Bench Flow?

[Capybara]

Hi all:

I am totally re-doing my entire garage and am setting up my new reloading bench. I would like opinions on layout and workflow. My old bench was a mess, I just had too much junk on it. The new bench is 24" deep by 72" long. I am right handed and will have an Inline Fabrication Quick Change Press Mount with plates for my LCT, Lee Classic Cast, a vice and a bench grinder.

1. I was debating buying two mounts and mounting up both presses but I cannot think of a good reason to do so as I use the LCT for pistol and the LCC for rifle and I would never stop in the middle of loading for one to use the other. So for space savings, it seems as if one Inline mount with plates on all four mountable items will works well. Is there a good reason I am not thinking of to mount both presses at once?

2. I am trying to be logical in laying out the bench with the brass tumbler on the far left, brass prep, case trimming, chamfer/deburring in the middle and the press on the right side of the bench. So the bench is laid out with the operations in order, from left to right. I have the Dillon Super Swage 600. I could put it on a plate and mount it to the Inline mount or I could just mount it to the bench top in the middle in the brass prep area? Any input on either choice?

3. At some point, I will begin reloading shotgun also. With this layout, I could keep brass reloading to the right side of the bench, or I could relocate the brass tumbling and prep elsewhere and mount the shotgun press to the left side of the bench. Or I could keep everything the same way and just purchase one more plate for the Inline mount and just swap between the two brass presses for the shotgun press when doing shotshells? Any input from those who reload brass and shotgun?

4. I have lots of off bench storage for dirty and cleaned, culled brass, primers, powder, etc. I am trying to keep the bench neat, tidy and minimalist so that I can keep everything organized. I ordered six feet of LED overhead lighting, which I will also supplement with three to six aim-able LED track lights on dimmers so I can put a spotlight on any area. The two LEE presses will also have the on-board LED press lighting from Inline. Has anyone used the Inline Turret racks for their LC turrets? I reload three pistol calibers so it would be nice to have all three turrets ready to go with their respective die sets. Any feedback on the turret racks?

Basically, I only have 72" x 24" to play with so I want to maximize the area for efficiency. I use an RCBS beam scale as well as a cheap, digital scale, so trying to decide where to put those on the bench as well? Probably near the presses? Does anyone have their scale on a riser on their bench to get it closer to eye level? Like many of you, reloading bench will also have to double as gun repair/cleaning area too so one more reason to keep it clean and organized.

Thanks for any input or feedback.

[AGGRO]

Right now I wish I had made one portable as it's freakin cold in the garage. I'm going to build something I can take with me in the travel trailer for loading in the field.

[tanks]

Take a look at bench pics thread. A lot of good ideas there as well as what to avoid .

[5gnut]

I like your flow, left to right. I to will be making a new bench.
Mine will be in a "U" shape I have a little extra room.
Basically a 48" x 96" with a 24" x 48" notch cut out to form a "U".

[MrElectric03]

I just posted pics of my newly built bench. Most of my presses are solid mounted to the bench but I'll b using a quick mount setup of some type, probably inline fab or my own build. That will swap my mec 12ga 9000H, a .410 I plan on purchasing eventually, ss600, and maybe even some 1911 build tools I'm considering. The biggest thing is check all presses in that spot and make sure you have room for bins you'd want closeby, case blocks, powder drops ect.

[M1NM]

Don't waste bench space for your case cleaner - mount it on a shelf under the bench or leave it in the box and drag it out when you need to use it.

[Capybara]

Some good tips guys, much appreciated. Keep 'em coming, keep 'em coming.

[Capybara]

Don't waste bench space for your case cleaner - mount it on a shelf under the bench or leave it in the box and drag it out when you need to use it.

I have the regular workbench for tools and simple home repairs adjacent to my reloading bench, the tumbler could probably go over to it or on some shelving I have opposite the bench.

[Capybara]

...The biggest thing is check all presses in that spot and make sure you have room for bins you'd want closeby, case blocks, powder drops ect.

Great tips, thanks!

[Capybara]

I like your flow, left to right. I to will be making a new bench.
Mine will be in a "U" shape I have a little extra room.
Basically a 48" x 96" with a 24" x 48" notch cut out to form a "U".

Wish I had the room to do this but can't happen because of work stuff stacked and organized in racks right across from my reloading bench. Love the U-shaped bench setups though.

[Whiterabbit]

Hi all:

I am totally re-doing my entire garage and am setting up my new reloading bench. I would like opinions on layout and workflow. My old bench was a mess, I just had too much junk on it. The new bench is 24" deep by 72" long. I am right handed and will have an Inline Fabrication Quick Change Press Mount with plates for my LCT, Lee Classic Cast, a vice and a bench grinder.

