Am I the only one?

[JBinMN]

And some people have OCD.....Or just got out of the Marine Corps....

Haha..

[T_McD]

Hey I have reloaded thousands on a hand press. It shines to fill the empty time where otherwise reloading would not be an option, like in a car.

[Catshooter]

My mother taught me to put it away - and put it away where it belongs. But not the way she intended.

I lived very close to her the last few years of her life. I literally watched her waste a good 20 to 25% of her life looking for things. She put stuff away alright, but never in the same spot twice. She died at 87 and she really did spend close on to 20 years looking for things she'd lost.

I was inclined to put things away before that, but wow. Afterward!

Life's too short to spend that much time wasted.


Cat

[rbuck351]

My loading room is about 8'x12" with 2 loading benches and wall to ceiling shelves. I have only three of my dozen or more presses set up and probably 30% of my brass, powder, bullets and other loading stuff in the loading room. I have a small amount of the casting gear and lead in the garage along with another two presses on a bench. Most of my loading/casting stuff is still in storage from my move about 2 years ago. All three of my benches are stacked with loading stuff cause there is just no where else to put stuff.

I see pictures of others that have really neat organized loading areas but what I don't see is several hundred pounds of brass, a dozen or so presses, a couple hundred pounds of powder, three lead pots, 40+ molds, 30+ die sets, a couple foot lockers full of ammo and the list goes on.

I'm working on a 40x60 shop which should have room for my stuff but in the mean time there just isn't room to put this stuff anywhere organized so I have stacked my loading room with the things I need to load for the guns I am currently working with. Not so much lazy as just don't have the time or place to keep it all accessable and pretty.

No, you are not the only one that has a cluttered bench. I have three.

[dragon813gt]

I see pictures of others that have really neat organized loading areas but what I don't see is several hundred pounds of brass, a dozen or so presses, a couple hundred pounds of powder, three lead pots, 40+ molds, 30+ die sets, a couple foot lockers full of ammo and the list goes on.

You don’t see that in my pics because everything is put away. A lot of that stuff is behind the cabinet doors. I’m not going to post pics of how much powder and ammo I have. I never understand why people do that. Brass is stored in five gallon buckets in the attic loft of my garage. Every one is labeled so I know what’s in them. Smaller lots of brass are stored in FRBs which are again labeled. Lead is stored in foot lockers and every ingot is stamped w/ it’s composition.

I store my molds in my house because the humidity is controlled. There are sixty molds in the pic. I have three more MP molds coming which will fill up the last box. At that point I will need to start another one. I don’t need handles for every one as that just wastes space.


I use ammo cans to store a lot of things. One of them is cast bullets. This is an old pic but it’s still how I label and store them. I moved them out of the garage loft due to high temps and melting lube.


I don’t have nearly as much as some. But if I didn’t keep things organized I wouldn’t be able to keep everything in such a small area. And I would have a hard time finding things when I needed them.

[lightman]

OK true confession here. I had a Lee Turret press mounted on a bench. But mine never, ever looked like the nice tidy photos you so often see posted on these forums. My bench was always buried under junk. I sold the press for a number of reasons, but part of it was that I didn't use it because to use it meant a long time spent cleaning the bench off just to get at it. I don't have the blocks of time to sit and reload for hours - or even an hour. Maybe 20 minutes - 1/2 hour here and there. So it was hardly worth it to spend 20 minutes clearing the bench so I could spend 5 minutes reloading.

I switched to a Lee hand press and that has solved some of my problems. I don't have a bench to mess up anymore, but I still dream of a nice progressive press and cranking out a few boxes of ammo each sitting.

Maybe I just need some ideas on how to keep the bench clean. Some of it is discipline no doubt, but I know that some guys just have better ideas than me.

No, you're not the only one. Everyone struggles with staying organized. It don't just happen, you have to work at it. Put your gear and components away when you get finished using them. Invest in some cases like Dragon posted pictures of. Make some shelves or cabinets or buy some. Some guys are naturally more organized than others, you just have to develop good habits.

[Baltimoreed]

Attachment 236645
My problem is that I have multiple reloading/gun projects going on at the same time. That means that I’ve got a bunch of stuff on my bench from the multiple projects. Occasionally I complete something and it gets cleaned up and put away. As to the OP’s query, shallow shelving to the ceiling and deep shelving to the floor. Heavy big stuff goes under the bench, not often used small stuff goes towards the ceiling while the stuff you use alot goes in the middle for an easy reach. Build your shelves to fit what they hold. Narrow shelves for die boxes, wider shelves for books, reenforcement for shelves holding boxes of bullets or shot. I’ve done some remodeling since this pix and my plastic flip top boxes that you see under the bench are in shelving on top of my bench on the other end. My onkyo stereo system is now under the bench which will open up another corner in my room for a floor to ceiling shelving unit.

[mdi]

"A clean desk (or bench) is a sign of a sick mind". But, reloading benches, work benches, tool boxes and tackle boxes tend to shrink. A reloader, fisherman, mechanic can have plenty of room when the bench, etc., is first used but progressively gets smaller, holding less and less. Proven fact!

But I can't talk, mainly because when I was growing up, learning to use tools, I had to clean them and put them up after each use, or Pa would see to it, sometime with the application of a v-belt across my butt (Pa survived and helped feed 5 sisters during the Depression by being a "roving" mechanic, and his tools made the difference between meat and a lard/onion sandwich for dinner). Sixty five years later I feel guilty if I don't put my tools in their assigned place (some times I look around for the belt approaching my rear). My bench may appear to be cluttered at times, but I know the reason for every part of a project that's sitting there (but no tools left out)...

