Show your reloading benches
- Thread starter ekoso
- Start date
- Location
- West Quebec
Nice pair of presses 
- Location
- Northern Ontario
Looks like we're all a bunch of basement dwellers! Lol
CreamySmooth
CGN frequent flyer
Finally got my table finished and everything in place. There was an earlier pic but not everything was mounted. I now have the loading table Ive been wanting for years finished.
6 stations, 2 single stage presses, a turret press, a progressive and a shotgun press, plus a case prep station all mounted rock solid. This year the lower shelf goes in and a tall central shelf in the middle to mount powder measures and scales etc on. Then I can make more of this:
6 stations, 2 single stage presses, a turret press, a progressive and a shotgun press, plus a case prep station all mounted rock solid. This year the lower shelf goes in and a tall central shelf in the middle to mount powder measures and scales etc on. Then I can make more of this:
We decided to finish the basement, which meant my reloading area was disappearing. My wife said "Why don't you get them to design a built-in that you can use for your reloading gear?" Here is the result;
The pullout work surface is rated for 300 pounds. Now I just need to get my bench plate mounted and I'm off to the races. Locks are being installed on the top tower doors so I can lock up some ammo and powder.
The pullout work surface is rated for 300 pounds. Now I just need to get my bench plate mounted and I'm off to the races. Locks are being installed on the top tower doors so I can lock up some ammo and powder.
Well, finally got the room going. Looking pretty good I think.
One side of the bench is dedicated to loading for now.... presses are currently not removeable, but the blocks they are mounted on are going to be fastened using more easy to remove bolts with captive nuts under the bench, that way the entire bench would be available for other tasks.
Other side of the bench is a general purpose type area... smithing, electronics, and whatever else
On the loading side, there's a place for the RCBS trimmer to mount to the bench, fold-down door covering two shelves which lays perfectly level when open, giving an eye-level view of the analog RCBS scale (accurized). Beside that is a Sartorious analytical grade balance, accurate to 0.0001 grams. Beside the Redding press is a Lyman powder measure, which can be rotated to either side of the press without tools.
So far, very happy. A few more things need to be done, some organization needs to happen with some things, etc. Bows are mounted on the wall above the powder cabinet. Powder and ammo cabinets are lockable.
Yes, I'm pleased with myself now. Just moved into a new house and built this over the past month. Before this, I had repurposed an old computer desk with a fold-down door and an old drafting table. It was rickety, unstable, and small. Now I feel like a king.
Next up, flat screen TV on the wall near the corner of the bench, connected to a standalone computer/media server, with wireless mouse and keyboard, for getting load data, and general browsing/mayhem (pr0n? maybe....got paper towels on all three ends of the benches now....), some mounts on the walls for other toys, and possibly get rid of some bookcases on the other side of the room to make room for a third bench, this one would be specific to motorcycle and automotive type stuff... keep the grease away from my general purpose/electronics desk. Either that or the third one would be dedicated to electronics projects....
The room is currently not as secure as preferred, new doors (solid wood) are coming in though, deadbolt and internal mechanical locking system going in (essentially turning it into a room one could bring their family into, to retreat if required). Food and water stores in one corner as well. Remote security cam system also going to be installed outside the house, outside the secure (covered) window to this room, and just outside the room and inside the room itself, all on a standalone, secure, and hidden server, which will automatically back up all data to a cloud storage facility in real time, meaning even if someone smashes the server and/or steals it, the video will be uploaded as we go.
One side of the bench is dedicated to loading for now.... presses are currently not removeable, but the blocks they are mounted on are going to be fastened using more easy to remove bolts with captive nuts under the bench, that way the entire bench would be available for other tasks.
Other side of the bench is a general purpose type area... smithing, electronics, and whatever else
On the loading side, there's a place for the RCBS trimmer to mount to the bench, fold-down door covering two shelves which lays perfectly level when open, giving an eye-level view of the analog RCBS scale (accurized). Beside that is a Sartorious analytical grade balance, accurate to 0.0001 grams
. Beside the Redding press is a Lyman powder measure, which can be rotated to either side of the press without tools.So far, very happy. A few more things need to be done, some organization needs to happen with some things, etc. Bows are mounted on the wall above the powder cabinet. Powder and ammo cabinets are lockable.
Yes, I'm pleased with myself now. Just moved into a new house and built this over the past month. Before this, I had repurposed an old computer desk with a fold-down door and an old drafting table. It was rickety, unstable, and small. Now I feel like a king.
