Swapping mounted items

[Half Dog]

My reloading bench is not as large as I would like it to be. Anybody have that issue? To those who swap mounted items (press, bullet sizer, powder dispenser etc...) how do you remount your items?

[FWest]

I have my LnL AP permanently mounted and use the ROCKdock for other presses, lube sizer and trimmer. Rugged and easy to use, no bolts or screws to fool with after installed.

http://www.patmarlins.com/product/rockdock-docking-mount/

[jmorris]

I have plates drilled and tapped with various bolt patterns that have a common bolt pattern that mounts to the bench or studded plates that bolt down to a specific pattern.

If you look close you can see them at every position except where the Different SD's mount on the end. Having threaded holes in the bench makes it a one tool job.

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/IMAG1256.jpg

[hporter]

I really like my Inline Fabrication Ultra Mount with the Quick Change plate system. I have a small workbench in the middle of my reloading room that is my work table. I have installed 1/4-20 threaded inserts into the top of the bench to allow me to pop my Ultra Mount on and off in just a minute or two. That way I can preserve the whole bench top when I have bigger projects and need the extra room.

157503

Dan at Inline makes insert plates for just about all of the major presses and tools. In the photo above, I have one of my Star lubrisizers mounted to the Ultra Mount with a quick change plate.

Here is a close up of the quick change plate with an RCBS Summit press mounted to it.

157504

The lip at the rear slips into the plate mounted to the Ultra Mount and two wing nuts at the front secure the quick change plate to the mount.

Here are a few items mounted to the quick change plates for an idea of the versatility. I have a Dillon Super Swage, an RCBS bench prime, RCBS Lubrisizer and another Star in the photo.

157505

I like this system so much that I bought a second unit and mounted it to one of the Frankford Arsenal portable benches and keep it in my office downstairs. Surprisingly, this little folding table is a pretty sturdy little setup. I push size PC coated bullets on it most of the time. Here is a photo of the setup with a Lee Classic Cast press mounted to it.

157506

The beauty of this system is that you can pop the whole thing off your bench in just a minute, and can swap from tool to tool even quicker. It is really nice to be able to get the press out of the way when you need the bench space to work on a rifle or clean guns.

Harold

[JSnover]

jmorris and hporter have the right idea. I toyed with toggle or cam mounts a while ago, replacing my mount bolts with them for a quick-release but it would only be practical if every item had the same bolt pattern.
When I first started reloading I didn't have a proper bench. Bought an old coffee table, mounted everything on steel plates and clamped them down with C-clamps. It worked ok but wasn't stable because I could only clamp two sides of any item.

[hporter]

JSnover,

My workbench in the photo was my second bench. You can see many holes drilled in the top where I slid my Dillon 650 and 550's around trying to get a workable arrangement. After much trial and error, I gave up and just bought a longer workbench and mounted all of them side by side in a similar arrangement to what jmorris depicted in his photo.

And thank you jmorris, for making me feel so much better about my Dillon addiction...

[JSnover]

I'm admiring the setup and layout in both posts, as I'm in the process of designing a new bench right now.

[flyingmonkey35]

I'm using lees quick change bench system

[Pipefitter]

I have my equipment mounted on 2X8's and C-clamp them to the bench or kitchen counter as needed

[LabGuy]

I have my equipment mounted on 2X8's and C-clamp them to the bench or kitchen counter as needed

Same as I do. during nice weather mount on bench in garage. During poor weather, I move inside.

[williamwaco]

I mount a 36" piece of angle iron to the front edge of my bench. attach it with 4, 3/8" bolts.
Then drill and tap various sized holes in the top at appropriate places for various tools.

Takes about one minute to remove one press and replace it with another.

[Half Dog]

Great ideas. Now it's time to get to the drawing board.

[mac60]

I have my equipment mounted on 2X8's and C-clamp them to the bench or kitchen counter as needed


I c-clamp all my stuff to the bench too. I'm transitioning over to having everything mounted to metal though. Either aluminum or steel. Drill and tap to mount the equipment then c-clamp to bench. You can put it wherever you want it and it's as solid as whatever you clamp it to.

[Safeshot]

I use two methods:
1. Mount the press to the bench top using the mounting holes and largest bolts that will fit the holes. Use flat washers under the nuts. To change the press remove it and mount the next press with the largest bolts that will fit the press mounting holes and flat waters under the nuts. (Use as many of the previously drilled holes in the bench as possible.) When you have mounted all of the available presses they can be un-bolted and a different press mounted quickly.
2. Mount each press on a piece of 2X6 as long as the workbench is wide. Clamp the 2X6 to the workbench with 3 ea. C clamps (one at the back side of the workbench and one on each side of the press at the front of the workbench).

[hc18flyer]

I have a Lee Classic turret and an old Spartan bolted to my bench. Just found a Coax that I mounted to a piece of box tubing, with a car rotor disc resting on the floor(scrap of carpet on bottom) and a flat iron that gets clamped to the table edge. It brings the press up several inches, which makes it easier to use. I have a Lee C-press set up the same way for bullet seating. This allows me to utilize all my presses on a very small table, and still do all my sizing/forming with the old Spartan. I'll see if I can get a good picture to post.

