Loading bench pics

[MDphotographer]

MD, nice clean setup! As well as your presses.

Of course I especially like that nice new looking Hollywood Senior Turret!

Thanks Lube I am loving my Hollywood Sr Turret I got it off of Guns America for $340 shipped with all the dies and meters for loading 10ga and 12Ga shotgun and when I got it I was amazed at how great it looked it just needed a good cleaning and lubing. The turret is all 1 1/2x12 threads and I bought 3 CH press top bushings so it would take standard dies and using some of the shotgun parts so I can use the meters for powder without having to buy more bushings.I just saw on THR that Hollywood Eng is back in business again? I tried calling the number he listed and got an answering machine and left a message I have heard bad things about them don't know if they are indeed back or not. I would love to get a new/or used turret with all 7/8 x 14 stations.If you know anyone who has an extra turret they don't use let me know!! lol

[LUBEDUDE]

MD - you got a good deal for sure. I don't know of any Turrets. I need one myself. I have a Senior Turret with 4 holes UNtapped! The machine shops here don't have a tap and estimate at least a few hundred for a tap.

About a year ago there were a few Hollywoods that were on EBay that came with extra turrets. I believe they went for $1400 plus.

I hope Joe and Margeret are back in business. If you could get an extra turret from them it may cost as much as YOUR press did. They were selling Senior Turrets for $1k.

Quite a sting !

But then, maybe they would sell turrets cheaper in pairs?

[petroid]

Put a new top on my bench today. Old one was getting soft. Had a double 3/4" plywood section of homemade countertop from a previous project that was destined for this use.

[1989toddm]

Made a "take anywhere my truck goes bench" today. Wish it was wider but the beggars cant be choosers. I get my steel out of the scrap bin at work.

[Groovy]

I finally went and retrieved my bench from storage so I thought I'd share. The bench was built in 1995, I went to Lowe's to get the materials but since they didn't have enough birch 3/4" plywood they gave me oak 3/4" at the same price. After I built it I decided to stain it to look more like a piece of furniture. Let me know what you think.
I am in the process of building a second bench from the plans I got from Guardian from pg 69, since his is more multi press friendly with his removable trays. I haven't started casting yet but I like the idea of having a bench like his for a sizer and second press.

[JesterGrin_1]

I think it is Very Nice. I would highly suggest taking a look at Pat Marlins Rock Dock. It is a mount that enables you to just slide in what you need. Be it a reloading press or anything else you should wish to place there. It is fast,simple and clean.

I finally went and retrieved my bench from storage so I thought I'd share. The bench was built in 1995, I went to Lowe's to get the materials but since they didn't have enough birch 3/4" plywood they gave me oak 3/4" at the same price. After I built it I decided to stain it to look more like a piece of furniture. Let me know what you think.
I am in the process of building a second bench from the plans I got from Guardian from pg 69, since his is more multi press friendly with his removable trays. I haven't started casting yet but I like the idea of having a bench like his for a sizer and second press.

[will52100]

Same design as mine, except I added the sliding doors and mine's out of birch plywood and I shortened it so I could sit in a chair and load. Oh, and mine's not quite as nice or nearly as uncluttered!

[Groovy]

This will be cluttered soon, I have the doors but when I built the bench I couldn't find any of the the sliding track for the doors and I never went back and finished it.

[LUBEDUDE]

Put a new top on my bench today. Old one was getting soft. Had a double 3/4" plywood section of homemade countertop from a previous project that was destined for this use.

Looks like a nice solid bench Petroid!

[LUBEDUDE]

Made a "take anywhere my truck goes bench" today. Wish it was wider but the beggars cant be choosers. I get my steel out of the scrap bin at work.

Todd - that IS Slick!!!

[LUBEDUDE]

Groovy- your bench is way too nice to be drilling holes in!

[Guardian]

Groovy, I appreciate the sentiment, but I gotta tell you that is one beautiful bench! Your woodworking skills are beyond mine. I would love to see the new one when you finish.

Rock Docks and other similar mounts would work, but I'm with LUBEDUDE on putting holes in that bench.

[petroid]

Looks like a nice solid bench Petroid!

Thanks lubedude! I helped a friend in a restaurant remodel and they had a section of countertop that was going to be scrapped. It was two pieced of 3/4" plywood screwed and glued together and stained and poly'd. I just cut it to fit and slapped it on over the existing bench top. Yes it's solid!

[Theunsb]

My setup for reloading and lubing only. We have to lockup primers, powder, loaded ammo and all guns. All safes out of sight, allmost.

[Groovy]

I didn't even think about my old bench till I saw this one that looks to match perfectly and be even more useful due to the design and being able to use a desk chair instead of a bar stool to sit and reload. I also like the space underneath for components and loaded ammo. My bench is just the standard NRMA reloading bench with some Minwax American Walnut stain and Minwax semi-gloss polyurethane. I mistakenly thought that if it looked more like a piece of furniture that I could put it where I wanted to, I was wrong.

Right now I only load 9mm, 45ACP, 38spl, 357Mag, 223, and 308. My next project is a Marlin 1895SBL 45-70 so I wanted to look into loading cast bullets, that is how I came across this site. I have gotten some great information on cast boolits especially about dies and seating problems that I have herd other people who have said for years that I should stick to jacketed bullets.

I like my bench for working on my weapons but I still think that the smaller dual sided bench by Guardian is more practical and just as good looking.

Plus I don't want to drill holes in my bench.

Spent July 4th learning TurboCAD to design a couple of new benches for myself. Here's the idea.

Attachment 75574
Attachment 75575

I spent the last two days putting it together. I suffered a bit of sticker shock at the hardware store, but nothing's cheap. Amazingly, it only took two trips to the store. My woodworking skills are novice at best, but it is coming together better than I expected.

Attachment 75576

I've still got to make the inserts for the bench tops. I made one out of scrap just to do the alignment of all the pieces, but it will be replaced. It still needs sanding where I puttied over the screw holes in the bench top and then stain/polyurethane.

The drop deck is for my drill press. I do all of my brass trimming/chamfering/deburring on the drill press for less stress on my hands. This bench will be my brass prep station.

One negative I've found already is the trim piece on the front of the removable plate will have to be deleted for the Lee Classic Cast press. The bolt holes nearest the operator end up in the trim piece rather than through the plywood. The LNL AP, RC, and T7 all clear the trim piece just fine. Such is life.

2013-12-06 Update:

I realized I never posted the final photos. I cleaned up the reloading benches the other day and took a couple photos, so here they are:

The loading bench above completed.


The other benches and storage.

[LUBEDUDE]

My setup for reloading and lubing only. We have to lockup primers, powder, loaded ammo and all guns. All safes out of sight, allmost.

Nice setup.

Locking up your powder and primers is not so bad. Less chance of really BAD mistake!

[Blanco]

For the longest time I used a bench from Harbor Freight. It was Ok but not very sturdy for reloading. My wife banished me to the sunroom so I built a super heavy duty bench. the top is 3 layers of MDF each reloader has a 3" Maple block under it with a 3/8 piece of aluminum. It really makes a difference when everyrthing is stable.

Attachment 104870

[uuuper81]

the bench

[uuuper81]

da other bench

[WallyM3]

Me like!