Building Cabinets for Reloading

Status
Not open for further replies.

Soupy44

Member
Joined
Dec 21, 2008
Messages
263
My wife and I are making future plans for kiddo number 2 and they involve my man cave getting a guest bed. I'm planning to redo my 2x4 and plywood reloading bench by building cabinets to put in it's place.

This will be my first cabinet build but I am confident in my abilities. My question is about rigidity. My current bench is rock solid with an Online Fabrication strong mount bolted through 2x4s framed for the spacing of the mounting holes and bolted into studs.

I plan to make the carcases out of 3/4 ply. Is there anything special I should do in order to ensure rigidity for the press or will the torsion box properties be good enough?

My wife also says if these turn out great, she wants new kitchen cabinets. Please make your advice good, but with obvious ways I can make non-fatal mistakes!
 
I used 1/2" ply framed with 1x2" for the fronts and then two layers of ply for the top with bolts and T nuts for my press.
 
Instead of all that building why don't you buy a good used desk with drawers on either side of the knee hole. You can mount your press on top and it will be plenty sturdy. There are always used desk around in all sizes so just measure that area you have to put one and try to find a desk that fits those measurements. The drawers will give you plenty of storage space.
 
Thanks Engine, I did think of making a 2x4 frame in the cabinet where I would mount the press so I can run the bolts through them again. I'll keep this in mind. Over engineering is fun!

Milt1, I plan to build them as well as the Murphy bed we'll put in there so everything can match and look really nice. On top of that, I will enjoy the build. I've made a number of items for our home for when our son was born. Also have to justify all those tools in the garage!
 
Congratulations on the new addition !

However, your problem is not the bench. Your problem is having young children in the same room with your reloading supplies.

I would highly suggest moving your current bench into the closet in that same bedroom. Supplies can be stored on the shelf above. Lights can be added. Then the closet doors can be locked when you're not home. Up to age 4 kids like to stick things into their mouth. At age 5 and up they like to experiment with things they find by taking them to the patio and pounding on them with a hammer, or lighting them on fire.

Kids will try anything. It's simply easier to be safe than sorry.
 
Thanks Wobbly, already taken care of. The door to this room has a key lock on it and remains closed. The closet has an addition key lock and our safe is inside.

Part of building cabinets rather than the open shelves I currently have is this concern. I plan to store my loaded ammo and components in the lower cabinets and add a lock to those as well. I also plan to build upper cabinets to store nick knacks and other tools. I do a pretty good job keeping the bench surface clear already.

Thanks!
 
First off, I’m all for doing something that will get me more tools, however…for the time AND money you’re going to spend on material and potential tooling, I would seriously look at base cabinets from Lowe’s or HD. You can get a couple base cabinets and either plywood the top or one of their in-stock counter tops and call it a day or you can purchase a ton of material and spend the better part of a weekend (if not more) making your cabinets and they won’t look as nice…nice cabinets aren’t easy to make without the proper tools…expensive tools. In the end I have no dog in this race, just passing on information from past experience.
 
My wife and I are making future plans for kiddo number 2 and they involve my man cave getting a guest bed.

Thanks Wobbly, already taken care of. The door to this room has a key lock on it and remains closed. The closet has an addition key lock and our safe is inside.

Apologies. I interpreted the bit about the bed as the older child going into the reloading room.

Kids are a treasure, but even the best "child-proofed " homes can generate medical emergencies at an alarming rate. If you can get your kids to age 10 without a midnight trip to the ER, then count your blessings !
 
As a building contractor, I can help keep you out of trouble, but I need more information:
1. Length, top height, first. (Height depends on your body and # 2 below)

2. Are you going to stand or sit. (sitting requires a place for knees and legs....at least in one 30 wide section....standing requires a toe kick 4" high 3" deep.

3. Are you going to buy a Formica or special counter material top? or make one?

4. Cabinet doors and drawers? They require the most skill.....or there are companies where you can order just doors and drawers.....

