After many years of my reloading bench being relegated to the corner of a garage, toolshed, or what have you, I'm finally taking the opportunity to build my dream reloading room. I thought I would throw these questions out to you all:

If you could change the design of your bench, what would you change? What do you think is a really snazzy addition to your bench that you would recommend to others?

Just for background, this is the way the current setup is looking:

I have a storage shed behind my house that is going to be my reloading/gun maintance room. It is a 10x6 brick building with a concete floor. I have a dillon 650 press and an RCBS ammomaster press that is going to be mounted on it.

I have all kinds of woodworking tools and I am going to build the whole setup myself. Let me know any suggestions that you have, and please post some pictures. Thanks

Well, here you go. I will start the ball rolling with mine.
I have had this same set -up since the 1970's and it has been practical for me and my loading needs.



Von Gruff.

My bench is one I built myself out of some old lumber & a few store bought items. I like the design & wouldn't change a thing about it. I do have another bench that I made & the only changes I would make is to build a lot of shelving for supplies and on the other bench set up a Lee progressive loader for each of the pistols and leave it set up. Might do the same thing for the shotgun too. That is about the only changes I would make.

I have a storage shed behind my house that is going to be my reloading/gun maintance room. It is a 10x6 brick building with a concete floor. I have a dillon 650 press and an RCBS ammomaster press that is going to be mounted on it.

That is worth a left nut all by itself

Whip up your own bench top with some 3/4 osb glued and screwed. Formica top edged and banded with a strip of hardwood. Shelves done the same. The 2x4-6 legs and shelf across the bottom will fall together easily enough.. Most important though, when your done your bench build 2 drawers under the top. Split the top in half or thirds with some 2x's for framing. Get some HD drawer slides from hardware store and whip up a few drawer fronts. This is the most important feature of your bench!

You will be most happy with yourself by being able to just pull a drawer under the benchtop and have every tool you need and your disposal.. I promise....

JMO

W

C'mon, you guys. He said 'ultimate'. Not some cheap piecer made outta osb and framing grade lumber. Think furniture or cabinet grade stuff...... Make him spend some real money.grin

[quote=wooferYou will be most happy with yourself by being able to just pull a drawer under the benchtop and have every tool you need and your disposal.. [/quote]


What brand of garbage 'disposal' do you recommend for spent primers and split brass?

Here is my Man Cave. Many a relaxing hours spent at that bench, and hopefully more to come.

[img]http://x.co/bAY2[/img]
[img]http://x.co/bAYH[/img]

Shipster

Huntsman, 3rd drawer on the right......

W

Ranch hand, If you want to see pictures for idea's, head over to, http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2511043/m/994103278

Lots of lighting, lots of outlets.

At one time 35 years ago I had a dedicated loading room with hanging flourescents over a Sears workbench with a metal base, suspension drawers and some home modifications to stiffen the sides which were plenty stout for load bearing but maybe could oil can just the least bit. Recently as I've been able in retirement to look forward to a dedicated setup again I bought a nice Sears stainless top - stainless shell over medium density - and came to the reluctant conclusion that my current setup with turrets, single stage and a progressive with electrical feeders would clutter a bench especially with electrical cords.

It would be nice to use the stainless shell for a grounded base to maybe improve powder flow in the measures but.

So I've decided to reserve the big stainless top for a working bench - means I don't need a sacrifical top to soak up Hoppes spills and the steel may be a little shiny but may or may not help me see things with a rifle in a cradle and bore scope in the rifle.

I've decided to mount my presses on a series of smaller free standing - nailed down - work surfaces cut from what Sears calls butcher block at 1-1/2 thick (not really butcher block which is end grain just pieced and glued together for styling but nicely finished). This will allow me access to get all around the progessive which seems like a nice way to be able to go with a progessive and electical feeders all wobbling hither and yon. Storage is mostly a mix of Sears and Harbor Freight rollaways. All storage is rolling but clumsy to move around much.

The big difference from the past is a couple of smaller bench tops for the presses and a big long bench for everything else. Remains to be seen how I'll like it over the long haul but that's my take on ultimate. The folks at Ultimate Reloader dot com have the nicest t slot mounting system I've ever seen pictured but notice that with all the metal things still flex when the Hornady progessive is being worked with the electrical accessories. I think a smaller mount can be made more rigid but what do I know.

Its nice to have benches or table tops for doing other gun chores too like working on them and cleaning them. For the most part my reloading area is small but it works great. Everything is positioned perfectly for my needs. Notice the beam scale is elevated for a more eye level approach:



Make sure you build yourself some cabinents to put stuff in too

Thanks for the input guys. I will try and get some pics posted tomorrow so you can see what I have to work with. Keep the good ideas coming. Thanks

I second lots of lighting and outlets.

I chose to make my bench standing height. I do most stuff standing and it is faster to walk around than sit and constantly getting up. Make it as long as possible. Can't have enough space.

Get some sort of vice to hold a rifle on the side of your loading bench. Note the harbor freight vice with red rubber on the wooden jaws. One of the best things on that bench. I use it almost daily.

