Reloading bench build

[Shinbone]

Dunno what part of the country your in. I would be concerned with any metal close to the bare concrete blocks. They can cause problems with temperature swings.
Buddy had some problems and he put up styrofoam blue board and problem solved. I have gotten in the habit of putting it up when ever I put anything permanently up against a basement wall

This is the basement of a 1950's house in Denver, Colorado. I haven't seen any problems between the concrete blocks and proximate metal, and some of that stuff has been there for going on 70 years. Maybe not enough of a temperature swing in the basement to be a problem?

 

[Bc'z]

Looks like its holding up gas line.

 

[Cecil S.]

Shop around the LED (lighting) market there are many retrofit bulbs out there. Its the ballast (transformer) in the CFL lights that mess with the digital scales. Your off to a great start I'm still sharing space with the "Boss". Uggghhh.

 

[Papa Charlie]

That looks great, I couldn't even tell if you had reloading equipment on the bench before or not. Must be difficult to do anything on it before.
As stated, if you are going to have an electronic scale, I would reconsider the fluorescent lights. They have a tendency to affect the scales.

 

[Nick Caprinolo]

The only thing I would have done differently is adding a backstop to the benches. Things have a tendency to roll or get pushed to the backside of the table and fall off. Nice job. I would still be more comfortable with the old mess because that's what I am used to.

 

[CT10ring]

good job-wow what a change! looks bright, that's gotta help... I'm putting a 4' LED strip over my bench today.

 

[Shinbone]

Looks like its holding up gas line.

Ah yes, that is the main water line into the house. 1/2-inch copper line. The errant plumbers tape was secured after the photo. Probably been loose for decades.

 

[Shinbone]

Shop around the LED (lighting) market there are many retrofit bulbs out there. Its the ballast (transformer) in the CFL lights that mess with the digital scales. Your off to a great start I'm still sharing space with the "Boss". Uggghhh.

The CFLs are in the super common E26 socket. I am betting there are LED replacement bulbs out there that are a direct screw-in, so that would be an easy fix.

T5 fluorescent lights "might" have direct LED replacement tubes, too. I don't know. I understand the T5 fluorescent light fixture to have an "electronic ballast", which, hopefully, will not produce electromagnetic noise that interferes with a digital scale. Many older ballast designs limited current with magnetic induction, so they would certainly produce some big magnetic fields. Regardless, if there is a problem, it might be better to just replace the fluorescent fixture with an LED fixture.

A brief article on replacing fluorescent tubes with LED tubes:
https://www.ledsmagazine.com/articl...-work-with-existing-ballasts-a-good-idea.html

 

[msinc]

looks good! any bets on how long it will take to resemble photo #1? just asking, not trying to stir up a hornet's nest....

I don't know about Mr. Shinbone, but it usually takes me all of about 20 minutes or so!!!!!! Mine goes thru this metamorphosis every week.....

 

[Shinbone]

looks good! any bets on how long it will take to resemble photo #1? just asking, not trying to stir up a hornet's nest....

One thing is for sure; that is the cleanest it will ever be.

 

[dickn52]

Looks excellent. I went away from flouro light tubes to LED strip lights because for some reason I don’t fully understand, they were interfering with my electronic scales. On the plus side, the LEDs are also cheaper to run...!

The ballast will interfere with your electronic scales and dispensers.

 

[Cecil S.]

The CFLs are in the super common E26 socket. I am betting there are LED replacement bulbs out there that are a direct screw-in, so that would be an easy fix.

The 4' T5 fluorescent lights "might" have direct LED replacement tubes, too. I don't know. But, it also might be better to just replace the fluorescent fixture with an LED fixture if the T5s are a problem.

Yes , as I understand it the ballast (transformer) creating a magnetic field that disturbs the digital scales. LED's use a driver to lite up the diode's these driver's are electronic and seem to have less of an effect on digital scales. Maybe someone with more information about this fix can comment.

 

[BenPerfected]

Finally got off my azz and cleaned up some space in the basement for a reloading/light gunsmithing bench. This included reinforcing the pre-existing benches and replacing the bench tops. I also added about 600W of T5 fluorescent lights. Still acquiring gear, so I can't do any actual reloading, yet. But the space is now organized and usable. Next major purchase will be a scale w/ automatic powder dispenser.

before



after

Excellent....️️️

 

[The German]

Man... looks like you really needed to collect some brownie points with the spouse... ;-)

Looking very nice!

 

[Dusty Stevens]

You did a great job but you need to keep the back wrenching swivel chair for sure

 

[Rustytigwire]

Wood chair, I have my dads.
As others, all my benches look like pic 1.
Great job.
Inspirational too!
Thanks !

 

[Ccrider]

Nice. You will find that turning your press stand at an angle is a must for ergonomics.

 

[Shinbone]

Nice. You will find that turning your press stand at an angle is a must for ergonomics.

Yup. I am at the point where I need to mount the press, and I am wondering about the best position/orientation. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[dickn52]

I don't work for walmart...but this is a search on walmart.com for led shoplights. https://www.walmart.com/search/?cat_id=0&query=led+shop+lights

 

[Shinbone]

After 2-1/2 month of on-again-off-again progress on the reloading bench, plus sundry gear acquisition, the first reloaded cartridge has finally rolled off the assembly line. It is a .223 Remington in Starline brass, with Federal 205M primer, 25.0 gn of H4895, and a Sierra Game King 55gn bullet, seated 0.30" off the lands.