New modular reloading trays I made! Your input appreciated.

27 January 2017, 20:16

Tyler Kemp

There's cheap molded trays of varying quality, and there's billet trays which are typically very nice, but expensive and limited to one case head. With both I end up getting powder stuck under brass when I inevitably spill some. I figured there could be something better made...so:

These trays feature anodized 6061 aluminum construction, with an interchangeable top plate and spacers in all four corners to provide an "open side" construction. No more powder getting stuck down there, just blow it out. Standard case head sizes just got finished at anodization yesterday, with 223 and magnum case heads up next. The counterbores in the top plate allow for easy and solid stacking of trays.

Pricing will probably be $45 white, $50 black, $55 red and blue (with other colors possible at that price).

27 January 2017, 21:11

leemar28

Good looking trays. I'd love to have a selection of them, but a bit pricy for me.
Could the be made from a heavy grade plastic for us old folks on fixed incomes ?

27 January 2017, 21:28

hivelosity

Nice.

27 January 2017, 22:40

ramrod340

I think the look great BUT. When I can buy a plastic universal for $5-9 that takes up a lot less room I will go with the plastic. Sorry

27 January 2017, 23:42

ted thorn

Make them out of clear polycarbonate instead of aluminum

They will look great and it will bring the price point way down

27 January 2017, 23:54

Stonecreek

At two dollars a hole I don't think you'll find many takers.

28 January 2017, 00:33

bartsche

A 1/2" wood drill , 1" lumber and a little free time and voila. Don't need reloading jewelry to impress anyone.

roger

28 January 2017, 00:49

craigster

Nice. But, a bit too pricey for me. I'll pass.

28 January 2017, 03:51

Slowpoke Slim

Ty,

I like them. Any thoughts on making either 50 round count or 100 round count blocks? Only time I load 25 rnd batches is when I'm load developing.

28 January 2017, 04:31

Firearmdoc

As others have said, they look nice but a bit too pricey for me. I'll stick with the wood blocks i made.

28 January 2017, 09:05

Saeed

They look great.

How about using thinner aluminium?

Would that make them cheaper?

And I prefer 50 trays rather than 25 trays.

I make my own here for some of the larger cases, from plastic chopping trays, but they don't look anywhere near as nice as these.

28 January 2017, 20:47

Tyler Kemp

I'll try to answer some questions/comments in some semblance of order:

Some very clear poly would look sweet. I like that idea.

These trays are certainly a high price item, but I like having nice stuff if it's a tool I use a lot. Billet trays are extremely aesthetically appealing to me, but are really limited in their use. A more functional design was the goal here.

Slowpoke, the original idea was to have "spacers" to link multiple trays together...but the price started getting a bit unreasonable even as a luxury reloading tray. As such we do plan on making 50 and 100 round versions.

Saeed, thinner aluminum wouldn't allow us to have the counterbores up top for stacking. They really stack nice and firmly which was important for me to save a bit of loading bench space. But yes, you could make them from a bit less material and cut cost some.

29 January 2017, 01:38

RIP

quote:
Originally posted by bartsche:
A 1/2" wood drill , 1" lumber and a little free time and voila. Don't need reloading jewelry to impress anyone.
roger

Ditto. And use larger drill bits on 3x3" oak blocks or whatever, a piece of pine 2-by-4 will do.

Above works for 12Ga From Hell or 20Ga From Purgatory.
These are modular and stackable too.

Riflecrank Internationale Permanente

31 January 2017, 18:19

cgbach

I like the idea. How about black acetal (Delrin). Keep the top plate thick so the cases don't wobble around. One top plate could accommodate multiple cartridges with different height spacers.
C.G.B.

13 February 2017, 22:19

wallace

Take a look at these.

These are Flambeau twin 60s.

The small side takes .30-06 and the big side takes Magnum

Flambeau quit making these about 35 years ago.
They now have an almost cult status among old hand loads such that they will bring $8 to $12 each on ebay.

They aren't exotic or billet or have high dollar snob appeal but they will sell if you get a mold made. Run time for a shot in an injection molding machine is 8 to 10 seconds. The material runs $4 to $5 a pound.

14 February 2017, 00:56

Duckear

Very nice work.

Don't apologize for a premium product. Plenty of cheap options for those looking to save a nickel.

50 or 100 rounds would be more useful, much more than stacking.

Also, if the bottom was perforated/ventilated, they would make great drying racks for those of us that wet tumble brass with SS pins.

14 February 2017, 22:12

bartsche

quote:
Originally posted by bartsche:
A 1/2" wood drill , 1" lumber and a little free time and voila. Don't need reloading jewelry to impress anyone.
roger

Perhaps I was a little harsh. After some consideration I must admit that I see a lot of sound design work in the trays. Me thinks that a little process engineering design work to get the cost out might yield a marketable product if the market is large enough.

roger

15 February 2017, 23:16

Tyler Kemp

Oh believe me, I'm pretty hard to offend. But I gotta say the interest in these has been high! You'll see 80 with the accuratereloading name on them soon, and we've been making some custom sizes the past few weeks.

Here's some 375 Cheytac tray tops we ran yesterday. We're also sending some off for some real sexy lasering of text and logo.

15 February 2017, 23:21

Grenadier

Have you considered using one hole pattern on one side and another hole pattern on the other side? I would think staggering of the holes between the two sides would allow that. So, for example, you could have a tray that is cut for 30-06 based cartridges on one side and cut for standard magnum cartridges on the other side. Another example would be a tray that has holes for 7.62mm NATO on one side and holes for 5.56mm NATO when flipped over. A .45acp/9mm tray would be useful, too.

