Good luck with those negotiations, I heard that is a tough Department to get assets from.

 

Well, I had a 2"x2" square of 1/2" plywood with holes drilled on one side for both a press and a powder measure. I'd put a case of water on the other side and it would stay in place pretty well for something so cheap.



I have slightly upgraded to a bench from Menards (apartment dweller planning on moving to Iowa in the next year) and decided to mount a press on one side, and the powder measure on the other.



It's light enough that I carry it into the livingroom and sit on the couch to reload. Usually takes 2 or 3 trips to get everything transferred







I picked up a bunch of 2qt and 4qt containers from walmart that have been keeping me organized between fresh pickups, cleaned, depriming/sizing, expanding, and storing loaded rounds (small ones, they're thin and I wouldn't want to load up one of the big ones to capacity). The big ones hold roughly 900rds of empty .45ACP cases. The one on the right actually has exactly 400rds of .45 ACP in it. It MIGHT fit 410 if you really try, but the lid went on kinda tight as it is. I can't remember how many I've pulled out of the one in the center, I'm guessing roughly 100rds.







When depriming/sizing and expanding, I'll stack 2 of the 4qt jugs on top of each other so I can push out the processed case and it drops into the open jug as I put a new case into the case holder.



Surprisingly, I only miss the jug about 5% of the time and I have to dig under the couch or bench for them







I keep all my other stuff in a $9 cabinet thing I got at walmart. I have essentially everything in here. Manuals on the bottom; scale, caliper, bullets, powder, dies second from bottom; bullet puller, RCBS hand primer, and some other stuff in second from top; finally primers, loading blocks, Uniflow, and funnel in the top drawer. The tumbler stays on top. It gives it a hard surface to sit on (and circulate air to stay cool), yet doesn't vibrate anything off. I set it on the table and rattled a couple of the wifes "breakables" off onto the floor the first time I used it







I don't have a lot of room right now (the pic of the table is about it in that room) and I want to spend some time with the wife, so I think this might have to do for now. I REALLY want to build a bench, though. You guys have some great ideas.

Just finished my new modular bench

How are you guys finishing the tops on your benches?  I've been working on mine for the past several days and am up to 6 coats of polyurethane but feel like I need to go a couple more.  Also are doing anything to it after the last coat of poly?

no finish on mine
 

I like those rails. Where did you get them?



 

They aren't mine, but the rails are called T-Track. You can get them many places, including word working supply shops. Google T-Track and you will find lots of neat stuff. BTW, Rockler has blue ones for those who drink the blue Kool Aid, like me.

jonblack

Looks like alot of people are using the table from Sam's.  I just got my 650 up and running about 4 weeks ago.  Here is my setup/man cave.       -Wade-


and here is the "other hardware" just for the hell of it.

Sorry........cell phone pic

My organized disater area.

Nothing fancy. I had a better bench at our old house but I couldnt get it out of the house without taking it apart. I havent reloaded for over a year but finally got "life" to a point I have some time to sit down and get back in that saddle.

So went out Saturday afternoon and built a quick bench. Nothing fancy, just real quick and simple. Still getting presses mounted, I dont have any bolts that are the right length so have to swing by the hardware store.

My humble submission.  It's not finished, I need to add some shelves, mount my vise, and probably mount my case trimmer to a 2x4 section to c-clamp it to the bench when I need it.













 

Better pic with a camera instead of cell phone............



Other side of the room..........

Well, since I too live in a rather small space, I had to make my bench portable. I started out with a yard sale workmate 300 plus. The top is taken from a design I saw on the web. I made mine a bit larger as I like to spread things out a bit. It is surprisingly stable and was very inexpensive on the build as I had the plywood and some other stuff stashed away in the storage shed.
I used the Lee quick change braces so I can use either the Loadmaster or my single stage RCBS reloader special. It may not be the most luxurious setup in the world, but she sure cranks out some great reloads!





It does take a few trips to get all the stuff I need for a session when setting up in the living room. The better half likes that I can have it all packed away in about 20 minutes so she an have her living room back.

azlester

I see you are using the LEE mounting system. How do you like it?

jonblack

My bench and bookcase.

Just after I finished putting it together...wife bought the Cabela kit.

BTT on principal.
Great pics and ideas in here guys.
I am about to start the basement shop area this week.
Looking for tables. I was debating the 2x4 basics kits

TAG for ideas!  Excellent thread so far, gentlemen!

TAG

I finally got around to making my first bench today.  The only problem I had was when I finally moved the bench to it's final resting place the floor wasn't level so for now I had to shim a couple of legs.  I didn't have quite enough lumber to brace the legs but I will when I get the wood.  I built this bench for less than $40 in materials as all of the wood was out of the dumpsters on the job sites.  Now I just need to buy a press to mount.  Sorry for the sad pictures but all I had was my phone to take the pics, it definitely makes it look out of level but I assure you it is not.

I like the way you over laped the top to make it that thick.  

