Reloading setups and dealing with limited space, my solution

[Guest Jason F.]

I thought some might find my reloading setup interesting. I do not have a room in the house that I can take over as my reloading room or gunsmithing room. My garage is a disaster area that is the frequent zone of welding, grinding, metal cutting, and painting. It is also full of at least two or three motorcycles in various states of disassembly at any time. With that in mind I needed something I could setup on the dinning room table or kitchen counter.

I decided to build a movable bench top that could clamp down. Here is what I did on my snow day yesterday and today.

I wanted something pretty thick and sturdy so I purchased two edge glued panel grade planks at 27/32" (they did not have 1") for about $5.00 a piece. I gave them a light sanding to smooth them but they come ready for paint.

I spread some glue on the faces that I would be clamping together.

I pre drilled a few holes and used a few wood screws to hold the boards together. I also clamped them until they dried.

I used some 1/4-20 hanger bolts to secure the Lee press. These bolts have a wood screw on one end and a standard 1/4-20 bolt on the other end.

I marked and pre drilled the holes and then ran the hanger bolts in with a wrench and two nuts.

Test fitting the press.

Putting a little walnut oil finish on the boards

This is the oil used, Danish Oil, which has very light odor and no heavy fumes. This allowed me to do this on the kitchen counter and not bother my wife who had lung issues and is sensitive to fumes.

I purchased some heavy felt pads at the hardware store to stick to the bottom of the board. This was to protect the surface of what ever I set it on.

I put one on each corner.

Final mounting of the press.

Second angle of the press.

I pilot drilled a couple holes for the powder measure and screwed it down.

These next two shots show it clamped down at two points to the island counter that is behind my kitchen sink.

There is plenty of lumber in the under side of the counter to clamp to. I put some cardboard as a pad under the top of the clamp to protect the finish on my new bench top.

All finished and in use. The two large clamps are more than enough to secure the bench top. There is little to no movement or flex in the bench top.

If anyone is interested those are 125gr round lead nose 9mm over 5.0gr of Unique powder at an OAL of 1.125" with a standard roll crimp.

This entire setup was created in my kitchen with little to no mess. I had to wipe the counters off after the light sanding and I used and old sheet that was going to the trash bin under everything when putting on the oil finish. My wife was in the other room and was not bothered by the construction. The only noise was a couple uses of the cordless drill.

I can mount this to the island counter and load up rounds while my wife is on the other side cooking dinner. When I am done I can remove the clamps and go stash this bench top and the gear in the office closet. So apartment dwellers and folks without a mancave in the house take note. You can load your own at home with limited room. Send the comments my way I would love the feedback.

[MikeW]

Nice work... it turned out nice

[ncomarc]

Where did you buy the two edge glued panel grade planks? I don't think I've seen them at Home Depot or Ace Hardware.

Sweet looking set-up by the way.

[Guest canebreaker]

HD and Lowe's has it. Southeastern Salvage has it too.

[Westwindmike]

Good job!

[Guest forrestcav]

looks great!! I was thinking along the same line and was gonna clamp it to the sewing table. of course that was before Dad build one to go in the corner of my home office. Now I can reload his .30-06 rounds for him.

[TNFF319]

Way to think outside the box. That setup looks great.

[mwhuffman]

Necessity is the mother of invention. Kudos on a great set-up!

[Guest Jason F.]

Where did you buy the two edge glued panel grade planks? I don't think I've seen them at Home Depot or Ace Hardware.

Sweet looking set-up by the way.

As mentioned by another reply it can be found at Lowes which is where I got it. It was in the isle with all the finish grade lumber like the oak and cedar boards. I could have gone with a solid plank of a harder wood but that would have driven up the cost and been a bit of overkill.

This stuff was not as soft as standard pine lumber but certainly not a hardwood of any sort.

Thanks for all the comments. I have loaded a couple hundred rounds this weekend and it has worked well. I had to go shovel the driveway so we could get out of the house though today. Had several inches of near solid ice that came up in big chunks. I am worn out but I treated my self to some steak at Hickory Falls. I might load a little more this evening if I am not to tired.

[ftncityfatboy]

I feel a sequel coming on........

[musicman]

Cool! Looks exactly like my setup fm my first apartment! (minus the powder thrower, I used a turret press and pro-auto disk) Glad you got around to setting this up!

We need to get together again sometime Jason, it's been awhile!!

[Guest Jason F.]

Yeah it has been too long. I actually had most of this setup in the garage but it simply was not a usable setup. As I mentioned my garage is a disaster area and is frequently a place metal destruction and reconstruction. I think I have added cars and bikes to the stable since you last saw it.

I could often not get to the bench I had the reloading stuff at. If I could get to it there were too many bike parts on the bench in the way. That and all those sparks flying about from the grinder and the welder do not mix well with powder and primers.