Loading bench ideas?

[44Blam]

Hey all,

This is an opportunity to show off your cool setup, but I am curious as to how to best setup my new place. The new house that I'm moving to has a good sized attached garage with enough room for a bench/shelves/etc. But it also has a 2300 sq ft basement that is largely unfinished.

I know I need the bench so my work space is about chest level and the chargemaster needs to be separate and slightly higher. There needs to be buckets for brass, boolits. But, if you had a new space where you could do anything, what would you do?

[Winger Ed.]

I always felt crowded on my previous benches.
This time around I made it deeper than what you usually see. At 3' front to back, I've got the extra room I always wanted to stack stuff.

The deck is 1/4" steel plate. It's plenty sturdy, and to mount a trimmer, sizer, and powder drop, I just drill & tap 1/4-20 holes in it.

[FLINTNFIRE]

I made several out of 4x6 for upright posts , caster wheels on the bottom and 2x12 layer with 3/4 plywood on top bottom deck was 2x12 with 2x6 cross ways with the wheels , movable ( well until you put all those coffee cans of cast coated bullets on shelf ) .

I have built them about 40 inches high with a top shelf that only comes out a foot and is about 18 inches higher for scales and other I want at eye level or close to it , benches are about 4 foot long 2 foot deep , solid and sturdy .

I built benches solid to walls for casting and work areas , then I surfaced them in 3/4 inch leftover flooring , almost to nice to work on , casting is built solid to wall and covered in large tiles , older one in casting room had a tile back splash also .

Always thought a sheet of steel would be good for loading bench but have always ended up using wood .

Nice thing with the shelf up higher it has hooks for wrench and other tools .

[JimB..]

If you have the ceiling height for it I’d put the loading room in the basement. I’d build a spot for spent brass processing in the out building so only clean comes inside.

[Froogal]

My garage is not heated or insulated so I put my reloading bench in the basement. It is standard table top, work bench height so that I can sit in an office type chair which allows me to roll from one end of the bench to the other. I can pretty much reach everything I need while sitting in that chair. I use a LEE single stage press with the powder dispensers mounted on top of it. I built the entire bench out of left over materials, and salvaged materials so it basically cost me nothing. It may be a bit crude by some standards, but it works for me.

[Green Frog]

No matter how big the bench, it tends to fill up (for me at least) with lots of clutter. My counsel would be to include lots of organized storage in your design plans. For the bench itself, you will need to look at your presses and how you use them, then build your bench top to accommodate them. Remember to leave plenty of room for the reloading supplies and components that will be in use so one press doesn’t get in the way of using another. Then give yourself a little extra space which you will probably find out quickly that you need.
I tried to download a copy of my messy bench but the website’s photo program immediately rejected it!

Froggie

[Wayne Smith]

Don't know where you are, but unless your garage is insulated, heated and airconditioned I would put the reloading in the basement too, for basic comfort. If the basement is not air conditioned you will need dehumidification in most areas of the country.

I load sitting, and do not use a progressive press - so take this into consideration. If you are OCD or a neat freak you can survive with deep benches - but if you are like me those deep benches get loaded up quickly and you have a small amount of room around your presses to use, the rest is several layers deep in stuff. Consider this variable when you design your benches.

I built shelves and did not build them sturdy enough. Loaded ammo is heavy when stacked four and five boxes deep and my shelves stayed but the ammo walked off the edge! Plastic boxes full of ammo don't survive a five-foot fall. I now have ammo stacked on the floor.

My casting is out in the garage.

These are a couple of mistakes I have made, you can avoid them.

[oley55]

In my part of the world a basement is routinely called a cement pond.

edit added: and floating reloading benches are notoriously unstable.

[dverna]

After decades of doing this, my last bench incorporated the Inline Fabrication system. The 1050 and 550 are permanently mounted currently, with the Inline dock system on one position for the other "stuff".



I will likely also put the 550 on a plate as I do not use it much.

A lot depends on how you reload, so one size does not fit all. What I had when I ran four metallic progressives, two single stage presses, two shotgun progressives and two PW375's was much different.

[dannyd]

In my part of the world a basement is routinely called a cement pond.

