What did you do in the reloading room today?

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Originally Posted by TheBelly

ordered shell holders and dies. this weekend will see the creation of the reloading bench itself. I'm looking forward to utilizing some power tools to get it done.

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Did you finish the bench?

I've designed a bench that I'll build when I've got the money, figure it'll take about $75-100 in wood, but still would love some ideas to see how other people are doing theirs.

Today, I drove home from work to spend the afternoon with my Fiancee because this longer work shift seems like its taking forever. I also unboxed my newly purchased Lee Carbide .38spl and .45acp dies that I got for $20. Still amazed I got them at such a steal of a price! They're a little dirty, looked like there was some sort of grease inside of all of the dies, but that will clean up after they take a bath. Having these dies will give me more brass to prep and the .45acp die will give me an excuse to pickup a .45 pistol at some point [LOL]

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Originally Posted by BuffCyclist

Did you finish the bench?

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Yes. Seeing as the army is a fairly transient lifestyle (having to move every couple years) this bench has legs that will fold up into the top. It's like a folding table (like the ones you're used to seeing) only made of good wood.

Im going to get the metal stand that rcbs makes for this press so that I can mount the press in away from the edge a bit. The press is going to be mounted on the end, so I can put more leverage if needed without upending the whole table.

http://i994.photobucket.com/albums/a...psc31de794.jpg

The bench is 72" long and almost 2 feet in depth. The height of the press means that I can sit on a chair/stool and be staring right at the case when it contacts the dies.

It cost $68 to procure.

Nice looking bench, and well thought out with making it foldable.

What size plywood is that on top?

I was planning one with 4x4 legs, 4x4 rectangular top, and a slab door for the top. Then doing a shelf on bottom with 2x4s. I'm definitely over engineering it though, I'm using Solidworks to draft it up lol

In fact, I have to buy some wood to support the underside of our roof under our new evaporative cooler, so I might buy a little extra wood and get started building the reloading bench. Which means I've got to spend some time tonight finalizing the design (definitely need to simplify things, I'm no carpenter).

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Originally Posted by BuffCyclist

Nice looking bench, and well thought out with making it foldable.

What size plywood is that on top?

I was planning one with 4x4 legs, 4x4 rectangular top, and a slab door for the top. Then doing a shelf on bottom with 2x4s. I'm definitely over engineering it though, I'm using Solidworks to draft it up lol

In fact, I have to buy some wood to support the underside of our roof under our new evaporative cooler, so I might buy a little extra wood and get started building the reloading bench. Which means I've got to spend some time tonight finalizing the design (definitely need to simplify things, I'm no carpenter).

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3/4 inch on top. I don't think I'll be torquing so much that I pull through the wood. The key thing though is that I'm trying to spread the load over a larger area by using the stand and washers.

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Originally Posted by TheBelly

3/4 inch on top. I don't think I'll be torquing so much that I pull through the wood. The key thing though is that I'm trying to spread the load over a larger area by using the stand and washers.

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Yea, I'm considering getting a stand too, but I honestly think I need to find a nice stool to plan the entire workbench around lol. My bench will be around 61" wide and 30" deep, which is much deeper than it needs to be, it'll offer me lots of bench top storage. I might even build a "hutch" style top to add some shelves too. Need to figure out where I'll be mounting my digital scale though, I know it needs to be mounted on a different surface than the work bench so its more stable, but I don't want it too close to the wall that its hard to see the display. I've currently got it sitting on the countertop in my laundry room, but its a few inches from the wall and kind of a pain to work with.

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Originally Posted by BuffCyclist

Yea, I'm considering getting a stand too, but I honestly think I need to find a nice stool to plan the entire workbench around lol. My bench will be around 61" wide and 30" deep, which is much deeper than it needs to be, it'll offer me lots of bench top storage. I might even build a "hutch" style top to add some shelves too. Need to figure out where I'll be mounting my digital scale though, I know it needs to be mounted on a different surface than the work bench so its more stable, but I don't want it too close to the wall that its hard to see the display. I've currently got it sitting on the countertop in my laundry room, but its a few inches from the wall and kind of a pain to work with.

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Good point about the scale.

Too deep means that I'd try and store too much stuff on top. I know that I need to keep the whole bench top tidy....

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Originally Posted by TheBelly

Good point about the scale.

Too deep means that I'd try and store too much stuff on top. I know that I need to keep the whole bench top tidy....

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Yea, I thought of the storing too much crap on top aspect, but since I really don't have any other place that I can easily have a clear workspace to work on guns etc, I end up cleaning my rifles on the kitchen table and my Fiancee hates that (even though I put down towels).

I've also heard that you shouldn't put fluorescent lights above the workbench, because they emit too much electrical noise/interference that can screw with the accuracy of digital scales. Not sure how much truth there is to that, but it'd be pretty easy to test with a set of calibration weights.

I've just got the one scale, an analog version. I can't really tell the difference in the .1 grains, so I'll end up getting a digital scale. Better be safe than sorry.

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Originally Posted by TheBelly

I've just got the one scale, an analog version. I can't really tell the difference in the .1 grains, so I'll end up getting a digital scale. Better be safe than sorry.

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I went with a MyWeigh GemPro250. It has 0.02 grain accuracy. Do I need that kind of accuracy? Not really, but they have an amazing no questions asked warranty and I figure if I ever get into long range shooting, the load to load consistency will be nice.