Something I dislike about plastic trays is the static electricity that makes errant powder grains stick to them. Your aluminum trays won't do that.

That brings something else to mind. If you could make a nice universal aluminum reloading funnel to replace plastic funnels that would be nice. Some people are already milling caliber specific aluminum reloading funnels.

But if you could make a universal aluminum setup like this I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

16 February 2017, 01:11

Tyler Kemp

Grenadier, that two sided tray is a damn good idea and I want to thank you for it!

As far as those aluminum funnels, while you're right those would sell well, I want to give a shoutout to area 419 who just came out with these:

http://www.area419.com/product/master-funnel-kit/

He sells billet trays and just came out with these funnels, so I wouldn't want to step on his toes and will let you tell him I sent you

16 February 2017, 01:35

Grenadier

You are very welcome.

Regarding the funnel, area419 is doing what I said, "Caliber Specific Color Coded Heads. Calibers outside this list must be added separately."

It is not "universal" at all. The plastic funnel in the picture above is tapered internally so you can use one funnel for several calibers.

16 February 2017, 06:05

ted thorn

How are you getting the cutter marks out?

The anodized ones have none but the ones in your hand have the thickness machined.

Just curious

16 February 2017, 09:00

curveball

Carbon black can be added to plastic to make it a conductor. That will kill the static issues.

quote:
Originally posted by Grenadier:
Have you considered using one hole pattern on one side and another hole pattern on the other side? I would think staggering of the holes between the two sides would allow that. So, for example, you could have a tray that is cut for 30-06 based cartridges on one side and cut for standard magnum cartridges on the other side. Another example would be a tray that has holes for 7.62mm NATO on one side and holes for 5.56mm NATO when flipped over. A .45acp/9mm tray would be useful, too.

Something I dislike about plastic trays is the static electricity that makes errant powder grains stick to them. Your aluminum trays won't do that.

That brings something else to mind. If you could make a nice universal aluminum reloading funnel to replace plastic funnels that would be nice. Some people are already milling caliber specific aluminum reloading funnels.

But if you could make a universal aluminum setup like this I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

16 February 2017, 17:02

p dog shooter

quote:
These trays are certainly a high price item, but I like having nice stuff if it's a tool I use a lot. Billet trays are extremely aesthetically appealing to me, but are really limited in their use. A more functional design was the goal here.

Nice work Tyler but as most of said to pricy for me also.

I have been using the same old wooden loading blocks that by dad and his friend built over 60 years ago.

Now that I have some progressive loaders I use them even less.

Good luck selling some just don't get over stocked.

16 February 2017, 17:08

p dog shooter

quote:
As far as those aluminum funnels, while you're right those would sell well, I want to give a shoutout to area 419 who just came out with these:

I looked at them at the shot show while nice I was turned off by the caliber specific nature my self.

I see can not see having a dozen or more funnels around.

16 February 2017, 23:36

Tyler Kemp

Understood on the funnels being universal, maybe we will experiment with that a bit, it is an important differentiating factor.

Ted, as far as the toolpaths, we used different tooling for the ones pictured yesterday, personally I think tooling marks can look good if done well. So the trays done yesterday were simply done with a small 3/8" endmill, I'm going to try 1/2" endmill as well and anodize some to see how they look with the tool marks. If it's not satisfactory we'll just deck em off with a big fly cutter for an even finish like the hundreds of 308 size trays we have waiting for our new website!

19 February 2017, 16:43

DocEd

Concentrate on that bullpup.

19 February 2017, 17:16

richj

I have the Aluminum trays from CNC. One thing that is bad and good about them is they are a very close tolerance. The bad part is NEVER spill BLC2 around a 308 case. The ball powder will cause the cases to get stuck in the tray.

19 February 2017, 17:55

p dog shooter

quote:
The bad part is NEVER spill BLC2 around a 308 case. The ball powder will cause the cases to get stuck in the tray.

Had that happen with some of my wooden trays also.

20 February 2017, 23:47

Tyler Kemp

quote:
Originally posted by DocEd:
Concentrate on that bullpup.

First production batch started last monday

23 February 2017, 02:38

DesertRam

Make a top with 50 .308-sized holes with another 50 .223-sized holes in the intra-.308 gaps for multi-caliber use and the cost wouldn't seem near as bad.

23 February 2017, 04:12

z1r

quote:
Originally posted by DesertRam:
Make a top with 50 .308-sized holes with another 50 .223-sized holes in the intra-.308 gaps for multi-caliber use and the cost wouldn't seem near as bad.

Darn good idea!

23 February 2017, 22:30

richj

Cool idea and or make it two sided. 50/308 and how-ever-many/223 on the other side.

quote:
Originally posted by DesertRam:
Make a top with 50 .308-sized holes with another 50 .223-sized holes in the intra-.308 gaps for multi-caliber use and the cost wouldn't seem near as bad.

23 February 2017, 22:49

Tyler Kemp

Don't you guys go making this before I can! It is DEFINITELY going to be made, and it'll be top notch.

23 February 2017, 23:19

DesertRam

quote:
Originally posted by Tyler Kemp:
Don't you guys go making this before I can! It is DEFINITELY going to be made, and it'll be top notch.

Just trying to help.

I was just trying to think of a way that I, a relative cheapskate, would spring for it. With 50 .308 and 50 .223 holes, a top would work for 85% or more of my reloading, making the purchase of a unit like yours realistic for me.

24 March 2017, 02:05

Tyler Kemp

Some custom Cheytac trays we did for a customer in Belgium. Clear anodized and laser engraved. They are sliiiiick. Sizes from 223-Cheytac all done and heading to anodization and laser next week.