5. Nice hardwood face frames aren't necessary in a man cave......but in a kitchen they are unless you construct them in the European method. European Cabinet Design is technically 3/4" plywood or melamin boxes, with hardwood edging. Doors and drawer faces are sized to be almost together....that is 3/16" between them, and off the edges, so that the 3/4" wide edging is all you need. Only stickly part is that with this style of building boxes, you need European hinges, and the tools to mount them.

6. Torsion forces on a press handle means you are trying to rotate the top and cabinet face down and toward the wall requiring some sort of torsion beam to resist rotation. You can simplify and make those forces go straight down if you mount your press on a countertop stand.....perfectly fine for those who stand to reload as long as the top is low enough for your height.

Another advantage of European Contruction is that drawers and spaces behind doors are bigger, more open, and clean (especially the plastic-lined Melamine).

Lots of European boxes are made of 3/4" Melamine....white or tan...but you NEED Roo Glue to glue them together....nothing sticks to particle board covered with Melamine plastic as well....stronger than the material. Glue, clamp, let dry.....then screw with cabinet screws.

Make hardwood banding to glue to box edges to match doors and drawers 1/8"x 3/4" is plenty. Some cheaper cabinets just use glue-backed banding in rolls and use a special heat tool to glue them on.
 
Last edited:
I will add that you should install locks so that everything can be secured. Unless you are willing to stand guard when the out-laws visit. I've seen visitors be nosy, even removing items. And they will allow young-uns in the room, leaving them alone to visit the privy.
 
GW Starr:
1 - 50in wide and the work surface will be between 28-30in (I'm 6' 2")

2 - I will be standing and use a Dillon 550

3 - I planned to glue two sheets of 3/4 ply together and finish the top. I might trim it with something hard, but I can live without that. I would pocket screw it from below to attach it.

4/5 - I planned to do frameless lowers, just cabinets, no drawers, two doors. I deprime on a Lee Challenger and run the tube into the bench to an old nut jar screwed to the underside of the work surface (on the right side of the bench since that's where the press is). On the left side, I plan to keep my shop vac in the back of the top shelf with the hose running up through the work surface as well. I plan to store loaded ammo in the right cabinet. Both lower doors will have locks.

I also plan to build uppers 12in deep, 50in wide again, hung on the wall with a french cleat, and screwed into the studs. Those will be broken into three cabinets with a lockable door on the left most to store powder and primers. The right two will have sliding doors since they will be behind the press and space is limited. Tools and nick knacks will go in there.

6 - I do have an Inline Fabrication mount, so it sounds like I should be good from what you're saying. I considered framing in the top of the right lower cabinet, bolting that to the wall, screwing it into the carcass, and then bolting the press stand through the long sides again. Am I correct in that would be overkill based on my plans? I'll have lots of leftover 2x4s when I disassemble my current bench, so materiel cost is not an issue.

Attached is the router table/cabinet I built to attach to my table saw. Learned a number of lessons about hinges and spacing building it. I feel this bench project will be easier since I'm building simpler carcasses. I'm also simplifying the design with pocket screws instead of rabbits and dadoes. The only dadoes I plan to cut are for the shelf in the ammo storage cabinet. I tallied up how much my ammo would weigh if I loaded up every ammo box I have. Answer is 336.75lbs which probably puts me in the amateur category, but I only reload for Bullseye and service rifle. I designed the lowers to be the right width so I can store my 4 loads side by side for easy access: Service Pistol, Wad gun, revolver, and 223.

I don't foresee my reloading expanding much in the future, maybe I'll add 308 for shooting long range since we own a 40X that we have shot that far, but only with factory ammo thus far. I want to do this space right since it will be all I have for a few years. We are planning (see dreaming) about the house we will buy in about 5 years which will have significantly more space. A reloading room is part of that plan, likely in a basement away from prying eyes and inquisitive fingers.

All input is greatly appreciated. Thank you everyone!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20191219_134258286.jpg
    IMG_20191219_134258286.jpg
    108.2 KB · Views: 45
  • IMG_20191219_134227192.jpg
    IMG_20191219_134227192.jpg
    84.9 KB · Views: 44
If you’ve got enough of those 2x4’s a super work service can be may by gluing a number together, flat to flat in whatever width suits. Planed down for a flat face. For a durable but replaceable work surface 1/8 inch Masonite works well attached to the top.
 
