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Old June 10, 2011, 01:50 AM   #1
TennJed
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wife gave me a 50" space to reload..the results...AND LOOKING FOR SUGGESTIONS

I am waiting on my lee classic turret to come in but I have my reloading bench prepped. I have a smaller home and 3 kids (no garage) and the wife gave me a 50" space to reload in a spare bedroom. Oh and an old kitchen Island. The results.

Here is what I started with:



I built a top and some shelves and added some plastic bins.



The Final Results









Considering I have a very hard time putting things from walmart together and haven't built anything since a last place pine car for my sons boy scouts I am kinda happy. Now if my press would just come in!

Any suggestions on what I need or could do to improve?

Thanks
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Old June 10, 2011, 02:08 AM   #2
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Cover that brass and the bullets, if you plan to store it in the wooden bin. The brass will collect dust, and wear your dies. And "hairy" bullets smell bad, when fired.

Looks pretty good, so far.
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Old June 10, 2011, 02:29 AM   #3
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didn't think about covering brass and bullets....thanks that is the kind of info I am looking for!
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Old June 10, 2011, 03:40 AM   #4
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Zip-lok bags ae pretty good for ceeping small quantities of brass or bullets clean. The lighter/cheaper sandwich bags are usually tough enough for this. I use recycled peanut butter and other wide-mouth plastic jars a lot too.

Instead of c-clamps, have you thought of shooting a few screws into your table top from underneath? Start with a healthy coat of carpenter's glue between the two and it will be rock-solid.

What do you have for a press?
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Old June 10, 2011, 06:36 AM   #5
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Might want to remove the wheels on your cart unless you can secure against the wall. There is a good bit of movement when operating the press, and you will be chasing the bench. Maybe put the wheels on your chair; that comes in handy.

An adjustable desk lamp to position where you can see inside your cases while in the press.

Your bullets and brass are more convenient in a storable container that you can position handily during the process. Having to reach that far from the press will get tiring. I also agree that you will want them covered.

I cover everything with a sheet when not in use to keep out dust which collects quickly with all the lubricants in use and is annoying to clean. Having five kids of my own I have also found that out-of-site/out-of-mind helps keep them from bothering my lab.
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Last edited by pstrlipscomb; June 10, 2011 at 06:49 AM. Reason: add info
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Old June 10, 2011, 04:54 PM   #6
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Lucky Dog

Considering that my reloading/hobby shop...She calls it the tool room! takes up nearly half of basement, plus storage shelving in other areas down there, and that I use the garage when I am casting....I think I am going to buy her flowers and candy this weekend!
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Old June 10, 2011, 07:46 PM   #7
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Ditto on removing the wheels and secure to the wall studs with a couple of angle braces. This will make a huge difference!
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Old June 10, 2011, 09:00 PM   #8
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Suggestions... Man up, toss out a pile of her crap and set yourself up a decent bench









(And then quickly come to your senses, bring her stuff back inside and hide all the evidence before she finds out )

In the winter when the garage is a bit too icy I often prep brass, prime, weigh charges etc just on a very small kitchen kitchen table, then dash outside to do any sizing and bullet seating for the few minutes it takes. You really dont need much room for reloading at all.

Your biggest problem there could be mess from depriming, so put some vinyl or something down under the bench. That bench will be a pain till you bolt it down or perhaps fill the bottom full of bricks or something for some ballast.

I am actually fairly suspicious that you will crack the top or pull it off if you ever try to size rifle cases on it...
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Old June 10, 2011, 09:10 PM   #9
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I would put some kind of edging or lip on 3 of the sides. I often spill a little powder and it goes everywhere, the edging will keep it on the table. It will be much easier to clean up. That what I did and what I suggest. The setup you've got going is going to be just great.

Peace with your wife is just priceless!
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Old June 10, 2011, 09:23 PM   #10
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Get a nice comfortable bar stool that swivels to reduce fatigue while you work.
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Old June 11, 2011, 12:36 AM   #11
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hanks for the suggestions. I think I will remove the wheels on it. I don't want to bolt it directly to the top because I hope within a year or so to have something a little bigger and will be able to give this back to my wife undamaged.

For now i do not plan on doing anything but handguns on it. I didn't want to use a high quality wood on it because, quite frankly, I have never built anything from scratch before and didn't want to spend any money untill I saw the results.

Hopefully I can work with this (minus the wheels) and make improvemnts along the way so next year I can set up something a little bigger, nicer, and long term.

Thanks
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Old June 11, 2011, 12:42 AM   #12
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Put a little shelf on the wall off the bench for your scale.

Jim
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Old June 11, 2011, 10:17 AM   #13
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Reminds me of the old days when I did my loading at the kitchen table. No kidding. Fortunately, I had an old formica hand-me-down dining table at the time, so there wasn't an issue with my drilling holes in it for mounting the old RS5 press. I had a 16 inch wide cabinet with two drawers at the bottom and a door at the top opening to a space with two shelves inside. Not much room, but I got-r-done. Fortunately, I only loaded 2 calibers at the time. That was well over 20 years ago. Times have changed.
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Old June 11, 2011, 08:15 PM   #14
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With 3 kids around, put a lock on the doors and drawer. Wouldn't store that powder in the bedroom either. Need to keep it safe around them kids. and keep that powder safe from fire.
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Old June 11, 2011, 10:13 PM   #15
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Quote:
and keep that powder safe from fire.
Smokeless powder and primers pose a negligible threat in a fire. There are much more hazardous items all over our homes, that should be considered before powder; such as anything with a rechargeable battery (cell phones, laptops, Netbooks, iPads, cordless drills, cordless Dremel tools, etc) and flammable/volatile compounds (nail polish remover, hair spray, hair gel, mouth wash, oven cleaner, high proof liquors, etc).

I would rather insulate my walls with smokeless powder, than have a can of gasoline anywhere in my home. Smokeless powder fizzles, and doesn't really accelerate a fire, when outside a pressure vessel.
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Old June 11, 2011, 10:18 PM   #16
TennJed
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Got a lock on the door so that should not be a problem
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Old June 11, 2011, 10:19 PM   #17
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over time you will custom taylor it to your needs and the way you reload. Looks great though.
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Old June 12, 2011, 06:56 AM   #18
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I don't agree FrankenMauser,

Yes powder does fizzle when burning. But it fizzles hot. If a pound can gets to burning, it burns very hot and fast and will cause a fire to flash up. We use smokeless powder in our flash pots for theatrical work also. Why smokeless powder? Because it does flash up fast and has less smoke. Use to use Black powder but regulations say no more.

In a bedroom, I would be safe and store it somewhere else. Who knows when or where a fire will start and I wouldn't want to chance having my bottles of powder ignite lessening my chances of getting out if I am asleep.

Even though I reload in my basement, I keep my powder in a metal cabinet well away from any heat source just as I do other flammables like paint cans, glues and other stuff. It is not the little amounts that accelerate fires, It's the quantities like a pound or two of powder.
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Old June 12, 2011, 07:34 AM   #19
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Quote:
We use smokeless powder in our flash pots for theatrical work also. Why smokeless powder? Because it does flash up fast and has less smoke. Use to use Black powder but regulations say no more.
Black or Pyrodex flashes faster in open air.
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Old June 12, 2011, 07:48 AM   #20
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If you mount the Classic 4 Hole Turret to the front you will not be able to open the top drawer unless you shim up the press with some lumber of some kind. The Classic 4 Hole Turret hangs down over the bench about 4 inches or so.
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Old June 12, 2011, 08:39 AM   #21
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Quote:
I don't agree FrankenMauser,

Yes powder does fizzle when burning. But it fizzles hot. If a pound can gets to burning, it burns very hot and fast and will cause a fire to flash up. We use smokeless powder in our flash pots for theatrical work also. Why smokeless powder? Because it does flash up fast and has less smoke. Use to use Black powder but regulations say no more.

In a bedroom, I would be safe and store it somewhere else. Who knows when or where a fire will start and I wouldn't want to chance having my bottles of powder ignite lessening my chances of getting out if I am asleep.

Even though I reload in my basement, I keep my powder in a metal cabinet well away from any heat source just as I do other flammables like paint cans, glues and other stuff. It is not the little amounts that accelerate fires, It's the quantities like a pound or two of powder.
Paranoia/fear of the unknown at it's worst. The bottle that powder is stored in will take a long time to melt enough to allow the contents,(powder), to begin burning. If you sleep so soundly to let a fire get going that much, nothing is going to save you.

Yes, powder is a dandy accellerent. It burns very hot and quickly. If enough is concentrated in one place, it can explode,(a metal cabinet for instance).
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Old June 12, 2011, 09:19 AM   #22
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My advice to you:

1.) Buy more guns
2.) Buy more dies
3.) Buy more components

Other than that, your bench should work just fine.

Good advice on this thread.

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Old June 12, 2011, 09:46 AM   #23
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How old are the kids? Any inquisitive little boys?

The answers to those questions would dictate whether you should store the primers in the locked cabinet or not. You could store some of the non-dangerous stuff now in the cabinet in the sliding drawers.

Trust me, I know from experience (namely me, myself) that a small boy will have to try banging on a primer with a hammer or put one on the tip of an arrow, etc., etc. The sky's the limit as far as imagination at a young age goes.
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Old June 12, 2011, 09:49 AM   #24
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My bench is fastened to the floor , so it doesn't lift on the up stroke . Especially if it's not fastened to the Wall ! I store my Brass in the big plastic coffee cans , I put a couple of Dessicant Bags in with it and it looks good for a long time . This is after cleaning of course .
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Old June 12, 2011, 12:29 PM   #25
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Looks good. I like the recycled buttwipe containers. I have a few coolwhip buckets I use to hold brass that Im using or waiting to be tumbled, etc. Baby food jars hold small leftovers of powder that dont get used up from the powder measure (I dont like putting powder back into the original container).

I would be glad your setup is indoors. Mine's in the garage which means for about 4mos out of the year its bleepin hot.
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