my reloading bench

1
a work in progress. pegboard is your friend. almost ready, i think. no, it's not usually this neat, temporarily moved the debris of other projects to the table saw.
just added a window in the wall to the right. i haven't loaded anything since moving, and years before that, but that should change soon.
the bench:
LUGO0687.JPG
that's a late '90s dillon 550b press, dillon scale, rcbs case trimmer. on the wall are 4 lee powder measures, 1 for each of the calibers i routinely loaded (.223, 30-06, 30-40 krag and .45acp), tool head and dies for each, . i also have lee loaders for 30-06 and 45-70.
under the bench:
LUGO0686.JPG
ancient hornady loading manuals, powder, bullets, primers (large and small rifle, large pistol), some brass, assorted reloading tools and supplies.
LUGO0688.JPG
lee powder dippers (don't use them much, but there they are, ready and waiting). made from a scrap of wood.
Last edited by lurker on Sat Apr 22, 2017 6:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: my reloading bench

2
here's a little thing i made to hold my powder measures. i'll have to check the adjustment on them, in theory each is set to measure for a specific cartridge as listed above, so all i will need to do is get it off the wall, fill it up and ready to measure, right into the scale (yes, i weigh each and every charge). made from leftover oak.
LUGO0689.JPG
and here's the measure holder as it would be when in use. more scrap.
LUGO0690.JPG
and a detail of the measure holder, showing the slots to slip the measure into. the geometry needs a little work, but it's close enough for now.
LUGO0692.JPG
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: my reloading bench

3
Awesome. You can come over anytime and clean, organize my bench. Lol

Love the powder stands

Sent from my LGLS770 using Tapatalk
This is just my opinion, yours may vary and is no less valid.
- Me -

"I will never claim to be an expert, and it has been my experience that self proclaimed experts are usually self proclaimed."
-Me-

I must proof read more

Re: my reloading bench

4
Beautiful work. Looks like you can just sit there and feel good without doing anything at all.
:D
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: my reloading bench

5
dandad wrote:Awesome. You can come over anytime and clean, organize my bench. Lol
wait till you see the rest of the bench before you say that. :yahoo:
i've always been somewhat disorganized and chaotic, but this one time i'm trying to be neat and orderly. trying.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: my reloading bench

7
Simmer down wrote:Nice re-purposing but the cleanliness? I don't know what to think. :no:
Some troubles there, to be sure. But I certainly love the adorable dipper holder and the powder measure stand. So neat. A sickness is there, I fear--nah. Very nice. I have found the dippers to be good for my revolvers. Once I get a good rhythm, I'm pretty consistent--well, more consistent than shows up with my marksmanship. Check 'em out. A bit quicker. I stuff mine in a wood box. I'll see if I can find a pic of the only neat spot in my whole reloading shack.

Found it. Check out the wood box with the blue masking tape label Lee powder measures.

Image


CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: my reloading bench

8
CDFingers wrote:
Simmer down wrote:Nice re-purposing but the cleanliness? I don't know what to think. :no:
Some troubles there, to be sure. But I certainly love the adorable dipper holder and the powder measure stand. So neat. A sickness is there, I fear--nah. Very nice. I have found the dippers to be good for my revolvers. Once I get a good rhythm, I'm pretty consistent--well, more consistent than shows up with my marksmanship. Check 'em out. A bit quicker. I stuff mine in a wood box. I'll see if I can find a pic of the only neat spot in my whole reloading shack.

Found it. Check out the wood box with the blue masking tape label Lee powder measures.

Image


CDFingers
Oh you and I are close to the same vintage. Screwing jar tops to the bottom of the shelves? Lol.. Please dont tell me you paint all your tools handles dark green too. Lol. My gramps did that.

