Reloading Bench Mess

BigBlue · Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 5:21 am Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

Full length resizing some cases takes some real effort and I didn't want the pressure on the press to twist the bench top so I added a piece of steel plate under the press and bolted it through the bench and through a piece of 1/2" thick steel strapping under the bench. With the steel plate under it, I was also able to extend the press out from the bench to make it easier to use.
Don

slimjim · Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 6:19 am Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

Nice set-up BigBlue! After seeing all that has to be done to a case to full length resize it, I sometimes wonder if it s worth the cost of additional equipment and the time involved (not putting a value on the labor of love). In a reloading situation for .223, you can get new brass so cheap, I sometimes wonder if its worth the additional time and effort to reuse and resize. Guess it depends on the number of times a particular manufactures brass can be reloaded. Some reloaders for AR using inexpensive brass, tell me they don't reload more than 2 twice (shot 3 times) to reduce the risk of a split or separated case.

wiersy111 · Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 4:32 pm Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

I have to ask the question..... how much pressure is actually transferred to the bench top?
I am notorious for over engineering projects, but my old bench is nothing but a sewing cabinet sold by Wally World made out of 5/8" particle board with a printed wood grain on the face.
I always worried about the pressure but after over 10 years of pretty heavy use there were no signs of wear when I unbolted the press. The holes were still as true as when I drilled them no cracks or any visible signs that the press was ever there. I have seen the top flex at times when sizing. I've sized 6mm up to 7mm-08 and 308 down to 7mm-08 just to see if I could but no effect on the bench. I full length size all my brass every time and have hd a few over the years get stuck, I was sure I was going to rip the press out of the top when that happens. Just one of those things that makes me wonder, especially since I am setting up my new room.
I had even considered granite tops when I decided to move down to the basement, but I didn't like the cost (even getting it at cost from my suppliers) as I know my wife would have insisted on granite in the kitchen also.

Vince · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 4:38 am Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

OK Stovey and Slim...I managed to get a couple of pics of my motorcycles...sorta...also a couple of pics of my garage and also my reloading bench.

Now be gentle guys...its an absolute bloody mess...but what I will say is the vast majority of the crap and corruption in there belongs to my third daughter who is storing a heap of stuff at my place at the moment. Behind the table you can see in the doorway, is a refrigerator, a washing machine, about 4 sets of bookshelves and about a dozen removalists', cartons all full.

The blue six cylinder engine is a motor I am "doing up" for my daughter's 37 yr old car, a Holden (GM) LJ Torana. The transmission is stored in my garden shed.

I take full responsibility for the reloading bench though...I haven't used it for some time now (got heaps loaded) and it has "accumulated" a bit of crap. The whitish cover behind the press is my balance beam scales. I find that covering them keeps them in good condition. Once I manage to get all of my daughters' bits and pieces out of there, I will be able to set things up a bit better than they are now.

The red bike is a 1968 125cc (175cc barrel and head on it at the moment) Bultaco Sherpa S (Scrambler)...almost totally original,

and the blue one is a 1974 Bultaco 350cc Alpina...again almost original...just a few minor bits on each bike.

Like I said...be gentle...it's not all my crap in there.

Cheers, Vince

slimjim · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 5:48 am Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

A man with more projects than me!!! I love it. I have so much "stuff" in my garage that when the two grown kids moved back into the house for the 2nd half of last year, I had to store their items in side the house. They both have gone on now but we are still working from room to room to recover the house back.

Love the bikes! Are they both 2-strokes? Do the environmentalist still allow them on the road?

What type of animal did those antlers belong to? You have some clean space on your bench where you can set things without placing it on top of something else so your workbench passes!

Vince · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:02 am Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

Gidday Slim...oh we have that same problem mate...things belonging to the daughters still inside. Currently I have my second daughter and her three boys living with us as well...three cot beds set up in the Rumpus room. She lost her husband last year and the area the were living in...(1800 kms North West of where I live and still in the same State) is a mining town and the cost of living was way beyond what she could afford on her wage alone, so she moved in with us to re-settle.

Yes mate...both bikes are two strokes...environmentalists have no say in it mate...although I don't ride them on the road. The red bike is a pure scrambler (predecessor to moto-X) but the blue bike, although it can be registered, I just ride where and when I get the chance. It took me quite a few years to find the bits and pieces I have to "restore" the blue bike...but it was an enjoyable exercise. I will get better pics of the bikes first chance I get. I want to get them out and start them up to get the oil throughout anyway.

The antlers are very ordinary, but he was my first buck...a Fallow...and I have his girlfriend's hide also in the garage, all nicely tanned up...which is something else I do when the urge takes me.

Yep...room on my bench for more bits and pieces, but there is nothing more that needs to go on there. I have a four drawer filing cabinet beside the bench and have one drawer devoted to reloading items. On the other end of the bench is a safe that contains all of my powders.

slimjim · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 7:30 am Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

Vince, thanks for sharing!

You brought up powder storage. I where it was pretty hot down under this year. It can get that way in the summer here in Texas also. Does powder need to be stored in a cooler place to extend its shelf life? I thought it might so I store my powder and primers indoors.

stovepipe · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 8:07 am Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

Vinny-mate!

Those two rides are AWESOME!

Those would be worth some good scracth over here with the vintage crowd.

Very nice, very very nice indeed.

stovepipe · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 8:08 am Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

Vinny-mate!

Those two rides are AWESOME!

Those would be worth some good scratch over here with the vintage crowd.

Very nice, very very nice indeed.

chambered221 · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 3:37 pm Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

Me re-build things too !!!

slimjim · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 6:27 pm Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

chambered221 wrote:

Me re-build things too !!!

Chambered, this is a good looking engine. Where will eventually call home?

BTW, your garage looks pretty clean. Can you eat off that floor?

chambered221 · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 7:51 pm Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

That engine went into dad's pick-up in the mid 80's .......he needed a little more pullin power !!! Very Happy

I wouldn't say you could eat off that floor.......but we did try to keep it clean !!!

Vince · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 10:36 pm Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

That is a sweet looking engine Chambered...I'd love a 4-bolt main 350 to put into my Volvo.

I'll get some better pics Stoves...when it stops raining and I can get them out of the garage.

A clean garage is the sign of a sick mind!!!!

But getting back onto topic...I am expecting some projectiles in the not too distant future, so I am going into load experimentation mode for my .243 and see what I can do with them. They should clutter up my reloading bench nicely. Very Happy

Cheers, Vince

wiersy111 · Posted: Fri Feb 26, 2010 11:09 pm Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

What no one has any ideas of how much pressure is transferred to the bench top?

1895ss · Posted: Sat Feb 27, 2010 12:07 am Post subject: Re: Reloading Bench Mess

Vince wrote:

That is a sweet looking engine Chambered...I'd love a 4-bolt main 350 to put into my Volvo.

How about a small block 400 Chevy? I happen to have an extra one in my shed. Come and get it Vince the price will be right........... Very Happy