If the bench you have works well could you just build doors for the front of it and then a set of cabinets to hang above. That would retain your existing sturdiness and give you the ability to close off and lock things up.
 
GW Starr:
1 - 50in wide and the work surface will be between 28-30in (I'm 6' 2")
Think about body leverage as you decide on height....30" top, means 39-5/8" high press mount, using the Inline product.....test set your press that high, mount your most reloaded caliber's sizer, mount a case, and stroke the handle. When a case starts into a die, the handle will be "so high". That's the point where you bear down.....and you want body leverage at that point to make it least tireing to stroke all the way into the sizer. For me that height is just above my hips @ standing.
2 - I will be standing and use a Dillon 550

3 - I planned to glue two sheets of 3/4 ply together and finish the top. I might trim it with something hard, but I can live without that. I would pocket screw it from below to attach it.
That would work, but I like a hardwood face trim 3/4"x 1-5/8" that sticks up just enough to prevent cases and things from rolling off the top....I'm old school....I just used trim screws and matching color putty.

4/5 - I planned to do frameless lowers, just cabinets, no drawers, two doors. I deprime on a Lee Challenger and run the tube into the bench to an old nut jar screwed to the underside of the work surface (on the right side of the bench since that's where the press is). On the left side, I plan to keep my shop vac in the back of the top shelf with the hose running up through the work surface as well. I plan to store loaded ammo in the right cabinet. Both lower doors will have locks.
I see from your pictures that this isn't the first cabinet you've built....and you have experience with European style boxes and hardware.....no need to elaborate further on that. Carry on.

I also plan to build uppers 12in deep, 50in wide again, hung on the wall with a french cleat, and screwed into the studs. Those will be broken into three cabinets with a lockable door on the left most to store powder and primers. The right two will have sliding doors since they will be behind the press and space is limited. Tools and nick knacks will go in there.
You can do that with cleats...or you can build with a 3/4" back....clean interior....more expensive, yes, but it's like have the whole back as a cleat and you can screw it to the wall even more than one screw per stud, up and down.....but cleats work fine unless you plan to store lots of heavy stuff.....bullets come to mind.

6 - I do have an Inline Fabrication mount, so it sounds like I should be good from what you're saying. I considered framing in the top of the right lower cabinet, bolting that to the wall, screwing it into the carcass, and then bolting the press stand through the long sides again. Am I correct in that would be overkill based on my plans? I'll have lots of leftover 2x4s when I disassemble my current bench, so materiel cost is not an issue.

Attached is the router table/cabinet I built to attach to my table saw. Learned a number of lessons about hinges and spacing building it. I feel this bench project will be easier since I'm building simpler carcasses. I'm also simplifying the design with pocket screws instead of rabbits and dadoes. The only dadoes I plan to cut are for the shelf in the ammo storage cabinet. I tallied up how much my ammo would weigh if I loaded up every ammo box I have. Answer is 336.75lbs which probably puts me in the amateur category, but I only reload for Bullseye and service rifle. I designed the lowers to be the right width so I can store my 4 loads side by side for easy access: Service Pistol, Wad gun, revolver, and 223.

I don't foresee my reloading expanding much in the future, maybe I'll add 308 for shooting long range since we own a 40X that we have shot that far, but only with factory ammo thus far. I want to do this space right since it will be all I have for a few years. We are planning (see dreaming) about the house we will buy in about 5 years which will have significantly more space. A reloading room is part of that plan, likely in a basement away from prying eyes and inquisitive fingers.

All input is greatly appreciated. Thank you everyone!
 
Been a cabinet maker for years and owned/ operated my own shop a while. Typical kitchen cabinet type construction probably wouldn't be strong enough to reload on unless the cabinets are narrow, probably 16" wide or less
 
Jonesy, that might have been true once with face-frame construction and edge-mounted presses, but not with faceless European box construction with solid 3/4" panels to the ground and a dbl plywood top screwed to corner wedges, in turned screwed to the vertical panels......and....and this is the big thing....the O.P. is using a top-mounted Inline Fabrication-raised mount. All forces are vertical. The O.P. just has to Bolt (not screw) the Inline mount through the 1.5" top and use fender washers underneath to prevent any pull through.
 
