Beginning of of my reloading room..
- Thread starter 1stmar
- Start date
FreedomUIC
New member
Here in Florida we don't have basements let only spare rooms. 
So we use our garage.
I made everything out of "Cabinet" grade plywood including the workbench
top.
In Process:
Finished Area:
So we use our garage.
I made everything out of "Cabinet" grade plywood including the workbench
top.
In Process:
Finished Area:
Here's my thoughts on what worked and what didn't.
Worked
Room size- while you can always use more room, the size is working out well. I keep finding more and more things to put in the room and ways to store them neatly, with easy access. The only trouble I see would be if I need to add a 3rd press. Even that I think I can find a spot.
Akro-bins-,these things are great, I have a ton of weight on them and they are holding up well the size of the bins are ideal. I can fit a bag of 500 and a bag of 100 308 brass in a single bin. If I need to you can get dividers and lids.
Inline fabrication mount- I bought a strong mount for my single stage. Holy crap, I think I could lift the hole bench up with this thing. Super strong and the height is ideal.
Led swivel lighting- I bought some led flood lights that's rotate, they work well, I can redirect light where I need to
Things that didn't work well:
The paint on the bench- I bought some super thick paint for the bench to protect it against solvents. It has like a sand finish to it. I hate it but it's manageable. Definitely should have done something else.
Vibrator on the bench- I knew this would interfere with the scales but didn't think I would be using it at the same time I'm weighing charges. The efficiency of the room and tools I have now really allow me to multi-task better.
Worked
Room size- while you can always use more room, the size is working out well. I keep finding more and more things to put in the room and ways to store them neatly, with easy access. The only trouble I see would be if I need to add a 3rd press. Even that I think I can find a spot.
Akro-bins-,these things are great, I have a ton of weight on them and they are holding up well the size of the bins are ideal. I can fit a bag of 500 and a bag of 100 308 brass in a single bin. If I need to you can get dividers and lids.
Inline fabrication mount- I bought a strong mount for my single stage. Holy crap, I think I could lift the hole bench up with this thing. Super strong and the height is ideal.
Led swivel lighting- I bought some led flood lights that's rotate, they work well, I can redirect light where I need to
Things that didn't work well:
The paint on the bench- I bought some super thick paint for the bench to protect it against solvents. It has like a sand finish to it. I hate it but it's manageable. Definitely should have done something else.
Vibrator on the bench- I knew this would interfere with the scales but didn't think I would be using it at the same time I'm weighing charges. The efficiency of the room and tools I have now really allow me to multi-task better.
It is great to have the room for a reloading room and and more fun to build one. I am currently building my 5th reloading bench. The first used an old computer desk and was located in the TV room. I called it that when really it was a spare first floor floor that served as my hobby room and had a sofa and TV.
The bench worked but later I built the re-loaders dream room in the basement. It was a very large room and again was my hobby room, a place to reload and invite the guys over to watch football games. I had 8 ft of bench work and several new cabinets. I room was completely finish with a nice tile floor for the reloading area. The bench was solid and could have looked just as good in the kitchen.
Five years later we moved. Life got busy and the only place for my reloading room was the garage. I used an old wood bench on the second floor and it stayed this way for the next five years. Nothing great and gone were my factory cabinets and other luxuries.
Then I bought the case feeder for my 650 and I needed a redesign bench. Thus I put the old original desk back into service. It works but it really looked bad and had some flex even after adding several support pieces.
So now is reloading bench number 5. I remembered all the time and expense I put into the dream bench only to expectantly move in under 5 years of use. The solution was to build the best ever desk without spending any money.
My bench is under construction and I use three oak desk parts for the base. These are the wood drawers that are on the sides of a desk. They are solid and give me very deep drawers. I used two 3/4 pieces of plywood glued and screwed together for the top. In addition I use a large 1/8 inch piece of metal for the area of the press to spread the foot print. The best thing about this bench is that it cost me nothing in terms of having to go out and buy it.
It is going to take a few days to finish as I want to stain it and then put several coats of Polyurethane on it. I have two old kitchen cabinets and one very old steel cabinet that will fit in the back since the bench is 6x4.
