Starting completely over from Scratch (new reloading area)

[Potatohead]

Peter,
I'll hang onto your IMR 4756 stash while you make the transition

-PH

 

[twofifty]

Natural light is a great asset when combined with artificial light.
My bench is right next to a North facing window, so I get very good flat shadow-free light all day long.

 

[tightgroup tiger]

I would also have a bench the full length of one wall with no cabinets under it. You can line up all your loading presses without having to worry about drawers or cabinet doors that you won't be able to open.

I would want a concrete floor like in my loading room.
A floor mat to fight fatigue.
I would want it either attached to my house or in it. My loading room is next to my attached garage and I can walk 15'and I'm in my garage where all my heavier tools are setup. I can go load any time I want without getting wet or getting in the heat and having to cool down a outside building before Í can stand to go into it.

I would have compressed air piped in there, and a shop vac mounted under the bench.

I would want a safe for valuables and a refrigerator to be used for storage of powder. I would want a full set of shelves right behind me for all the tooling and accessories I have.

I would want a lighted magnifier like in this link. I have one in my loading room and they are indispensable.

http://www.grainger.com/product/LUMAPRO-Round-Magnifier-Light-6MNT9?s_pp=false&picUrl=//static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/6MNT9_AS01?$smthumb$

I would want a ceiling height of 8' so I didn't have to worry about my ceiling light fixtures being to close to the tops of my case feeders.

I would want cabinets on the wall to put things in to get them out of the sight of prying eyes.

I would want a couple comfortable chairs for break time so I could BS with my friends or get off my feet when they hurt. I would want an outside door with crash bar hardware on it so I could get the hell out of there if I needed to.

If I were set on a separate building so I had more room I would have a finished room with my comforts and reloading equipment inside of a larger room that would have all my dirtier, noisier equipment like my drill presses, lathe, my tumblers, any grinders or saws.

That's all I can think of right now.

 

[horsemen61]

Sounds fun

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I am heading over for inspections next week and will tape measure out where I want to put the reloading area. I want it separate from the main wood and metal working shop just to keep the dust out of my play space so separate building it is.

One advantage of buying a ranch. No need to share space.

 

[cfullgraf]

I

One advantage of buying a ranch. No need to share space.

Right.

An engineer friend of mine did some farming for a while and he said he liked being able to stand out side and not see anyone. (His description was a bit more colorful).

The project is almost as fun as the end result when you can start with a clean sheet of paper.

Enjoy.

 

[GW Staar]

Hi Pete! So this is the latest retirement idea? Stay in Texas and find some space. Not such a bad idea. (warmer than Chama, NM)

I'm inserting a "plan" of a small space designed for another member here who has about every press and does reviews. It's not entirely what you are looking for but perhaps there's an idea or two.

Things I like in it?

I do like the idea of putting the main press in a corner so that other equipment used with it is a swivel away. I design spaces for women (kitchens, sewing laundry, hobby, and laundrys) and all have one goal in common ...... reduce the number of steps it takes to use the space....so making it as efficient as possible.

I like the separate insulated cabinet for tumbling brass......I can't reload while tumbling...dry or wet makes no matter...it drives me bonkers.

I would design a noise-insulated storage closet against a wall where you can multi-use it. For example, besides a tumbler station, a shop vacuum on the floor under it, connected to a vacuum line with outlets in a couple of places where messes are made often. An air compressor (or CO2 bottle [what I use]) with lines at places I want to blow off (presses) on the other side of the door. The noise makers are then away from the fun area.

In Montana it makes great sense to make a warm shooting area for cold winters, but I doubt you need that in Texas. If you do though, add windows front and sides so you can know no one is going to run in front of the shot.

A lounge area would be important to me ..... I do best when I can relax after a hour or two, then start again.

If it ain't close to the house and the wife, I wouldn't care for it much.....after 41 years we still enjoy each others company.

 

[AABEN]

I have one close to what you said. Think what size you want then add 1/2 of that size again!! I do have heat and air in my gun room. I do my casting in my 30+30 garage that is set up to remove vapors from casting. The wife has her own 30+30 garage that is attached to the house.GOOD LUCK

 

[Andrew Leigh]

I will play.

I think the shooting port is a great idea except your view will be restricted and this could mean something could unwittingly stray into the firing line. What you could do would be to have the roof extend on the side from which you wish to shoot so that you are protected from sun and rain. Extend the concrete floor to under the lean to and build your shooting bench there.

What would be very valuable would be to have a concrete passage down the side of the building with a solid bullet stop at the one end. Permanently install your chronograph and now you can check load speeds at the drop of a hat.

Have a reloading "dirty section" and a "clean section". Case prep etc. in the dirty section and then the rest in the clean area.

Then you will need a section for cleaning firearms and gunsmithing.

Try have some form of process flow so that you move around the workspace in a logical way rather than jumping all over the place.

As mentioned good lighting is essential, as we age our pupils dilate less and out low light vision becomes worse.