A sound system is nice too. My old stereo has XM radio.

The cupboards were a dining room set that was sold cheap at a garage sale.

If pictures of Hammer's set up are still floating around, I can't imagine much more "ultimate" than that...

I would like to see that

The only problem I see is you will be limited for space so you may have to get a nice little corner space set up like I showed in a previous post. "10'x6'" isn't going to be very big but big enough if you build it right. Maybe have one wall with cupbords like suggested earlier and one corner designated for reloading. That way you have plenty of storage space and a reasonable amount of room for reloading (It doesn't really take that much space for that). Also have a place for a small work table so you can do some gunsmithing/cleaning type of work if you are into that.

After years of my reloading operation being located in the basement, I moved into the fourth bedroom on the upper level of my home. I wanted a bench that looked more presentable than the one I had been using in the basement. So I went to the local unfinished furniture store, I selected a butcherblock topped bakers table, highback swivel bar chair and small two shelf bookcase. I stained and finished all three pieces to match, they look like furniture meant to be upstairs in the house. Over the bench I added three eyeball lights and now I have a very presentable well lighted reloading area. My gun safe occupies one corner and the closet stores all my hunting clothing, boots and associated gear. Finally everything is in one place, last but not least a Bose sound system provides relaxing listening while I am loading.

IMO the critical ingredient for a reloading room is a long STURDY bench, at least 1" plywood or, better yet, maple butcher block. Anchor it to a wall and use 4x4s attached to the deck for support.

1. As much bench space as possible ("standing" height is preference). The more rigid the better.

2. Light and more light.

3. Strategically placed quality sound system.

So eloquenlty spoken.

Nothing ultimate about this reloading setup...rather conservative.

Rescued an old kitchen cabinet/sink found on a curb. Sand blasted and painted it then topped it with 2"x6" planks and applied 1/4" plywood.


My reloading needs expanded so built a bench with "2x4"s and 2"x6"s topped with 1/4" plywood to go next to the above.

I am getting a new door put on my future reloading room today. I will try and get some pics up tonight.

My new bench and cabinets in my new shop



And my freshly painted press and everything to match

I have since put better lighting under the cabinets from when the pics were taken











[img]http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u52/doetail68/DSCF3310.jpg[/img]

Very nice....can't have to many cabinets!

Matching paintwork on your equipment! Very nice. I like the room, too.

This works for me. Not sure it qualifies as ultimate though.

I wouldn't even show mine... it looks too much like junk compared to ANY OF the above...

a friend down in Texas posted pic of where he has a press mounted on an old bench that looks like he robbed off the old picnic table someone was going to toss out...

well mine looks better than that one...

gee I wonder about starting a companion thread...
"so how much powder, and how many types of it do you keep as stock on hand?"

or another, " how many boxes of, and how many types of bullets do you keep on hand?"

How wide is the area that your presses are mounted on? I am still working on the dimensions of my bench.

If mine looked like these things I'd think I was into the wrong house. My storage sucks so a lot of stuff on the bench. I like to thing that my stuff is right at my finger tips, most of it is!

TedTHorn,

what kind of stand do you have under your lee press, is that a dillon or does lee sell one?

Thanks,
sean

TedTHorn,

What did you use to paint your reloading equipment?

squared away people make me want to puke! lol

i have to "clean" my garage and shop at least 4 times/year just to be able to walk through it!

It's 1/4" CRS plate I cut and welded myself....it's far wider at the base and gives the bench a better bite!

Rustolium..."Make it stone"....and many many oats of matt clear

Here's mine....my dad and I built this bench in about 1975:




One bench proved to not be enough, so over the past 10 years I added two more tables. One for progressive machines, using a solid core door as a top:



And another of 1" plywood with a 1/4" masonite laminated on it, for gun work:



I have a wood cabinet I built for component storage:



All this is in one spare bedroom in the basement, along with my gunsafe, hunting gear, etc:



I switched to a Lee turret press for the bulk of my reloading, and just built this rack this weekend, to sort out my turrets:



I do have a few euro mounts of my mulies on the walls to keep me company. The antelope horns are in the garage:

[img]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee149/tominboise/P1000707.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee149/tominboise/P1000708.jpg[/img]

I was to busy looking at the bucks to care about the bench. Couple of nice bucks there!!!

Dang nice bucks. I wish I had a few mulie bucks to keep me company.

Not the ultimate but a different approach. I like an island bench that gives me access to all sides. The presses are mounted above the vertical uprights for stability. This thing is really stout. I built it 42 inches tall because I like to stand when loading but I also use the stool from time to time. have three other benches in the room, one for brass prep, one for misc work with drill press, grinders, vice, etc.and one for gun handling. As far as advice, light, lots of light.

Flashhole. Utilizing all the corners is a great idea.

Thank you for the nice compliment.

Thank you - I've been lucky over the past few years. What I don't have is any whitetail horns....

Well, I guess I am late to the party but I just reorganized things this past weekend and felt I would snap a few shots and share before things got messy again. Sorry for the poor pics, they were taken with a cell phone and the low hanging flourescent lights really gave a hazy appearance.

