Reloading bench questions.

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ezekielz

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So im going to be building a bench to start reloading. im curious as to what i should go for. How much pressure does the actual press put on the surface it is mounted to? like what would be a good material (type, thickness, etc)?how large is apropriate? If anyone has any pictures of their setups it would also be much apreciated so i could get some ideas. Thanks all.
 
I laminated 2 pieces of 3/4'' ply for my table top. My press is mounted with large fender washers on the underside of the table top. It's held up well sizing large cases. As for size make the bench as big as you can. Mine is 30'' x 60'' and I run out of room.
 
Build it as big as you have room for and as solid as you can. Besides that, you can reload on virtually anything and some space-challenged types have mounted their press on a single-point tool stand. Two specific suggestions: first, cover whatever you use for a top with white melamine as that makes cleanup easier. Second, make sure you have your scale at eye level.

Lots of good ideas on those links above.
 
ezekielz said:
...How much pressure does the actual press put on the surface it is mounted to?
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It can be considerable, depending on the cases you are loading (larger cases can add considerable force) and what you do with those cases (ie. case forming into different calibers).

ezekielz said:
like what would be a good material (type, thickness, etc)?how large is apropriate? If anyone has any pictures of their setups it would also be much apreciated so i could get some ideas. Thanks all.
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My bench top is two layers of 3/4" Baltic birch plywood glued and screwed together and fastened to the bench frame made from 2x4" dimension lumber framing. The bench is in an 'L' shape, so is quite stable on it's own in addition to being weighed down with loaded ammunition storage on the lower shelf.
My Dillon presses are mounted in strong mounts which does a good job of spreading out the forces applied to the presses, but the Single stage utilizes just two bolts through the bench top with large wide machine washers to the underside. The largest caliber I load is 30-06, and there is some flex on occasion - if I was loading larger, I would be beefing up the underside of this press mount.


 
I used a 1/4" 6"x6" plate steel sandwiched to the bottom of my reload desk with the press bolts and large washers.

I only have 3/4" MDF as the top over the 3/4" ply cross member with the plate steel under that. Plenty solid for resizing up to 300WM (don't have anything bigger than that to size).

If your doing larger cases (338 Lapua, 50 Cal) then you may wish to go thicker.
 
ezekielz said:
So im going to be building a bench to start reloading. im curious as to what i should go for. How much pressure does the actual press put on the surface it is mounted to? like what would be a good material (type, thickness, etc)?how large is apropriate? If anyone has any pictures of their setups it would also be much apreciated so i could get some ideas. Thanks all.
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Nice bench beltfed.

The best advice you can be given when it comes to building a reloading bench is to make it as rigid as possible.

If possible, anchor it to the wall and floor. Nothing more irritating than a bench that is constantly in motion.

I have seen steel framed benches made from 2x2x1/4 black iron and the bench will still move. The top is very important but the legs need to be cross braced and anchored.

Another thing, if you plan on sitting down, the height of the bench needs to be lower than a bench you intend to stand in front of. A good rule of thumb to go by is, sitting go by the height of your kitchen table. If standing, go by the height of your kitchen counter tops.
 
bearhunter said:
Nice bench beltfed.

The best advice you can be given when it comes to building a reloading bench is to make it as rigid as possible.

If possible, anchor it to the wall and floor. Nothing more irritating than a bench that is constantly in motion. I have seen steel framed benches made from 2x2x1/4 black iron and the bench will still move. The top is very important but the legs need to be cross braced and anchored.

Another thing, if you plan on sitting down, the height of the bench needs to be lower than a bench you intend to stand in front of. A good rule of thumb to go by is, sitting go by the height of your kitchen table. If standing, go by the height of your kitchen counter tops.
Click to expand...

Rigidly follow this advise, especially if you plan on having your powder scale (whatever the model) on the same bench. Ideally the powder scale should be on a "stand alone " side bench of its own (especially if you are to use a "digital").
 
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