Carpet in a Reloading Room (Good or Bad Idea?)

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Depending on the type of carpet and the humidity level in your work area static my be a real problem. I have hardwood floors but i still keep dryer sheets on and around my scales and powder dispensers to keep static at a minimum because i do most of my reloading in the winter months which seems to have the most buildup of static. I do keep a small towel under my press to slow down the primers when they make up their mind to escape! :)
 
I have carpet in my cave and it never has been an issue in 18 years. I've heard some talk about vacuuming powder and primers but I haven't had any issues, "yet". Just my experience. I just try to be carefull not to spill powder on the floor or live primers. But heck, even if I was reloading on hardwood floor or concrete, I'm pretty sure I would try to be just as careful.

The Dove
 
Primers and powder will get spilled eventually. It's much easier (and safer) to clean them up with a broom and dustpan than try to vacuum them out of a carpet.
 
I reload over carpet and I don't have any problems. My two recommendations would be: 1) I use a handheld dust vac for any small spot cleaning (the dust vac catches everything in a filter and doesn't run it through a brush or motors etc) and 2) Keep tabs on your primers, it might be slower but when I prime, I count out maybe 50 at a time, and make sure I end up with 50 rounds at the end. If I come up short I make sure I find any that may have dropped right away. Smokeless powder on its own doesn't do much but burn and isn't necessarily easy to ignite, but vacuuming or setting off a primer will be a bit of a wake up.
 
To ease static issues, ground your press.

To aid in spill cleanup - either get a small area rug and place it over the carpet area where a spill might happen, or get one of those hard plastic office chair floor mats
 
Just Say "No"

"No" to carpeting. However, standing there for long periods on a hard floor isn't good for your knees, either. Goto Sears and get one of their rubber shop mats. Your joints will thank you.

IMG_0412.jpg
 
Someplace on this forum, a gentleman told about spilling some primers on a carpet, unable to find all of them, he vacuumed the carpet. D'OH, the sucked up primers going through the vacuums fan set the primers off...... little Mrs. wifey not too pleased with his performance!! Don't believe he ever said what happened to the vacuum!:fire:
 
What's on the floor now? If it's bare concrete, I would recommend sealing it, at the least. Makes for less dust and it's easier to sweep. If you look, Kevin has a mat on a painted floor. Good setup.
 
The floor is painted concrete. I painted it with the two part epoxy paint. I do have some shop mats left over from my wood shop I could use by the bench.

Thanks for the input!
John
 
Throw rug? Drop cloth?

I have heard of people dropping small parts onto a hard surface and having them break. I didn't think if was possible, but have no reason to doubt. Carpet would reduce that tendency.

A throw rug would be a good compromise. Maybe something 6'x8' that you could take outside and shake off.

A drop cloth is always handy, too. I don't recommend plastic because it is noisy and does not drape as well as cloth.

Thanks for asking our advice. Good question.

Lost Sheep
 
No choice here - my reloading area is carpeted.
I have a hand held Dust Buster that I use to vacuum up powder & primer spills.
 
My shop has a painted concrete floor. I have a cheapo low pile 6 x 9 rug down. It keeps my feet warm and prevents small parts from bouncing away when I drop them.
 
I have a strip of carpet in front of my bench- I like it, even though it gathered a large number of spent primers in it before I got around to vacuuming it...

I think it is mainly a personal preference; spillage of live primers in a shaggy carpet is not a good thing though.
 
I have been reloading on carpet for over a year. Only other alternative was to put my reloading bench in the garage...no way in S. Georgia Humidity. I just go slow, take it easy with primers and powder and like all others said, vacuum with a dust buster or shop vac. No problems as of yet but I do worry that more than a little bit of spilt powder is in the carpet.
 
To ease static issues, ground your press.
Click to expand...

This isn't a good idea.If you run a wire to ground add a 1 Meg resistor in series with the wire.

Have you ever reached for the door handle and had a whopper static arc/shock. That can happen with your press, especially over carpet when it's dry out.

Add the 1Meg resistor and there will be no static and no surprising shocks/arcs of high voltage electricity.

I have a section of carpet by the press and have the set-up I mentioned. I don't have any static build-up, ever.
 
I have carpet in my loading room. I constructed a shelf system from 2X12 from floor to ceiling, and 12' wide. I "decked" half the room with the same 2X12 under the loading bench and across the room far enough to roll my chair and comfortably work at the bench. Pressed tightly together and held in place by screwed end strips. I have used a small shop vac (2 gallon) for many years in my loading room. Powder, primers, etc...... No issues. Use a vacuum that has the fan and motor on the BACKSIDE STREAM of the receiver tank. NEVER use a vacuum that passes all the junk past a fan, they will explode if you happen to suck up a live one. The filter canister will prevent powder or primers or anything else from reaching the fan blades. If you do have carpet, Home Depot and Lowes both have carpet adapters that will fit shop vac hoses.
 
BrainOnSigs:

Dang it! Now I have to go to church tomorrow!
I have to repent of the sin of covetting.

Absolutely LOVE the wall above your bench & the skulls.

Drool, drool, drool!

(We need an emoticon for drooling)
 
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