True so True

[Jal5]

Try to salvage some kitchen cabinets for lower storage. I did that recently and it really helped with storage solutions. I now have two good sized benches setup at 90 degree angle in the basement corner. Easy to get to everything.


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[lightman]

Building a loading room is a personal thing. Ask yourself some questions. Do you load standing up or sitting down? Do you load a lot and often or do you load a minimum amount. Do you have tons of brass, lead and components to store? Do you just want a loading room or will this be a man cave with a recliner, TV and small fridge? Will you be happy with open shelving or do you want cabinets with doors?

In your situation I would choose the basement. I would probably wall me off a room and have a solid door with locks. I would try to draw off what you think you want, maybe even to scale. Browse a few forums and look at others work areas. Most of them have a "show me your loading bench" thread.

You have unlimited possibilities, Good Luck and enjoy!

[Three44s]

Concur with figuring out the height you want.

Also unless you are very organized at stowing stuff, keep the bench shallow and small. Use docking methods to mount and de mount presses. Emphasis on storage and being able to expand it.

Three44s

[El Bibliotecario]

Unlike a previous poster I found depth to be wasted space--to each their own--so I built a shallow bench, but long enough to allow mounting what needed mounting. Above the bench is a wall mounted set of shelves running the length of the bench with space for tools, dies, components, and a spot for my scale which I can reach while working to weigh charges. I added bracing directlly beneath my primary press and a full length shelf below the work top for storage of bulk bullets, the weight adding extra stability. Like another previous poster, I work sitting so determined a height ideal for me.

[WinchesterM1]

This is my set up, it’s a old 12’ piece of countertop that I built heavy duty legs on, it holds my Dillon 550,SDB, and my 750. It also has my Lee 4hole turret press. I store my dies in a nut and bolt organizer, and I have some of the smaller 3-5 drawer dividers for Misc tools and scales

[G W Wade]

One idea I have always liked is groove in the top that holds a plate with different tools mounted to it. My case trimmer is mounted that way. Have seen almost anything mounted this way. Leaves to top clear for tinking if space is needed GW

[Mk42gunner]

I'd start with about half of the basement, and build a good wall.

Loading benches don't have to be pretty, but they do need to be sturdy. If you can anchor them to the concrete walls and floor, so much the better.

I'm one that favors narrow front to back benches, deep ones tend to collect stuff.

As far as storage, old file cabinets with good drawer guides may be the best, although I haven't tried that yet. If you could find some with the 5-6" drawers, they might be good to store boxed loading dies and molds in.

I would separate the powder storage/ loading section from the casting section if at all possible.

Good Luck,

Robert

[higgins]

4x4 corner posts and another 4x4 center post front and back; main reason for using 4x4 is so framing screws (lag bolts) will have plenty of wood to grab. 2x8 framing for the top. Buy a sheet of 3/4" plywood and cut 8' off one side so you have a 40" deep top and make a "backsplash" with that 8" strip to prevent things rolling off the top. It also mades a handy place to hang cleaning rods. I put a lower shelf, low enough to stack a couple of storage boxes on. With enough heavy stuff on the lower shelf you won't need to anchor it to the wall or floor. Three 1x10 shelves attached to the top that can have a back but I left my shelves open to use storage boxes. I had a workbench just like the one I have now in the other house that I used for 30 years; when we moved I took measurements and photos and built an identical bench where we now live.

As mentioned above, filing cabinets and metal government-type storage cabinets are great for storage as long as the filing cabinets have roller bearing drawer suspension. Goodwill has a lot of storage cabinets these days because the generation (like me) that kept a papers for everything is dying out and the kids store everything electronically. The older metal office furniture is much better quality than the new stuff.

[Baltimoreed]

Cubicle desks from a habitat store work super. Who says a reloading bench has to be a straight line. My legs are 2x4 diagonals so as to make a smaller footprint on my floorspace. And what about using a pedestal?

[murf205]

Attachment 293451
A big help is sturdiness for sure. If you look closely just under the 3/4" plywood tom of my bench, you can see the 2x4's running front to back. It really helped firm up the bench. The legs are 4x4's and it is belted with 2x6's. I built this bench in 1978 and it has survived 3 moves but it is still rock solid.