Armory Sponsor
Posted: 7/18/2009 8:02:53 PM EDT
|
Does anyone have a picture of there aprtment setup? I recently got my press and was just going to load on the kitchen table. However, my external female conscious has told me I will not. I am not looking for something perment as I hope to be out of this apt in a few months. What setups and benches are the rest of you using?
Thanks! Sean |
| I can't provide any specific tips, although I am sure someone who can will be along shortly. Meanwhile, you might want to troll through http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=42&t=262015 for some ideas. I know there are at least a few apartment setups in there. |
|
Before I was able to build my reloading bench in my new house I just bolted both my Dillon 550 and RCBS Rockchucker to a 3/4" piece of plywood that was slightly larger than the press base (except in front where it was mounted flush. You need to provide enough room on each side of the press to use C-clamps without interfering with the handle in particular. Bolts were countersunk in holes on the bottom so they wouldn't mar any surfaces. Then I just used C-clamps to clamp them to various places like the kitchen bar - which is my favorite location due to its nice height and solidity. You can use a scrap piece of plywood underneath between the clamp and the table/bar top etc. if marring on the bottom is an issue.
I also did the same thing with my Uniflow measure, case trimmer etc. using somewhat thinner plywood scraps. I suppose you could glue some felt on the bottom of the mount plywood if further protection against marring was felt to be needed. This allowed me to mount my gear to a variety of tables plus the kitchen bar and really worked amazingly well. Only the issue of leaving the press mounted for extended periods would cause marital discord. You can also use a workmate-type folding tool table/bench as found in hardware stores and clamp stuff to it. The first Dillon (450) I ever saw was mounted to one of these by a neighbor who loaded indoors in the winter because his attached storage and shop area was unheated (He put it in there in the summer however). |
I just got out of college a bit ago and moved back with my parents to save up for a down payment for a house. It was not even an option to ask my dad to drill holes in his work bench so I bought this cabinet thing from a guy on craiglist, it was important to find something stable and this is very stable, rolls on wheels and two of the wheels lock which is great for when I get it in place for loading. I had to mount the press on the back side so the drawers could still slide out but it works well. I store all my stuff in here (except the thousands of rounds I have loaded on it so far). There is room for my dies, powder, bullets, equipment in the 2 large drawers and one smaller top drawer. I've really liked the setup and I might even continue to use this setup for a while when I move into my own house, at least until I get a new progressive press.
|
|
I started out with the press screwed into some 2x6'es and then C-clamped those to the kitchen table or the bar. That works very well, and is what I would recommend for low-volume loading.
You could also do what I did - ditch that after 6 months and build a dedicated reloading bench out of 2x4's and plywood. $50 in mats at HD and an afternoon of work. It has a 3x4' top, so the footprint is minimal. I have it and all my ammo stuff in a corner of the apt. that we don't use for anything else. Here's an older photo of it - there's much more "stuff" on and around it now. 
|
|
Wow, these are some great ideas. Please do keep them coming.
My wife would not allow me to build a bench that is up all the time. I have tired to find one of those folding work stations at sears.com or criagslist and keep coming up empty handed. I like the Idea of a craigslist desk of some kind, but that again would be harder to put away. Hopefully in a few months this will all be easier. |
| Unless you are loading high volume a Lee hand press will work fine on a kitchen table and you can store everything in a plastic box from wal mart.. Not perfect but you can crank out quality ammunition in less time than you might think... Then put it all away and your other half will be happy... |
|
Way back in the old days, my "kitchen table" was a pcnic table, and I used C clamps to mount my reloading equipment on it. Since then, my picnic table's been kicked to the back deck and I still use it to reload on similar to what I had in the apartment daze way back when... I tossed half of it away, the other half is still in use. Note the holes on the left, they were shell holder holders!  |
I don't know how much space you have but I temporaily have this setup in my apartment room untill I move, where I hope to build a small reloading bench. The press is always C-clamped down but I just move my computer to give me the extra space to work.
The rest of my tools are just sitting by my bed, again because moving day is coming soon. 
|
but you get the idea. Clamp this type setup to almost any sturdy surface and go to work. I FL resized 8mmMauser on this setup.
Armory Sponsor