[BwBrown]

I have a variety of presses and tools, some on Lee changeable mounts, the rest on PatMarlin Docks.
If I were doing it over, they would all be on Pat's Rock Docks.

[oldfart1956]

I use the Lee mounting system. Titan Reloading $23. Comes with the metal mount and 1 steel slide-in and 1 wooden one. I cut a half-dozen extra slide-ins from 3/4 scrap plywood and have 4 lubesizers, 1 Lee Classic Turret, an old Spartan single stage, a Lee Pro1000 and a small vise mounted on the slide-ins. I drilled a hole thru the metal mount so the primers drop straight thru into a tube for the Pro1000. Replaced the phillips screws in the mount with allen heads and just leave an allen bit screwdriver in one of the screws so I don't lose it. Simple, easy, economical and rock solid. Space always being at a premium my reloading bench is an older solid wood desk. You know, the kind with 3 drawers on left/right side and a pull drawer in the middle. The space under the middle (where a chair would slide in) is a storage shelf 3 tiers high on casters. Glued&screwed plywood under the top makes the top of the desk 3 inches thick. Nothing moves. :) Audie...the Oldfart..

[SlowBurn]

how do you remount your items?

I only have room for one mounted tool at a time, so my press and sizer are mounted to 2x4 or 2x6 stock with slots cut into the edges to fit around vice jaws, and then I just clamp the wooden mounts in a machine vice. quick, easy, cheap and works fine

[Ole Joe Clarke]

I have my presses, vise, etc., mounted to 12 sq. pcs of 3/4" thk., cabinet grade plywood. I have holes drilled in each corner to match hole patterns drilled in two locations on my bench. It takes about 5 minutes to remove and mount another plate with the appropriate tool attached. I don't change them out often. Never have moved the single stage loader since I first mounted it. Currently I have the Pacific single stage mounted, and the Lyman resizer, and I have my Dad's old vise -C- clamped at the end. I just move things around as needed.

[Three44s]

I have not built my permanent bench for my man cave yet. I am using a table I built for heavy shop work for my loading instead.

As such, I am using the 2x6" trick on some of my tools I want to clamp down for the time being. Some presses are on steel mounts I built ......... all of these clamp down with C-clamps.

But in the event I build my bench, I am leaning towards a clamp system as yet not conceived by me for the front of the press and using Uni-strut mounted in the middle of bench running parrallel to the front edge of the bench (set into and just below the work surface) for clamping the far edge of the mount down.

Sometimes, I think about installing two runs of uni-strut, a front one and a rear one parrallel and eliminate the need for C-clamps or some other method of grabbing the front edge of the bench or table all together.

The C-clamp system has worked fine but I just like the idea of the uni-strut to eliminate flexing even more.

Not an idea I came up by any means ............. but rather one garnered right here on Boolits!

Best regards

Three 44s

[skeettx]

I just go to the thrift shop or garage sales and get wooden cutting boards.
I mount the presses on these and then C-clamp them to one of the benches

Mike

[W.R.Buchanan]

Similar to what Skeetxx does I have most of my Presses and Machines bolted to base plates made of aluminum. I had about 12 of these left over from a job that got cancelled on me so I'm using them up. They were already completed parts and good for nothing else so using them up on my loading machines was a good thing.

The only things directly bolted to the bench, which is an Ex Crafts Class Bench from my local High School (they were throwing them away?), are the Rock Chucker, the C&H 444 and my Lyman Boolit sizer. Everything else floats and is brought out of storage as needed. Someday I'll build a backstop for that bench with some shelves.

They get clamped to my Reloading Bench with C Clamps as needed and get stored upstairs when not in use, covered by plastic bags.

Other pieces from that job were used to make the risers and bases for smaller tools like the Lachmiller Shotshell Conditioner, RCBS Primer Tool, etc. Smaller things that would be in the way if bolted to the bench but are still necessary. They are better off being kept in a cabinet where they stay looking new.

You'll notice that most of my stuff looks new? That's because I don't leave it out where it just gets dirty. Plastic Trash Bags are great to cover your machines and they keep dirt off the machinery. They cost almost nothing.

Anyone could do the exact same thing as my mountings with 3/4 plywood. This isn't hard to do.

Randy

[DerekP Houston]

I made a base with 2 pieces of 3/4" plywood . Screwed the turret press into that with some spax screws. I clamp the whole assembly onto my desk with 2 c-clamps. No holes to drill in the desk and I can move it out of the way as needed. Stole the idea from someone else on here after I broke the particle board on my first desk.

[CATTLEMAN]

I use sections for 2x10 lumber with 4 holes to anchor them to my bench and whatever holes or studs are need to attach the tool. I used a template to make sure the holes in all the plates and the bench match. I put threaded inserts in the holes in the bench and use matching bolts to secure everything. I can make them longer if needed to stick out from the bench or use them sideways for other tools like trimmers. They are inexpensive, durable and easy to make.