it and found issues. But if that's what your budget can spare then go for it. I have to admit that there's a lot in the box for not a huge outlay. And if you get a good one then great. it'll last easily for years to come and thousands of rounds.

The 56 x 32" space. Are we talking about a closet or just a little alcove at the end of a room? The answer will matter a LOT! Any chance of a picture showing the space and a little of the surrounding area? Or at least a better description?

You'll be there for a couple of hours at a time on more than a few occasions. Are you OK with standing that long or will you become fatigued and possibly start to lose concentration? I know I sure do so sitting is better for me. Which means you likely want a bit of a knee well area. And that means less storage under the working surface.

Either way I don't recommend a deeper work top then a kitchen standard 24 inches if it is up against the wall. Issues with reaching the rear will cause you to fill that area with junk and that leads to a mess and lack of organization which can lead to mis-identifying powders if more than one bottle is out at a time and other issues. So keep it around 20 to 24 inches deep front to back.

Any way you look at it you want a very sturdy top to the bench so the top won't flex when you're pulling on the lever. And flex it will because that lever on a smaller press has a large multiplication of force at the base of the press. So I'm a fan of two layers of 3/4 fir plywood liberally glued and screwed together to form one solid 1.5 inch top. If you use sanded 2 sides and find a fairly flat piece the top will come out nice and flat and glue together with a great joint. Screw from below with dry wall screws. After the glue dries remove the screws so you can drill down from above when needed without hitting the screws by accident. The glue will hold it just fine.

With such a small area you'll want to ensure you have a good flexible system for holding your press and other presses or a vise in place without crowding the working surface. To that end I'd suggest something I did on my last build. I drilled a pattern of holes about 5 inches in from the front edge and in your case I'd put them 4 inches apart. From underneath install 5/16" top hat or "T" nuts. Then mount your press onto a sub plate that bolts to the top through these holes. The sub plate can be two layers of that same 3/4" plywood glued and screwed together again. This way you can place the press anywhere in 4 inch steps along the bench or put it away if you want to clear the top for some other use, use a different press or want to use a machinist's vise mounted to another sub plate and bolted to the top.

A kitchen dish cabinet mounted above with a good work light installed on the lower side will both give you a good amount of storage for supplies and tooling and light up the working area as well. Install a glare shield to avoid direct light in your eyes.

The rest of the idea I'll leave until you describe the location more clearly or provide us with photos.
 
for the cost the breech lock press is ok, with lee dies. I have reloaded 600 rounds of 300 win mag with that without issue.
With time, you will probably want to spend a bit more to upgrade some items, but you need to start somewhere at a cost that is ok for you so go ahead it will work.
 
I disagree with Surfclod about being seated to reload. From where I am I can't see how tall you are, but I would make my bench top at belt buckle height. This is a nice comfortable height to work on while standing and you can get an adjustable height stool to take a load off your feet when desired. A change is as good as a rest :) Also, make a small shelf to put your scale on so it will be isolated from the vibration of using the press on the bench top. Eye level is best for accurate reading of a balance beam scale. You will find that you need to change things around to make it ergonomic for you. Do it. Comfort = enjoyment.
 
Got the Lee breech lock kit for a starter setup too a few months back, very happy with it. It was mentioned above to have good lighting - VERY important if you have old(er) eyes ;) .
 
I would suggest you have a look at the Lee Classic Cast single stage press.

I don't think the breech lock bushings are worth the effort, changing dies is no great hardship.. Just my .02 cents.:)

I'll take a look into it thanks

As for kits, do consider the RCBS kits.

With the current rebate available it makes it a bit more competitive than you might think.

I'll see if a complete kit from them still floats around 500$


I'm not a huge Lee fan these days due to having reloaded with a bunch of it and found issues. But if that's what your budget can spare then go for it. I have to admit that there's a lot in the box for not a huge outlay. And if you get a good one then great. it'll last easily for years to come and thousands of rounds.

The 56 x 32" space. Are we talking about a closet or just a little alcove at the end of a room? The answer will matter a LOT! Any chance of a picture showing the space and a little of the surrounding area? Or at least a better description?

You'll be there for a couple of hours at a time on more than a few occasions. Are you OK with standing that long or will you become fatigued and possibly start to lose concentration? I know I sure do so sitting is better for me. Which means you likely want a bit of a knee well area. And that means less storage under the working surface.

Either way I don't recommend a deeper work top then a kitchen standard 24 inches if it is up against the wall. Issues with reaching the rear will cause you to fill that area with junk and that leads to a mess and lack of organization which can lead to mis-identifying powders if more than one bottle is out at a time and other issues. So keep it around 20 to 24 inches deep front to back.

Any way you look at it you want a very sturdy top to the bench so the top won't flex when you're pulling on the lever. And flex it will because that lever on a smaller press has a large multiplication of force at the base of the press. So I'm a fan of two layers of 3/4 fir plywood liberally glued and screwed together to form one solid 1.5 inch top. If you use sanded 2 sides and find a fairly flat piece the top will come out nice and flat and glue together with a great joint. Screw from below with dry wall screws. After the glue dries remove the screws so you can drill down from above when needed without hitting the screws by accident. The glue will hold it just fine.

