reloading re-start

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If I were doing it I would cut a 3/4 piece of ply In half and glue it together. If you space is long cut it lengthwise. I have no faith in any kind of fiber board. Prefab carts and benches dont seem appropriate in most cases. Costco had a 2'x6' tool cart with 1.5" butcher block top that if I was buying would be first choice
 
Have loaded pistol calibers on the Frankford Arsenal Table for several years now with turret presses. Would still be loading on it today had a relative who's just getting started not come over last week to load up some rnds on it not commented how well the table would work for him. It's a well built table that suits the needs of some and apparently suffers distraction from others who have never even used it. I had no regrets from buying one, it served it's purpose in a time of need.
 
My first reloading "bench" was a $10 dining room set from a yard sale. My first reloading chair was one of the 4 that came with the table. Sucked that it was a round table, but I cut it (relatively) square. It worked with the single stage press I started out on just fine. A few lag screws along the way when the wobbles got worse and worse.
 
AJC1 said:
If I were doing it I would cut a 3/4 piece of ply In half and glue it together. If you space is long cut it lengthwise. I have no faith in any kind of fiber board. Prefab carts and benches dont seem appropriate in most cases. Costco had a 2'x6' tool cart with 1.5" butcher block top that if I was buying would be first choice
Click to expand...

One thing I don’t see mentioned much is going to Menards or Home Depot and buying an inexpensive countertop and actually framing in a bench, like @Charlie98 said.
I have many takeouts sitting around, but when I saw the bright blue, I knew right where it was going.
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For seventy dollars, fasteners, framing and top, I just put an eight foot long one in a cabin for my Aunt. It wasn’t very pretty, but it’s Formica and will out last the little shack I put it in. Holds a whole deer, in parts...:thumbup:
 
Still mulling what I will do for a bench. In the meantime I am trying to acquire .38 special components. I have some Win 231 powder (and Hodgdon Universal on order), some cases and bullets on the way. Went to a local gun shop this morning, where I got the 231. They have primers! BUT, you can get 'em only if you buy a reloading press! o_O:(
 
I also used a Black & Decker Workmate for my first reloading bench.After this picture was taken I doubled the top. I kept a couple of .50 cal ammo boxes full of bullets on the lower "shelf" for extra stability. Worked great and was easy to put away when necessary.

Reloading Bench 2.JPG
 
treedoc1 said:
I loaded 9mm, 38sp, 45acp, 45 colt all from this setup for 2 years.
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My shooting buddy did something very similar... he bolted his RCBS RS3 press to a little 14"x14" raw lumber table he built back in wood shop in high school! He just held it steady between his knees while kicking out .45ACP's. Necessity is the mother of invention, sometimes...
 
For prefab, Seville Classics (Amazon, E-Bay) offers several solid top benches that would do the job. If you're worried about stability, some 'L' brackets screwed to wall studs and bench legs = im-movable.
 
You might go to a thrift store or resale shop and look for an old wood desk or a wood table you can re-enforce. My first work bench was a child desk, oak, two drawer, weight 60 pounds. Cost $15. Added extension 2 "L" brackets, 2x4s and sink cutout. I later wanted something larger and bought a WW II wood desk for same price and added row of drawers and a bottom shelf using 2x6s turned flat side up and covered with scrap plywood. Heavy stuff on the bottom, Manuals and primers in the drawers. Works great.
 
I suspect many will be disappointed in my decision, but here it is: I selected a Seville Classics "workstation", 36" x 24". Without its wheels it's about 31" high, should be good for work while sitting. Top is 1 1/2" thick, appears to be maple. Legs are steel. Weighs about 50 lbs. I have mounted my press with C-clamps. If I decide this is a keeper, I will drill holes and bolt it.

reloading table.jpg
 
Not my favorite scale... I used it about 3 times before I parked it and dug out my trusty 5-0-5.

Pull up Amazon and put in '5-0-5 scale'...
 
I mounted my presses to a thick plywood base. Then drilled holes to mount the base to the bench. I made a pattern so I can replicate the plywood base for other things I may want to mount.
Right now I have a LEE single stage and LEE Auto Breech Lock Pro progressive on these interchangeable bases. Both are sitting on a shelf while I'm not reloading and using the workbench for another project.
 
Charlie98 said:
Not my favorite scale... I used it about 3 times before I parked it and dug out my trusty 5-0-5.

Pull up Amazon and put in '5-0-5 scale'...
Click to expand...
Hey, Dennis;
Do you mean the light gray ones listed at $69? My understanding is that these are not the same as older 5-0-5's. Lighter in weight, and made in either Mexico or China.
 
WeekendReloader said:
I mounted my presses to a thick plywood base. Then drilled holes to mount the base to the bench. I made a pattern so I can replicate the plywood base for other things I may want to mount.
Right now I have a LEE single stage and LEE Auto Breech Lock Pro progressive on these interchangeable bases. Both are sitting on a shelf while I'm not reloading and using the workbench for another project.
Click to expand...
Good idea. If/when I get more back into this, I might just do something like that. Minimizes number of holes in the table.
 
WilTx said:
View attachment 962508
Operational! Now I find I need a scale. The tiny one on the left edge doesn't like to have small amounts of mass added after it settles. It was cheap, anyway.

Anyone have an opinion on this scale?
https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/hornady-balance-beam-scale
Click to expand...

Consider a "quick change" ultramount from inline fabrication. Depending on the height of your workstation they have different base heights, it gets your press at a good height for the throw of your ram. Then you can buy base plates for different presses or other processes that can be quickly changed in and out of the riser. And only one set of holes in your table.

https://inlinefabrication.com/collections/quick-change-press-mounting-system
 
I was going half-crazy looking at balance scale reviews. I was looking mainly at the Redding M2, the new new RCBS's, and a couple of the digitals. There is always some guy who posts a review in which he swears that brand ****** scale is a piece of junk and he's never going to buy anything from ****** again! I decided the RCBS M100 was the primary target, but is out of stock everywhere, and I wanted to get something soon. I finally decided to take the easiest path and got an RCBS M500 from Cabela's because it was in stock and available for same day pickup. Not in the same class as my old Lyman (D7?), which I sold cheap a few years ago. The M500 is very light, and the copper plate isn't perfectly centered between the magnets. I have added "feet" made of short sections of silicone tubing from my RC airplane supplies to keep it a little steadier. It isn't awful, though -- appears to be pretty sensitive and accurate, at least according to the little digital scale I'm checking it against.

SO NOW I am pretty much fully operational. Only item left to replace is a measure. I had a Lyman 55 before, same story. Hey, I thought I would never get back into reloading, OK?
 
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