Finally, concrete floors act as a energy trap, in summer they are cool and cool the room in winter they are extremely cold and make the room extremely cold. So you may wish to consider (apart from air conditioning that is) an under concrete heater. You don't want to over heat the entire room but you want to take the chill of the concrete else your legs will get very cold. It is for me a very efficient form of heating, does not dry out the air, hot air rises so you lose very little heat and your air con will work less in winter so there should be a zero sum gain.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

GW,

You are getting close to what I was thinking. I just need to work on the details for a while. Yes I did give up on moving back to NM. I will stay in Texas with our lower taxes. I found a nice spot that fits the needs yet meets the requirements. Not to big, not to far away, not to close so just right.

I have given up on the shooting port idea. To many safety risks upon further consideration.

In your drawing you have many presses. I will only need 2 spots as I will set up a progressive station and then a turrent/rockchucker station. I actually like my current setup where the presses are in casettes that I can switch in and out with ease.

Please keep the suggestions coming. I have time to incorporate them and really work the details out.

 

[dickttx]

So far, you are up to about $2.5 million for your reloading room!!

 

[GW Staar]

I have given up on the shooting port idea. To many safety risks upon further consideration.

I live in a less than perfect floor plan for old age. It has 2 levels: The top walks out the back, and the bottom walks out the front. With a split entry.

My reloading room is down.....I can walk outside in the front but am in the ground in the back. I always thought it would be nice to have a port underground but I don't have a 100 yards that way. The thought was to dig out a "tunnel" 4' wide with a concrete lid and conc. block walls, with a locked trap door at the end for to set and retrieve targets. It's only a dream since I can't discharge a gun in the city limits anyway.

In your drawing you have many presses. I will only need 2 spots as I will set up a progressive station and then a turret/rockchucker station. I actually like my current setup where the presses are in cassettes that I can switch in and out with ease.

I only have three, but I'd LOVE to have a bench like his with long arms either side of my Pro 2000. Also I don't plan to limit myself if and when the itch comes to get another. I can even conceive of having another Pro 2000 so I can keep one setup to load pistol and the other to load rifle. Heck, I wouldn't mind having a Dillon 1050 to play with in the future for that matter.......that would make 5.

Right now it may not make sense to load shotgun for trap and clays with a Walmart close by......but how close is your Walmart? And how long will they sell shotgun shells.

With all the space you can have available, don't limit yourself to the present if you don't have to. The most important feature, of course, is to make it to please you, but since you gotta store each press somewhere anyway, presses mounted permanently (with dust covers of course), ready to load, any time I get the urge, make more sense to me, than the quick switcheroo, unless you are like my wife, who insists that all her counters are empty clean, and appliances are unseen until shes using them. And that's perfectly fine too!

Oh, BTW, think about built-in timered outlets for your tumbler/s. They are way nicer than the add-on variety. You can wire two separate timers to each duplex outlet, one for the top and one for the bottom. The timers can be ganged into a double-gang switch box. I use one....really like!

And why do I use CO2 bottles rather than an air compressor? Silent compressed air......dry compressed air. Perfect for airbrushing a stock too. Again, it's silent, always ready, and you don't have to deal with a water trap to prevent water in the air line from ruining your paint job.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

Started the process going. Talked to a builder and set a date to walk the property.

I will fill you in more and answer questions a bit later. Another appt to run to.

 

[horsemen61]

Awesome

 

[grubbylabs]

I would look into adding your shop vac, air compressor, and tumbling into a sound dampened closet or utility room with its own ventilation.

I would also coincided a solvent tank and a steel ( preferably stainless top) right next to the solvent tank with a hood for getting rid of fumes. Again having these in side a utility closet type space would be ideal. That way the area can be closed off to the rest of the room when not in use.

If you plan on a drill press keep in mind that it's going to make one heck of a mess with shavings.

Doors to the exterior would be steel security doors. You don't want any one to easily gain access.

I really don't think you can have to many cabinets and draws. I would have them the full length of your bench except about a 3' spot where your mounting your press's. When you look into building or buying cabinets, look into the draws and sliding units they offer for kitchens now. Much of that would be really handy in a loading room.

If your planning on removable presses think how nice it would be if they stored in a cabinet on a shelf that would slide in and out, not to mention all the possibilities for storing brass and bullets and what not that modern Kitchen designs could offer.

Having air lines plumed to all the work stations will make clean up and maintaines easier.

I would also include a spot for a tool chest or provisions for tool storage built into the cabinetry. Having quick access to basic hand tools is very convenient.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

We decided that it will be incorporated into the new garage we are going to build so not a separate building. This way I can justify water and AC more easily since it will have the metal and woodshop next door as part of the garage.

Right now I am looking at a 15 by 15 ft finished space for my toys. I plan to build a storm type bunker approach to maximize the security and just in case we need well a storm type bunker if a bad storm rolls in.

I meet with the tentative builder here in October when I will own the property and can then sit down with the architect and work the details of the wood & metal shop, reloading area, family storage and car storage.

The comments above about airline sand power will now be easy since I will have shop air basically right through the wall. The logistics of construction just got a lot easier.

 

[grubbylabs]

When you stop and think about it, attaching it to your work shop/ garage makes a lot of sense, it eliminates a lot of redundancy. And makes a lot of conveniences a doorway a way.

One air compressor, one furnace, one A/C system a single solvent tank and a single hood for fumes and what not. and probably the most cost saving feature is you only have to pour one foundation.