With such a small area you'll want to ensure you have a good flexible system for holding your press and other presses or a vise in place without crowding the working surface. To that end I'd suggest something I did on my last build. I drilled a pattern of holes about 5 inches in from the front edge and in your case I'd put them 4 inches apart. From underneath install 5/16" top hat or "T" nuts. Then mount your press onto a sub plate that bolts to the top through these holes. The sub plate can be two layers of that same 3/4" plywood glued and screwed together again. This way you can place the press anywhere in 4 inch steps along the bench or put it away if you want to clear the top for some other use, use a different press or want to use a machinist's vise mounted to another sub plate and bolted to the top.

A kitchen dish cabinet mounted above with a good work light installed on the lower side will both give you a good amount of storage for supplies and tooling and light up the working area as well. Install a glare shield to avoid direct light in your eyes.

The rest of the idea I'll leave until you describe the location more clearly or provide us with photos.

Here it goes, it's a part of the guest room. I'm in a flat right now I can't hang cabinets to the wall sadly. Once I have my house I'll have a better setup but at the moment it's all I have and dont want to wait to buy a house before I start reloading.



for the cost the breech lock press is ok, with lee dies. I have reloaded 600 rounds of 300 win mag with that without issue.
With time, you will probably want to spend a bit more to upgrade some items, but you need to start somewhere at a cost that is ok for you so go ahead it will work.

Sure I'll upgrade when I can, I want to reload .223 also but I'll need a progressive for the volume and better equipment to be more time effective but to reload a couple 308 each weeks that'll do just fine I think

Got the Lee breech lock kit for a starter setup too a few months back, very happy with it. It was mentioned above to have good lighting - VERY important if you have old(er) eyes ;) .

no problem with the bushings as mentionned earlier ?

young eyes but good lighting is a must I know !
 
tought of it but I'd still prefer a working bench to have room for everything. I know I don't have much place but still enough for a bench
 
That makes it far more clear. I hope you're ready to bum out the cat when the litter box is moved.... :d

One thing for sure. The press is best mounted to something that is fixed firmly in place. There's two ways to do that. One is to screw it to the wall and floor. The other is use gravity by making it heavy or by storing lots of heavy items in it.

So I'm thinking to get the upper storage that you want to put together a "hutch" style setup either with the lower area holding everything or with a separate upper support and cabinet that attaches to the lower unit.

You can either shop around for a cheap armoire that can be converted to a working area of this sort with the addition of a well secured work top or you can build something up. Either way the "ballast" you add in terms of storing the goodies and anything heavy you have kicking around should be stored well towards the rear of the unit to aid in counterbalancing the lever pressure. An armoire would need to be equipped with lots of good lighting because of the full sides shading the inside. But it's a way of getting setup for cheap. None of them are very wide though so it might be kind of tight.

Do you have a place or a buddy with a shop where you can cut and assemble some 2x4 lumber and cut some plywood? If so you might be able to make a break down bench that works quite well. I've got an idea in mind for a setup that uses two end frames and bolts stretchers between these to support your work top and a pair of cheap kitchen upper cabinets. It would all break down for moving with the heaviest piece being the laminated work top which would be around 40 lbs. But you need a shop to build this. Or at least a place where you can set up and cut some wood with a circular saw out in a big open area and make a lot of dust and chips. Plus you'd need the tools.

If you don't have any of this another option is that Home Depot shows a couple of options for 48 x 24 inch work benches. The one that has a peg board upper could likely be converted to mount two cabinets up high and move the light to just under the cabinet. HD has lengths of that angle steel with the holes in it for building such things which you could use to modify that bench of theirs.

https://www.homedepot.ca/en/home/search.products.html#!q=work bench

Kferguson makes a great point about the scale idea. Those beam balances actually work decently enough but it's so much better if you have them at eye level to avoid parallax errors. If you build up a bench with cabinet uppers I'd set it up so that one of the shelves is sitting right at eye height when you're seated on a stool or while standing. Accurate rifle ammo calls for weighing each charge individually so you want to make it so this is a comfortable setup to use.

Lots of ideas here but nothing hard and specific because you need to consider your options and tailor your final solution to what you can build, buy or who you know that will let you do this stuff.
 
I have a space issue and bad at wood working so this is what I tried. ht tps://www.stack-on.com/categories/workbenches--4/products/198. works well you just have to put some weight in the bottom so it won't tip. Or fasten it to some studs in the wall. My bullets and dies etc. do it for me .Not a bad price at various places I got mine at amazon.ca
.
 
You'll want a bench about 29 inches high. That gives enough height to sit at the press comfortably and pull the handle through the full arc with control. I found a perfect table at Future Shop when they closed here in London. It would fit your space. I have a Hornady progressive and a RCBS single stage bolted down. I built two plywood shelves underneath for brass and the two vibratory cleaners I have. Its plenty sturdy.
 
At 40x20 for the work top on that Stack On bench is a bit small. But it may prove to be less dominating in the limited space. So I'm thinking it might be a good match to that space.

Certainly it has weight going for it and the shelves on the bottom can hold lots of heavier items to aid in holding it firmly to the floor. And the closed sides and back are likely going to make it more stiff than what that Home Depot bench might be.

EDITED- For height I tend to prefer the kitchen counter work height of around 34 to 35 inches. Then for sitting use a stool. Bar stools with height adjusting cylinders are quite common these days and would be a dandy companion to a bench that has a work top height which matches a kitchen counter.
 
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