Sent from my LGLS770 using Tapatalk
This is just my opinion, yours may vary and is no less valid.
- Me -

"I will never claim to be an expert, and it has been my experience that self proclaimed experts are usually self proclaimed."
-Me-

I must proof read more

Re: my reloading bench

9
I immediately noticed the jar tops too! Too funny...

Smoke "puros" much?
"It is better to be violent, if there is violence in our hearts, than to put on the cloak of non-violence to cover impotence. There is hope for a violent man to become non-violent. There is no such hope for the impotent." -Gandhi

Re: my reloading bench

11
for the first time in my life i have the time, desire and resources to do a shop up right, and since i'm doing the work, i deserve it. there's still a lot to do (roof leaks, some wood rot) but i've poured a concrete floor, added a window, insulated the walls, pegboard and panelling, hung florescent fixtures, built the bench... this one's going to be as much the way i want it as i can get it, bright, clean(able), a place for everything and everything in its' place, we'll see how long all that lasts.

i'm way too distractible and tend to spend half my time looking for the thing i just put down somewhere in this mess, and i've gotten tired of it, so i'm doing something about it. imposing order on my little corner of the universe. if it sticks, well and good, if not, well, at least it was there once.

and i like to make stuff, to uncover the odd one-off tool or jig or stand hiding in a scrap of wood.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: my reloading bench

12
Bisbee wrote:I immediately noticed the jar tops too! Too funny...

Smoke "puros" much?
Actually, no. About six or fourteen years ago I knew a counter person at a local convenience store that sold all kinds of cigars and so on, so I asked to save me some boxes. So they did. I really like the mahogany ones covered in the paper wrappers. The cardboard ones don't hold up.

Yeah, screw my jar lids under the shelves, but I don't paint the handles. Rather, I scrape the finish off so my hands touch raw wood, allowing sweat to soak in--learned that from my organ building days under a Japanese master who totally knew wood.

CDFingers
Crazy cat peekin' through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire, like a diamond-eyed Jack

Re: my reloading bench

13
CDFingers wrote:
Bisbee wrote:I immediately noticed the jar tops too! Too funny...

Smoke "puros" much?
Actually, no. About six or fourteen years ago I knew a counter person at a local convenience store that sold all kinds of cigars and so on, so I asked to save me some boxes. So they did. I really like the mahogany ones covered in the paper wrappers. The cardboard ones don't hold up.

Yeah, screw my jar lids under the shelves, but I don't paint the handles. Rather, I scrape the finish off so my hands touch raw wood, allowing sweat to soak in--learned that from my organ building days under a Japanese master who totally knew wood.

CDFingers
I like the removing the finish idea. And yes, i have been know to screw jar lids to shelves too. Lol. Just nowadays you usually see people buying organization trays with racks.
I dont see why to spend the money. Hell look at the pictures of my bench Ive posted before. Brass store in old mayo and peanut butter jars.. Lol. Recycle, repurpose. Basically that is what reloading is anyway. Reusing , mostly used stuff.

Sent from my LGLS770 using Tapatalk
This is just my opinion, yours may vary and is no less valid.
- Me -

"I will never claim to be an expert, and it has been my experience that self proclaimed experts are usually self proclaimed."
-Me-

I must proof read more

Re: my reloading bench

14
I have to ask. Why so many powder measures?

Sent from my LGLS770 using Tapatalk
This is just my opinion, yours may vary and is no less valid.
- Me -

"I will never claim to be an expert, and it has been my experience that self proclaimed experts are usually self proclaimed."
-Me-

I must proof read more

Re: my reloading bench

15
dandad wrote:I have to ask. Why so many powder measures?
one for each of the cartridges i regularly reloaded. set 'em and forget 'em. each one bears a label which states cartridge, powder type, grains. easy way to avoid expensive mistakes.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: my reloading bench

16
lurker wrote:
dandad wrote:I have to ask. Why so many powder measures?
one for each of the cartridges i regularly reloaded. set 'em and forget 'em. each one bears a label which states cartridge, powder type, grains. easy way to avoid expensive mistakes.
Nice.