[Taterhead]

I can't tolerate clutter or disorganization on my bench. After I'm finished, everything is put away and the bench top is wiped down. Nothing is "stored" on the bench top. This is pretty much how it looks all the time that I'm not actively loading. Not begrudging anyone that likes to keep some character to their workspace. Just my preference.

[Dieselhorses]

I can write a book on this subject. I can’t throw the first stone on this and neither can most else! Doesn’t matter how much “space” one has, there will be a time when things get a little cluttered. Also more space means more stuff. It’s a vicious cycle. My problem is while I’m cleaning brass, I’ll start reloading, hence maybe starting something else. At the end of the day I just clear my mind and put things back where they came from.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[double00]

I was all ways told, it is a work space not a storage area.

[tinsnips]

Part of the fun of reloading is keeping everything on my bench in order. It is so much easier to work if stuff is in order. Years ago I had to go to court an pay a fine ,well as I was digging threw my billfold for the cash the judge said to me if your billfold is in that big of a mess the rest of your life in more than likely the same way. I never forgot that bit of info it stuck with me till this day. Also helps when you have a wife who keep the castle super neet.

[Texas by God]

I'd like to see an episode of that tidy up Netflix show shot in a loading room

[ozarkeod]

I'm fortunate enough to have high ceiling in my shop so I have used every inch of space from floor to ceiling for shelves and they are all near my loading bench. So what if they are pallet lumber! Bench space is limited so I use those shelves. Rescued some old kitchen cabinets to build loading bench on top of them but it's easier to reach the shelves instead of getting on the floor to reach the back of the cabinets. Soon learn what to reach for instead of what to crawl for!

[salpal48]

simple Clean it

[Tom W.]

I don't bend as easily as I used to. Heavy things like boxes of boolits go into plastic boxes with a paper saying what they are INSIDE the box so it won't fall off and get lost.They also stay on top of the bench. It looks cluttered, but I know where everything is. After I load some shells. the rounds that I'm going to shoot end up in different colored plastic Midway boxes. I have some metal shelves that a lot of them go on to, but I keep my lead pot on the bench now, and the molds in a wooden box on the extreme right. sized cases go into military ammo boxes, powder goes into it's own cabinet, as do most primers. I keep 2-300 in plastic bins on the bench. One thing I'm very picky about is that I have only one bottle of powder on the bench at any time, and when I'm finished filling cases it goes into the cabinet. I also have 2-3 tablets that I write my loads on before I start.

[Three44s]

A ways back in this thread a member mentioned having multiple projects on going at the same time to account for lots of stuff on their bench at the same time.

I can appreciate that situation. I often resemble that in my load room. And be it for me to profess that I myself am an organized person but the situation of multiple projects has always crossed my mind as begging for a series of large stackable bins house these several projects while one is cycling through them.

My load room is within a larger shop/barn in an insulated/heated lean to and within the larger shop area we have begun with a large wooden stand alone portable closet I can lock. We have powder and some brass there. Within the load room I have more brass and dies not in use on a high reinforced shelf. I need to move more of my brass out to the unheated portion.

For now just about all my presses are set on steel plates and get c-clamped to my loading table when in use. Other tools get a wooden or metal base as well commensurate with the area it may need be clamped to achieve it’s intended role.

JonB’s video is interesting and thought provoking, thanks for that!

Three44s

[Kenstone]

OK true confession here. I had a Lee Turret press mounted on a bench. But mine never, ever looked like the nice tidy photos you so often see posted on these forums. My bench was always buried under junk. I sold the press for a number of reasons, but part of it was that I didn't use it because to use it meant a long time spent cleaning the bench off just to get at it. I don't have the blocks of time to sit and reload for hours - or even an hour. Maybe 20 minutes - 1/2 hour here and there. So it was hardly worth it to spend 20 minutes clearing the bench so I could spend 5 minutes reloading.

I switched to a Lee hand press and that has solved some of my problems. I don't have a bench to mess up anymore, but I still dream of a nice progressive press and cranking out a few boxes of ammo each sitting.

Maybe I just need some ideas on how to keep the bench clean. Some of it is discipline no doubt, but I know that some guys just have better ideas than me.

Build a small short/shallow loading bench with shelves above/below it for reloading stuff.
Even in a cabinet with a door, and keep it closed when not loading.
My cab closed, note "other stuff" benches on either side of it:

My cab open, note other presses under towel on the right, swapped out for use, with only one press on the bench/in the cabinet, "shelf" the press is mounted to is a 2x12, not deep enough to collect anything:

Build ANOTHER bench for the other junk!

Edit: I stand to load.

[762 shooter]

I clean off my bench top every month so I have a place to put more stuff to clean off every month.

762

[onelight]

Build a small short/shallow loading bench with shelves above/below it for reloading stuff.
Even in a cabinet with a door, and keep it closed when not loading.
My cab closed, note "other stuff" benches on either side of it:

My cab open, note other presses under towel on the right, swapped out for use, with only one press on the bench/in the cabinet, "shelf" the press is mounted to is a 2x12, not deep enough to collect anything:

Build ANOTHER bench for the other junk!

Edit: I stand to load.

Nice job that would probably pass the wife test in the house.
Is it bolted to the wall ?