I didn't have a lot of room and the best location for my set up was a little 10'x10' shed out back.

Here is the bench and work surface:



And a shot of the storage facility:

The shelf mounted on the wall works good for holding my brass boxes and the cork board beneath is pretty neat for keeping little things (like spare decapping pins) from getting lost.



A little more detail of each:

I built the work top tall enough to roll my tool chest under it and just clear the top. Until just recently, this tool chest's bottom drawer is what held all my powder and die sets. Then I demoted an old gun chest and added it to the storage section in the picture below this one. The entire bench was build out of salvaged wood that was once a handicap ramp leading into my house. The first weekend after moving in, the handicap ramp was torn down. The second weekend after moving in, the bench was built.



Bullets in the bottom left drawer, primers in the bottom right, ammo boxes in the upper right...don't remember what is in the upper left. Main compartment works pretty well for my dies, powder, moulds, handgun boxes, a few miscellaneous items and my tumbler--turning that thing on and shutting the lid really keeps the noise down when I am in there working.



Of course, every busy looney needs a little helper. Baby_Eagle decided to stop by...



Don't worry, she and Mrs_Eagle didn't stay long... (I was just showing off after cleaning up anyway )

I have eyeballed the Lee turret presses a time or two and this just struck me as pretty damn neat, sir! Very neat!

Works for me!

Thank you - a 3" hole saw and a drill press are all that's required. The beauty of the lee turret press is that all the dies get set up once and stay that way....

Now we're talking! Nice bench and nice audience....

O.K. I took some new picures of my updated reloading factory. There is order in this although it may not look like it, You will notice Hi_Vel's scope alignment tool on the nicely cleaned bench...













[img]http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee202/bridgershooters/115_2138.jpg[/img]

Very nice setup. I got started building my bench saturday. I am going to get a dillon XL650 to put on it. Pic will follow shortly

I finally got my bench put it and I am working on finishing up the floor and all the trim pieces. I will post some pics when I get it all complete

I'll throw mine in the mix. Its an 8ft section of Bowling alley deck, 2 1/4" thick laminated Maple I happened to find at a local garage sale.
After sanding I refinished with some polyurethane then built shelves to fit.
For lights I decided on Can Lights, Easy to install if one has any attack space above. Larry.

Very nice! ^ nice and organized... I'm needing another bench right about now.

Thanks Tanner, Larry.

I like the old bowling alley floor for the top. It looks great.

+1 on that, makes for a good looking work surface.

my problem is i aint got a cute little blonde helper in penguin jammies to help me keep my shop organized like war eagle does.

then again, my boys are both around 6'2/250#, if i can find some 1 piece penguin jammies for them, wonder if they'll volunteer? bettin they wont,the ingrates.

took some pix of my setup last time i moved stuff around, but never did get any of the bench after i had all the other presses mounted up. now has 3 shotshell loaders, 2 rockchuckers, 2 powder measures, and a trim station so dont have as much elbow room. benchtop is 10' long...took a pair of steel work desks each 5' long, and bolted together, and reinforced the back edge where the bullets get stacked with 4 4x4 posts.


dark cabinet on the right holds powder singles & dies.


8-pounders of powder go on a shelf down low, bulk bullets go in some heavy gauge clear containers on the floor.


boxed bullets go on this kinda cheesy shelf of 2x6's and bricks.


cabinets for storing ammo boxes, and a place to pile the loading manuals.


bulk brass storage....got a bunch of plastic gallon sized flip top containers & they stack good, and dont have to keep up with the lids. got hem all labeled up so i can keep brass sorted by calibers, best thing i ever did in getting everything organized so i can actually find stuff when i want it.

Thanks fyrepowrx. WOW! That is a very nice set up. Larry

Thanks Ranchhand02. Larry

I'm not smart enough to post a picture of my bench but I can describe it pretty well. I went to the local high school metal shop and talked to the instructor. We figured out what height of table would be most comfortable for me so I can work with my elbows at about a right angle. The bench is about 5 feet long by 30" deep. I ended up making the legs out of 2"x2" square metal tubing and put a horizontal square of the same tubing around the top of the four legs and another horizontal square of the same tubing about 1' up from the bottom of the legs. On the bottom of the legs I had adjustable screw in foot pads installed so you can level the table. Then for the top of the bench I had a 3/16" plate placed on top of the 4 legs and upper "square" and had it spot welded all the way around. I had the legs drilled and tapped about every 2 inches and put in 3 shelves of 3/4" plywood held with an inch or two of "all thread" to hold each shelf at the height I choose. 1 sheet of plywood sits on top of that lower "square of tubing and that is where all the heavy stuff goes and all my components/dies/tools/scales/ etc go on all the other shelves. I love it and wouldn't change a thing!!

Some of you guys are entirely TOO ORGANIZED!!!! Part of the fun is going on a treasure hunt in your loading room; you might find that box of bullets or tool that you forgot you had.

I've been in stores that aren't stocked as well your shop! Nice!

FyrepowrX:

you're my hero....Obe Juan Kanobe...Jedi Reloading Master..