Next up, flat screen TV on the wall near the corner of the bench, connected to a standalone computer/media server, with wireless mouse and keyboard, for getting load data, and general browsing/mayhem (pr0n? maybe....got paper towels on all three ends of the benches now....
), some mounts on the walls for other toys, and possibly get rid of some bookcases on the other side of the room to make room for a third bench, this one would be specific to motorcycle and automotive type stuff... keep the grease away from my general purpose/electronics desk. Either that or the third one would be dedicated to electronics projects....The room is currently not as secure as preferred, new doors (solid wood) are coming in though, deadbolt and internal mechanical locking system going in (essentially turning it into a room one could bring their family into, to retreat if required). Food and water stores in one corner as well. Remote security cam system also going to be installed outside the house, outside the secure (covered) window to this room, and just outside the room and inside the room itself, all on a standalone, secure, and hidden server, which will automatically back up all data to a cloud storage facility in real time, meaning even if someone smashes the server and/or steals it, the video will be uploaded as we go.
We decided to finish the basement, which meant my reloading area was disappearing. My wife said "Why don't you get them to design a built-in that you can use for your reloading gear?" Here is the result;
The pullout work surface is rated for 300 pounds. Now I just need to get my bench plate mounted and I'm off to the races. Locks are being installed on the top tower doors so I can lock up some ammo and powder.
Looks very cool, that shelf makes me wonder though, how sturdy is it?
I mean, 300 pounds sounds great, for sure. And don't get me wrong, your work area looks AMAZING. I wish I had the time and money to make mine look as good as it is functional! But what I'm wondering is, 300 pounds is what it's rated for, but will it flex before that? I found, in the past, that having a press mounted on anything that isn't supported very strongly results in flexing of the mounting surface. That made it more of a hassle to size bigger cases and/or swage military primer pockets. It also seemed to make a lot more noise for some reason (banging of the press as the mounting surface flexes and unloads maybe?).
Just curious, because it's really cool looking, and if it works as well as it looks, that's awesome. (or are you not planning on mounting presses to it?)
Thanks for the comments!
The work top is very sturdy, i haven't found any noticeable flex in it so far (while loading 30-06 and 45ACP). There are 4 slide assemblies attached to it (2 on either end and 2 underneath). The only issue I have found so far is that I need a bit of a lift on my chair! ha ha. I have mounted the press on a Lee Precision bench plate and it sits on the left side of the table, easy on, easy off!
- Location
- Fort St John BC
Well i feel like my room is finaly close enough to be worthy of posting here so if you have followed my start to finish thread on my bench here it is. I will update with more pictures tonight about 1/4 of it is missing in these photos
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Living in an apartment, space is at a premium. I leaned things out a little and to be fair, I have extra powder and projectiles stored on a shelf in my closet. The desk was slated for the dump and was a freebie from a friend who works for a school board. I spent most of my adult life as a carpenter/cabinet maker, so I picked up some 1 X 8 oak and fabricated a storage system. Though it's not in the picture, I have drilled 4 holes on the left side where I mount my case trimmer when I'm prepping my brass. I tend to do all my operations in one shot. I'll tumble all my brass, sort it by calibre and maker, set up my resizing/decapping dies, resize each calibre in turn, trim each calibre in turn, de-burr and clean the flash holes, prime all the brass, and then bag and store until I'm ready to reload. It's time consuming, but when I'm trying out new loads or making known performers, I just have to set up the powder scale and bullet seater die and I'm ready to rock and roll.
Don't have the luxury of building over a room (which I'd much rather do), and was going to build my own bench until I found this lovely unit at Costco.....
For unde $400, I got a rally good, heavy, smooth worktop, lockable storage for powder/primers, space to put smithing/reloading tools, dies, bullets, brass, etc. Bar chairs are about the right height, it's got heavy locking casters and moves around easily when unlocked on a smooth floor, but when locked, stays sturdy in one spot. Ample storage, lots of bench top work space, and for the price, I couldn't have built one similar for the same. Love it.
For unde $400, I got a rally good, heavy, smooth worktop, lockable storage for powder/primers, space to put smithing/reloading tools, dies, bullets, brass, etc. Bar chairs are about the right height, it's got heavy locking casters and moves around easily when unlocked on a smooth floor, but when locked, stays sturdy in one spot. Ample storage, lots of bench top work space, and for the price, I couldn't have built one similar for the same. Love it.
- Location
- Haliburton County, Central Ontario
...and look, a second chair for the wife! Nice.