Since I am on my fifth bench I know what will work and what will not work. My third bench is still in use for my single stage presses. It is nice having two separate benches and better yet to have a space of 40 X 28 to use as my reloading room. The down side is that there is no heat. Though I have a nice size electric heater that works well enough even it the worse of times.
It has been fun reading and following your work. If I get time I might try to post some photos of my new bench. I have photos of the prior set up in the larger reloading room thread. I was surprise how much things have changed since I post in that thread.
The bench worked but later I built the re-loaders dream room in the basement. It was a very large room and again was my hobby room, a place to reload and invite the guys over to watch football games. I had 8 ft of bench work and several new cabinets. I room was completely finish with a nice tile floor for the reloading area. The bench was solid and could have looked just as good in the kitchen.
Five years later we moved. Life got busy and the only place for my reloading room was the garage. I used an old wood bench on the second floor and it stayed this way for the next five years. Nothing great and gone were my factory cabinets and other luxuries.
Then I bought the case feeder for my 650 and I needed a redesign bench. Thus I put the old original desk back into service. It works but it really looked bad and had some flex even after adding several support pieces.
So now is reloading bench number 5. I remembered all the time and expense I put into the dream bench only to expectantly move in under 5 years of use. The solution was to build the best ever desk without spending any money.
My bench is under construction and I use three oak desk parts for the base. These are the wood drawers that are on the sides of a desk. They are solid and give me very deep drawers. I used two 3/4 pieces of plywood glued and screwed together for the top. In addition I use a large 1/8 inch piece of metal for the area of the press to spread the foot print. The best thing about this bench is that it cost me nothing in terms of having to go out and buy it.
It is going to take a few days to finish as I want to stain it and then put several coats of Polyurethane on it. I have two old kitchen cabinets and one very old steel cabinet that will fit in the back since the bench is 6x4.
Since I am on my fifth bench I know what will work and what will not work. My third bench is still in use for my single stage presses. It is nice having two separate benches and better yet to have a space of 40 X 28 to use as my reloading room. The down side is that there is no heat. Though I have a nice size electric heater that works well enough even it the worse of times.
It has been fun reading and following your work. If I get time I might try to post some photos of my new bench. I have photos of the prior set up in the larger reloading room thread. I was surprise how much things have changed since I post in that thread.
There is a succession of load room development.
It usually starts out with all the dies together on a shelf and a press mounted to a bench.
Eventually the reloading room becomes mostly a store room with a few presses in the center. Mine is 9'x11' and filled to the ceiling on all 4 walls with file folder boxes on shelves with big labels on the front of them.
When a new cartridge is started, it gets a new box and label. The dies, bullets, brass, and loaded ammo go in the box. Some cartridges are rich and may have 5 boxes and some cartridges are poor and may share 5 cartridges to the box.
The documentation is the range reports. That is stored in the computer, in the cloud, and in print outs.
A number of presses become satellite presses for the vehicle, the TV, the computer, and other people's houses the may host a hunting party.
It usually starts out with all the dies together on a shelf and a press mounted to a bench.
Eventually the reloading room becomes mostly a store room with a few presses in the center. Mine is 9'x11' and filled to the ceiling on all 4 walls with file folder boxes on shelves with big labels on the front of them.
When a new cartridge is started, it gets a new box and label. The dies, bullets, brass, and loaded ammo go in the box. Some cartridges are rich and may have 5 boxes and some cartridges are poor and may share 5 cartridges to the box.
The documentation is the range reports. That is stored in the computer, in the cloud, and in print outs.
A number of presses become satellite presses for the vehicle, the TV, the computer, and other people's houses the may host a hunting party.
Pond James Pond
New member
Either the pictures in posts 84-88 are upside down, or you're going to have a hell of a time charging cases with powder!!
Despite getting a crick in my neck looking at them, it all looks like a fine set up!!
Despite getting a crick in my neck looking at them, it all looks like a fine set up!!
thevalueman
New member
Next time you shoot a photo, do it upside down...should work fine
Rocky
Rocky