Gents,

I am looking for ideas for a compact reloading set up. I am thinking of a "bench" which will be like either a roll top desk or an "entertainment centre" where locking doors will screen the press ect from sight when not in use. The over all area of the bench can be 48" wide by 24" deep maxium. It will only need to carry one O frame press and enough basic equipement to reload for three calibers.

I have a few basic ideas my self, but was wondering about the actual layout. Should the press be dead centre and everything laid out around it or would it be better to offset it to give a bigger work area of the powder measure and scales ect...

Any ideas or better yet pictures would be appreciated,

Regards,

Pete

I had a similar need some time back. since the press has to mount forward of the top edge to work the arm linkage a door or closing deal would not work. I settled on a pedistal mount for the press and a metal rolling cart with plastic drawer units mounted in it for all of the stuff that goes with the hobby. Midway sells a pedistal, I used a cast iron grinder stand with a small wood top bolted on. It held 2 presses back to back and I could clamp down my MEC 12ga. press in the middle when I needed to load shotgun shells. This was the smallest and strongest deal I could hatch and it worked for a few years. JB

I mounted my Lee 4 hole Turret to a piece of 2 x 6 board about 16 inches long and my Lee Load All to a piece of 2 x 4 and when in use I clamp them to my work bench with C clamps and when I'm done I put them out of my way on a shelf or in a cabinet even though I'm not pressed for room it still gets them out of the way and I can set them back up in seconds if I need them.

5M

Also, the press doesn't have to be mounted on the edge. I cut away the benchtop of my reloading bench, jsut where I needed, so that the press would be pretty close to flush.
No reason you couldn't do this.
Make sure you have plenty of support, and resistance to torque at the proper places.
Another option would be an arbor press, but that's a whole nuther deal.

My current reloading setup almost meets the dimensions that you mentioned. I use a computer desk that is 4x3 with folding legs, like those banquet tables you can buy. The top is just partical board with formica so you have to reinforce it with plywood where the press mounts, but other than that it's pretty compact. The scale, trimmer, etc. can all be put away somewhere, and then you just unscrew the powder dispenser from it's little mount. The press is another story, mine is bolted down, but I'm sure that you could work out a clamp system.

picture of presses mounted to a board

I used to use "C" clamps to clamp to my bench at home or a table at the range, but now I use Wolfcraft one hand ratchet clamps:

I've tried a couple of compact setups and have come away with strong opinions. To make one work well, you have to have a LOT of storage space built in to keep clutter off the limited bench area. You also need provision for your scales and measure. You can get more usable room if you can mount your bench on locking castors so you can roll the bench out, lock the castors, and work off the ends as well as the front. When you're done, you just unlock the castors and roll it back.

As has already been mentioned, making your equipment readily dismountable is a huge help. On one of my setups, I fitted my gear with matching bases and drilled the points where I might want to mount something with a hole pattern to suit the bases. Main press is usually mounted front and center on that, but the corners are drilled so I can also have a trimmer or sizer or whatever mounted at the same time.

The design I have advertised in "classifieds" should satisfy your needs - and only $9.95.

Bwana-be,

My current press set-up kind of follows your thinking:



If I upgrade to a Rock Chucker I am not sure I could do the same thing due to the extra linkages in the compound lever system but I could notch the front of the bench or go with some sort of dettachable plank arrangement as other have suggested.

Regards,

Pete

Leftoverdj,



Your idea about working off the ends is well taken; I had actually wondered about a castor arrangement but I was not sure it would be stable enough.



Another thing that crossed my mind was to retire my powder measure. Its an RCBS model, but i still find the output varies a bit too much for my liking and I therefore set it up to meter slightly low and top up each charge on the scales using a powder dribbler. Long winded I know, but I have more confidence in this approach. Anyway, a friend uses a set of Lee scoop's to achieve the same thing and I am very tempted to try them as well. That would offer a considerable space saving.



Regards,



Pete

Gents,

To everybody else thank you for your ideas. I am not sure what I will do yet, but it nice to hear from others who have actually tried stuff.

One of the driving forces is that I have my young nephew staying over from time to time and my current press is a little too accessable to little fingers if you catch my drift.

Regards,

Pete