It's definitely sturdy like that.  All layers (4 of them for a total of 3 full inches) were glued and screwed.  I am not quite sure what I will do as far as sealing it.  I guess a laquer applied several times would be best.  I used Advantech 3/4" flooring so it is sturdy press wood but I want to make sure the top doesn't flake at all, hoping a laquer will stop that.  I will also be buying some cheap flourescent lights designed for under cabinet mounting in a kitchen to put under the shelf.

Now that is neat.Sure would like to see some plans for that.

Just added my "annex" on the left end.  The original bench is about 30 years old


Attached File

My Humble contribution, 24"x48" top surface
there is some blue koolaid Dillon 450 under the green press that I'll get set up one day
this is also the delivery table where AR embryos are borne into carbines/rifles

Well I bought the bench plate in June and got it all mounted up and then ran out of time for awhile. I just set up the bench and press again and loaded up 100 rounds of 9mm yesterday. About 1/2 way through the press and the wooden plate land in my lap sending powder and shells and bullets flying all direction and scared the living daylights out of me! I thought that I had tightened down the plate and after cleaning up the mess i re tightened up the plate and started over again. after about 20 rounds or so i looked down at the plate and saw it was loose yet again. I was miffed to say the least. I shut down and put everything away for the night and called Lee this morning to find out whats up. I talked to tech support and the guy told me that he would have someone(MR.Lee) call me about the problem. When I got the call(not Mr. Lee) I explained again what happened and he asked me what type of wood is the plate made of.. I replied it was plywood. Ahhhhh he says.. Thats the problem. It seems that the first batch of these went out with plywood inserts. The plywood is not thick enough for the Z brackets to get a bite on, so the inserts will work themselves loose. Lee is sending me new solid wood inserts to replace the plywood ones. They said in the meantime if I wanted to reload "to make sure that I put a couple playing cards between the wood and the Z brackets". He apologized for the misshap and that was it. No mention about the loss of my powder(over 1/2 a canister) or why they had not announced to anyone that there could be a problem.

If anyone out there has the Lee Bench Plate make sure that the wood inserts you have are solid wood material and not made of plywood!

I will see if the new inserts make any difference when they arrive in a couple of days. If not, I know that a certain package will be headed back to Midway USA post haste for a refund.

Well here is mine, from start to finish...but are they ever finished....LOL
SASS






and one for laughs....

and the addition of my progressive press....

How are you going to mount a press to that with the top so thick?
 

I still have to install the door handles, build the shelves to go in between the two cabinets and install the peg board. The top is made from 2x 3/4 inch panels laminated with hardboard on top and soft maple trim. Added 3 coats of  50/50 mix poly and mineral spirits.

Nice set up....don't worry, all that empty space on the wall will be filled with shelves eventually....LOL
SASS

Here's my set up.  

Buy longer bolts at a hardware store, also if needed I have the top sectioned where I can remove the front 2x8 where a press will go without sacraficing strength.  Should be pretty simple.  I don't have exact measurements but from the other dillon presses I have seen mounted with a stgrong mount there was sufficient room for them to use a 2x4 at the front of their bench with no interference with the 2x4  Should be no different with the 2x8 and if absolutely necessary I can always use lag bolts at the front of the press.

Just finished building the bench, and now Im setting up my new LnL.  Apparently construction lumber doesn't take stain too well.

Generally speaking pine and other tight grained woods don't stain well. It gets really splotchy. If you have to stain it don't sand above 150 grit, and try opening the pores up with mineral spirits or one of the various compounds available from stain manufactures to improve the absorbency. Gel stains tend to work the best.

I ordered my 2x4 basics workbench kit today. Gotta buy the lumber.
It'll take a few weeks to get my space cleaned out and new bench set up.

First, the old bench. not enough room and was not set up for my needs.


New bench-




And now it disappears!

I'm new to reloading (about a month).   Sort of eased into it at first by getting a bench, tumbler, and sonic cleaner from Harbor Freight so I could start by cleaning brass.   Bench was only $139 on sale.  

Then I decided to jump in and get the press and other items so I could reload .45 ACP.  

Bench is working out really well for me so far.  

My slice of heaven:



Wife came into my Gun Room PC Room  Reloading Room , uh....Man Cave and suggested I put "an empty bullet" on my ceiling fan chain.   I allow her in here from time to time now:




Fruit of my labor relaxation:

my bench package was here when I got home from the range (testing reloads no less), it was a good day, came a week earlier than expected.
Gotta get cracking and get it set up.
Oh And I am Sooo stealing the bullet light idea.

Great pics in this thread.

And Mrs. gnome loved the "ceiling fan chain", she wants one in 270 win!





Don't have top of the line stuff,but seems to work for now.

here is mine it's in the garage. the timer is for my tumbler

I like the use of the cardboard tubes for the extra heads. You don't happen to remember what the tube(s) were used for do you?

That is not my picture but here is a link to a bunch of cardboard tubes. Measure your turrets and see if one of these will work for you. Alternatively you could try PVC pipe as it is available locally everywhere.

jonblack

I'm right in the middle of moving mine into the garage. At the rate I'm going I should be done next month.

I lost my man room to the oldest granddaughter, I'm a little pissed about it.

Thats a cozy looking set-up but looks like ta could use some better lighting.maybe some ceiling flourecent light fixtures.