Sent from my LGLS770 using Tapatalk
This is just my opinion, yours may vary and is no less valid.
- Me -

"I will never claim to be an expert, and it has been my experience that self proclaimed experts are usually self proclaimed."
-Me-

I must proof read more

Re: my reloading bench

17
dandad wrote:
lurker wrote:
dandad wrote:I have to ask. Why so many powder measures?
one for each of the cartridges i regularly reloaded. set 'em and forget 'em. each one bears a label which states cartridge, powder type, grains. easy way to avoid expensive mistakes.
Nice.
same scenario with the tool heads. set the dies once, swap them in and out. i thought everyone did it that way.

re the jar lids fastened to the underside of the shelf - my dad did that, it's a great idea, very old school. i just wanted a cleaner, brighter look. that, and i don't like glass much, i've cut myself too many times. plastic bottles (peanut butter or parmesan cheese are good) would work, but i'm happy with what i've got.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: my reloading bench

18
lurker wrote:
dandad wrote:
lurker wrote:
dandad wrote:I have to ask. Why so many powder measures?
one for each of the cartridges i regularly reloaded. set 'em and forget 'em. each one bears a label which states cartridge, powder type, grains. easy way to avoid expensive mistakes.
Nice.
same scenario with the tool heads. set the dies once, swap them in and out. i thought everyone did it that way.

re the jar lids fastened to the underside of the shelf - my dad did that, it's a great idea, very old school. i just wanted a cleaner, brighter look. that, and i don't like glass much, i've cut myself too many times. plastic bottles (peanut butter or parmesan cheese are good) would work, but i'm happy with what i've got.
I do the dies that way, but i use 1 powder measure. Just put powder back in jar and go thru set up every time.
Which is kind of a pain but I might only load 2 or 3 times a month at most.

Sent from my LGLS755 using Tapatalk
This is just my opinion, yours may vary and is no less valid.
- Me -

"I will never claim to be an expert, and it has been my experience that self proclaimed experts are usually self proclaimed."
-Me-

I must proof read more

Re: my reloading bench

19
I am normally a very organized person. Stop laughing. But my reloading bench is just half a sheet of plywood screwed down to two sawhorses. There are mud dauber nests in the sawhorses. A skunk lives under the storage extension to the garage right behind the bench. Termites have been sawing away at the garage roof directly over the bench - Makes good case filler for light loads. Everything except the Summit press, a powder measure, and a Lyman lubrisizer is in the airless, lightless storage extension, right on top of the skunk. My case trimmer got rusted somehow in there. My two lead pots are also under the termites, and the stuff that trickles down makes great flux. After I pop primers, I step outside, take my shoes off and dump out the primers, and then close the garage door and watch Shameless.

Re: my reloading bench

21
AndyH wrote: I love this! Let us know when they hit your ebay store? :thumbup:
you want one? i could probably knock one out in 20 minutes. heck you could knock one out in 20 minutes. that way, it's guaranteed to fit your setup. use exotic wood if you like. i hereby release the design to public domain.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: my reloading bench

22
pokute wrote:Termites have been sawing away at the garage roof directly over the bench - Makes good case filler for light loads.
can i use sawdust for case filler? i have a steady supply. i use it as filler for the sharps blanks. sift it through a screen or else the bigger pieces can float back on the breeze and burn little holes in your shirt.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Re: my reloading bench

23
lurker wrote:
pokute wrote:Termites have been sawing away at the garage roof directly over the bench - Makes good case filler for light loads.
can i use sawdust for case filler? i have a steady supply. i use it as filler for the sharps blanks. sift it through a screen or else the bigger pieces can float back on the breeze and burn little holes in your shirt.
Why not. I have old books showing oats being used as filler. Lol

Sent from my LGLS755 using Tapatalk
This is just my opinion, yours may vary and is no less valid.
- Me -

"I will never claim to be an expert, and it has been my experience that self proclaimed experts are usually self proclaimed."
-Me-

I must proof read more

Re: my reloading bench

24
lurker wrote:
pokute wrote:Termites have been sawing away at the garage roof directly over the bench - Makes good case filler for light loads.
can i use sawdust for case filler? i have a steady supply. i use it as filler for the sharps blanks. sift it through a screen or else the bigger pieces can float back on the breeze and burn little holes in your shirt.
No, only termite poops.

Re: my reloading bench

25
pokute wrote:
lurker wrote:
pokute wrote:Termites have been sawing away at the garage roof directly over the bench - Makes good case filler for light loads.
can i use sawdust for case filler? i have a steady supply. i use it as filler for the sharps blanks. sift it through a screen or else the bigger pieces can float back on the breeze and burn little holes in your shirt.
No, only termite poops.
aw, shit. fresh out of termites.
i'm retired. what's your excuse?

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests