advice on new loading bench layout

G'day, I need to upgrade my loading bench. I need advice on where to mount my equipment. I'll also need to use the bench for various "projects".
The presses that need to go on are,
1, Lee Breach Lock, used for rifle and pistol >2000/annum
2, Lee Load All, (cast base) 12 Gauge, I am about to start shot-shell loading.
3, Ponsness Warren Size o Matic 800. It was too cheap not to get.

The work area is inside a shipping container. The bench is the full width of the container (about 8 feet) and a bit over 5 feet from front to rear. I have just cut the front of the bench to allow a 26 inch wide access into the bench. I am planning to make the bench a U shape with about about 30 inches of bench depth on all 3 sides. Unfortunately I have little access to the bench from the edges of the container.
 
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If you can change the height of the bench, you first want to decide if you are going to use elevated press mounts or not. Mine don't have them, but I built my benches about 41" tall—about the height of my elbows—as that seems a good height for standing and working. A stool can be added for when you don't wish to stand. I also put down anti-fatigue mats for my feet.

In order to have room left and right of your hands for batch loading rifle cartridges, take a look at Lee's Benchplate removable press mount. This would let you mount one press in front of you at the bottom of the U-cutout, allowing powder dispensing and staging on either side. The presses you are not using at that moment could store under the bench.

For the last bench I built, I used whiteboard as the top surface. I like having a replaceable surface anyway. I used to use plain 1/8" Masonite board held in place by wood screws, so I could change it out when it got beat up. I switched to the white-coated Masonite (whiteboard) on the last bench build (3 now) so I could write on it with dry-erase pens. This let's me make notes and draw staging areas right on the work surface so I can better keep track of what I'm doing and what stage of the process each component is in. I also put up a whiteboard wall surface behind the bench so I can reach over and write notes or plans on it. I put one of those shallow tool-holder shelves full of different size holes up on the wall to hold the dry-erase pens and screwdrivers and hex wrenches and the like for presses and dies.

I ran a long power strip along the front of the bench that is fed by a voltage regulating transformer and with surge protection, and a small strip is fed from an isolation transformer hooked up to the aforementioned source. I also placed overlapping sheets of aluminum foil under the whiteboard and I have a ground wire going to them. I have grounded spun aluminum reflector lights of the type photographers use. These contain daylight color LED lamps now, but used to have daylight CFL's and a copper screen spanning the aluminum bell opening over each one. This is overkill, but I had the parts and materials lying around and it gives me very clean power and zero interference lighting for my electronic scales. I got a small (9"×12") granite surface plate for the scales to sit on. There is carpet scrap between the stone and the bench to further mitigate vibration.

So, by now you probably figure my bench looks closer to something Dr. Frankenstein might have than a loading bench, but the electricals are pretty much invisible. It's just set up to fight issues I've identified in my place in the past. The amount of extra work wasn't that great and I have something I know always works as well as is practical with electronic scales and measuring gear.

Storage space under the bench is important. I have a Giraud trimmer, boxes of bullets and whatnot under there. Some time back I bought a bunch of the shoe size snap-lid storage boxes from a home supply store and I have a separate one for each chambering I load for. All the dies, gauges or other odds and ends of tooling associated with that chambering go in. They then stack neatly on a shelf under the bench. Bullets and quantities of brass are heavy enough that I prefer not to bend over and reach under the bench for them, so they go on separate shelving adjacent to the bench. If you have separate shelving, you may prefer to keep your second and third presses there for the same reason.
 

T. O'Heir

New member
The shipping container floor flat? It water tight?
Are you saying your bench is 8 feet x 5 feet? That's why you have no side access. It's a table, not a bench. Too big.
You don't really need all three presses to be mounted all the time. The solidity of the bench is more important than its surface area. However, you need enough table top area to fit the press and two bins of cases being processed, all within arm's reach. Plus space for your scale that needs to be 100% flat.
 

FrankenMauser

New member
Sticking with your basic design, assuming you're at the end of the container, and assuming you want all presses mounted all of the time, I'd be leaning toward something like this:

Presses on the end of each leg of the U, with one inside.
But do put some thought into how you're going to use the space, move through the space, arrange storage, etc. Planning ahead can make a small bench more than adequate. But failing to plan can make even the biggest or 'coolest' bench frustrating to work with.

Personally, I keep shotshell presses off the bench unless I'm actually using them. I only reload shotshells every few years, so there's no point in having the equipment in the way the rest of the time. When I built my bench, I specifically included an area dedicated to tools that get clamped in place for temporary use, with the shotshell presses as the primary concern. For me, it has proven to be just as valuable as a design choice as wiring the bench for power and lights (all hidden).
I had big plans for a quick-change system for the primary presses and tools, too; but life events and a big move put that on hold long enough that the 'temporary' mounting of the primary presses with bolts turned permanent.

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G'day
I have another place in the container dedicated to my powder scale/dispenser. So i don't need it on the bench.
I have an air-con on the back wall of the container. It needs to be on any time I am in there. Winter daytime dress is often T shirt and shorts.
Unfortunately due to other commitments in the container my floor space is limited to access in the centre and domestic/toolbox storage on each side.
I think once I get settled into the shot-shell reloading I wont have a big demand for the Lee Load All. It makes sense to have a removable/temporary location for it. Due to its size I don't want to be moving the Ponsness Waren press if I can avoid it. The Lee breach lock needs to be permanent as it gets used regularly.
 

Grey_Lion

New member
I sank a couple Rockler T rails into my bench and have my presses mounted on boards that then slide onto bolts in the rails when & where I please.

http://www.rockler.com/30-aluminum-t-track

and if you want to clamp down any other tools, it's a piece of cake to make a mounting board out of a good thick piece of oak or plywood.

My bases have a lip on them to put a lot of the press pressure on the bench edge instead of the mounting rails.

If you are not comfortable using a router to sink the rails into the surface, use wood to build up the surface to rail height instead for a flush mount.

Besides the bench, I recommend GOOD SEATING to the right height for you to use your press. This is something I'm still working on in my shop. Haven't hunted down the right stool yet.
 
G'day
Thanks for the ideas. I have come up with a quick removable system for both of the Lee presses. The position will be similar to the drawing above.
I will give the rail system some serious thought for the Ponsness Warren press.
In the container I have a swivel "Bar stool" on castors. It has a gas strut to adjust height.
 

jag2

New member
My only comment would be about thickness. Where ever your presses are mounted I would have double 1” thick plywood and at least 10” to 12” around that area. You don’t want that top flexing, things wil start bouncing around. I glued the two layers together and then ran in wood screws from underneath.
 
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