I am going to dedicate a small bedroom in my house as a hobby (reloading-gunsmithing) room. I need some ideas for shelving, cabinets, benches, etc. pics needed. Thank you in advance for your input. chris.
Very well done, but I don't want too much visible. I was thinking cabinets maybe. What do you think about the prefab counter top from home depot or lowes? Would it stand up with a reloader on it? chris.
You can do a post form top (the prefabbed tops you are talking about), my only suggestion would be to make the area a couple feet each direction of loader a solid 1 1/2" (sometimes 1 1/4" on those tops) I would personally do the board underneath the counter out of plywood for some added strength versus particle board when you are screwing the loader down. I would do the counter that has a little hump in the front edge (no drip edge) to help stop BB's from rolling all over the floor. The most important thing is to secure your cabinets very well to the wall and then the top securely to the cabinets to try and stop any kind of movement or bounce. Another thing to try is going to counter top shops in your area and see about tops they have torn out and are going to throw away. This works if your not picky about a color and it keeps them from filling up their dumpster. On my press (PW) it shoots the shells out the back and down a chute through a 4" hole in the counter, down a couple elbows of 4" Sch 40 pipe and into a 5 gallon bucket at my feet. I had this all inside a cabinet in my last house and now I have it under an open steel bench that the bucket sits between my feet. I will see about some pics if I get a chance and don't forget.
I use an old metal office desk with the Formica top. I mounted my loader in the center of the desk, just over the middle "pencil" drawer. Drilled a hole in the top under the primer chute so all the primers fall into that drawer. Plenty of room on the left for hulls, etc. and room on the right for my wads. The desk has plenty of drawers, so storage is a snap. Best part is you can usually pick up one of these desks on craigslist for under $50..... Here is a picture of the desk I used. I paid $25 for this one....
I forgot to mention I use a Mec 9000H loader. The pump sits on the floor on a thick rubber pad to dampen the noise. The hydraulic hose runs up the rear of the top through another hole I drilled in the top to attach it to the hydraulic cylinder on the loader. I can sit at this desk and reload for hours. New primers are stored in the top drawer on the left. Second drawer down on left holds reloading books, Mec instruction manual, etc. third drawer down on left is a "catch all" drawer. Spare Mec tools, bars, bushings, parts, spare bottles, etc are stored in the top drawer on the right, along with lubrication items. Wads are stored in the large drawer on the right. All in all, it serves its purpose better than any reloading bench I have had in the past, bar none....
My new downsized bench. Old one at house had five machines. Make sure your bench is rock solid, presses work better, don't feed brass upside down and have more consistent powder throws. Quick detachable feature on bench allows four different MEC presses to be installed on the same bolts.
I have a little 10x10 room in my walk-out basement that use to be my office when I worked at home. Perfect size for my reloading needs. Keep things organized, neat, and good light, heat, and humidity controlled and you'll end up with a nice place to spend some quiet time.
I have a room in my house I use to reload. I use a workbench I got from harbor freight. I have the lead on the bottom shelf and it screwed to the wall and it doesn't move at all. I have shelves on both sides of the bench for material storage. Reap
don't worry you can't keep up with Gary, he is a perfectionist the products he builds show his craftsmanship Mac
I took an old wooden coffee table that was fairly thick ( about 1 1/2) and took the legs of it. After that I took a 2x4 and attached it to the wall lengthwise about 30 plus inches up on the wall. I the took a couple heavy hinges and attached the coffee table to the 2x4. I then fashioned a couple legs out of some more 2x4's. So you swing your loading bench up from the wall when you want to use it. For my legs I took like one of those hasps you use for your garden gate. Maybe not the hasp, but the part the sliding rod goes into to secure the gate and I attached it towards the underside of the coffee table( a few inches from the front edge of the table as you face it. On the 2x4' legs I drilled a 1/2 in hole on one end. What I do is take a 6 inch threaded bolt and slide it though the hole in the wooden leg and into that metal gate slider hole on the bottom of the table. Of course you'll have to measure your legs to length so your table sits level. Now those legs don't go straight down to the floor. What you do is cut them to a length so they'll come down from where they're attached on the bottom of your table to where the floor meets the wall underneath. This makes for a VERY secure table. Now on the bottom of my legs I just left the 2x4 square cause I use it out in the garage and the bottom legs sit against the concrete foundation. But inside your house you're going to want to cut those bottoms at a 45 degree angle so they'll fit snug at the bottom. I'd advise using some felt, or other material at the bottom of the legs to not mark up your wall or hardwood flooring. One last note. Use a threaded bolt, it has a tendency to stay in place better. No need for a nut. GL. Jim
After "Many Moons" of reloading, I decided to completely rebuild my 'mid 60s' TEXAN ( Used for Federal Papers Only) and my 'mid 70s' P/W 900 with Spolar Power Unit.----Always said "RED" was the way to go !!!