I agree that commercially available kitchen cabinets are not what I would consider up to the rigors of a reloading bench. Well made custom cabinets can be made to withstand the rigors of reloading... or not.

I recommend using quality dense ply wood like baltic birch from a lumber yard... any plywood I have ever bought from Home Depot or Lowes has always been specially manufactured to the absolute lowest quality specs possible for plywood (more voids than wood even in their expensive sheets). Sturdy construction that also looks nice takes quality woodworking tools and a fair bit of experience. I made raised panel doors with a 3hp Porter Cable router in a heavy router table once... I would never do that again now that I have a shaper with a stock feeder (What a huge difference in speed and finish quality!!!) I would consider a cabinet saw, planer and jointer a must for a quality project and a track saw and access to a wide sander REALLY nice to have.

I went with a really heavy used metal office desk (the kind that isn't made any more) for my sit down reloading bench. Forget any thing made out of partical board!!!!

Check out the price on a granite counter top with a prefab bull-nose at your local cut rate granite supply house... you might be surprised at how cheap you can pick one up. You can cut granite with a diamond blade on a worm drive skill saw and a spray bottle of water. Also check your local craigs list for quartz or Corian counter tops that someone has ripped out. Quartz cuts like stone but Corian (and other manufactured solid surface material) cuts and finishes very easy with wood working tools.

P.S. a strong mount for the reloading press definitely does not eliminate all but the vertical forces. If this were true you wouldn't need to bolt a bench with a strong mounted press to the wall.
 
Last edited:
P.S. a strong mount for the reloading press definitely does not eliminate all but the vertical forces. If this were true you wouldn't need to bolt a bench with a strong mounted press to the wall.

Of course it does. the Twisting force from the press is transferred to the strong mount. The strong mount then has down forces on the front bolts and up forces on the back bolts....both forces are applied to the benchtop only a few inches apart....and both vertical (in opposite directions)....but they are so close together that a strong non-flexing 1-1/2" thick top isn't going anywhere as long as its bolted to a heavy frame and legs. Without a strong mount, you bolt to the wall to prevent the back of the bench from lifting from the pivot point at the front frame at the front of the bench when you are powering the press handle down.

However with a strong mount mounted behind the pivot point it would take a huge force to lift the table top....you'd have to bend the 1-1/2" top in the middle. The key is to mount the mount behind the front support pivot point.
 
Last edited:
Thanks for the input everyone. I think I have enough to go on. Probably won't get to this project over the holidays but will post pictures once complete!

Happy Holidays!
 
I would consider using retractable doors for the upper part of the cabinets. That way the top could be built solid and access to the bench would not be hindered by swinging doors being in the way.
 
My loading bench on its own would be to heavy to ever lift with any stroke of a presses ram. Add in several hundreds of pounds of all the crap that’s in the drawers and cabinets, it don’t move.
The presses are mounted to its 1 1/2 inch thick oak top.
 
Largely,the rigidity is mainly a function of..... Screenshot_20191222-023543_Gallery.jpg your top. If you were thinking 2 pcs of 3/4 plywood,go 3.

This top is 2" thick net(not nominal) old growth SYP with 1/4" masonite over that. Also,you need to think about where the bolts go through top,so they don't hit the face frame(if there is one). Think about the top overhang and how it interfaces with the press's linkage. Good luck with your project.
 
This is what I had done for my reloading bench. The ends are salvaged kitchen base cabinets that are made from plywood and not MDF. The top is 2 layers of 3/4" 7 ply plywood and one pcs. of 1/4" ply topped with 1/8" Masonite hardboard that is 2'X4'. Then that is a piece of 3/8" steel plate that has been recessed into the top and has been drilled and tapped for each of my presses so I can swap presses within minutes.

001 resized.jpg 006-resize.jpg
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top