1. I was debating buying two mounts and mounting up both presses but I cannot think of a good reason to do so as I use the LCT for pistol and the LCC for rifle and I would never stop in the middle of loading for one to use the other. So for space savings, it seems as if one Inline mount with plates on all four mountable items will works well. Is there a good reason I am not thinking of to mount both presses at once?

2. I am trying to be logical in laying out the bench with the brass tumbler on the far left, brass prep, case trimming, chamfer/deburring in the middle and the press on the right side of the bench. So the bench is laid out with the operations in order, from left to right. I have the Dillon Super Swage 600. I could put it on a plate and mount it to the Inline mount or I could just mount it to the bench top in the middle in the brass prep area? Any input on either choice?

3. At some point, I will begin reloading shotgun also. With this layout, I could keep brass reloading to the right side of the bench, or I could relocate the brass tumbling and prep elsewhere and mount the shotgun press to the left side of the bench. Or I could keep everything the same way and just purchase one more plate for the Inline mount and just swap between the two brass presses for the shotgun press when doing shotshells? Any input from those who reload brass and shotgun?

4. I have lots of off bench storage for dirty and cleaned, culled brass, primers, powder, etc. I am trying to keep the bench neat, tidy and minimalist so that I can keep everything organized. I ordered six feet of LED overhead lighting, which I will also supplement with three to six aim-able LED track lights on dimmers so I can put a spotlight on any area. The two LEE presses will also have the on-board LED press lighting from Inline. Has anyone used the Inline Turret racks for their LC turrets? I reload three pistol calibers so it would be nice to have all three turrets ready to go with their respective die sets. Any feedback on the turret racks?

Basically, I only have 72" x 24" to play with so I want to maximize the area for efficiency. I use an RCBS beam scale as well as a cheap, digital scale, so trying to decide where to put those on the bench as well? Probably near the presses? Does anyone have their scale on a riser on their bench to get it closer to eye level? Like many of you, reloading bench will also have to double as gun repair/cleaning area too so one more reason to keep it clean and organized.

Thanks for any input or feedback.

1. Use two quickmounts: It's really nice to have a SS press available for "whatever", when you have your other press set up for production, you don't have to so much as move a die. Always happens. It's worth the effort. OR, you need to bench grind that one thing. so on the bench it goes without taking down your press set up already.

Anyways, put them 2.5-3 feet apart. GTG.

2. Don't worry about "flow" from one operation to another. Worry about "flow" within-operation. Doesn't matter if your right foot is kicking your media separator while you are seating bullets if the seating operation is flowing right. You don't need to imagine your bench as a conveyor belt with dirty bress entering on the left and ammo coming out on the right, just consider the operations and make sure they make sense.

3. See #2. I don't load shotshell, but if I did, it would be added considering it as an operation, and planned accordingly. No different than SS loading rifle and progressive pistol, for example.

4. Yes I have feedback on the turret racks. They rock. They are expensive for what they are. And worth every buck. Buy enough to cover your needs today, then buy one more rack. You will not regret that expenditure.

Lighting. IMO you can't have enough. I recommend 200 lumens per sq foot of space. Figure that's 2'x6' of bench, and 2' of access space in front of the bench. That's 24 sq feet, I'd install at LEAST 5000 lumens of lighting, and the more distributed the better. I'd suggest three 4' fluorescent tubes, center, left, right. If you can cast a shadow, your lighting isn't right yet. IMO good lighting result is better than expensive lighting. T12's may take a ton more power and are obsolete, but if you have one LED and compare it to the 28 4' T12's in my shop, you'll be happier working in my shop.

You'll figure out what works for you. We have a similar config. I have 24x48, but I can clean, gunsmith, and cast somewhere else. Each side gets a press, tumbling goes underneath, paraphernalia in a Kennedy toolbox next to the bench, a riser holds more tooling. It works well for me.

[Whiterabbit]

The Lyman 45 is dismounted right now and an RCBS single stage press mounted there. Two presses at the same time for function.



The riser gives me just enough space for material. Dies, primers, hand primer, bullets. I used to keep the scale there too but I have a chargemaster on loan right now. I put it on the pedestal you see so that I can operate the press while it is dispensing, vibration isolated.

----------------------------

In your case, with one press all the way left, and a second press 2.5 feet to the right of it, you are left with 3 feet of wide open clear space to clean guns and gunsmith.

Last top tip, you can get baltic birch at Lowes. it's NOT void free, but the facing is pretty decent and the plies are well adhered, and the cost is a fraction of Big Orange. I prefer Home Depot for just about anything, but Big Blue really beat Agent Orange when it comes to baltic birch.

Or use real stuff if you want, just costs real money

[Capybara]

Lighting. IMO you can't have enough. I recommend 200 lumens per sq foot of space. Figure that's 2'x6' of bench, and 2' of access space in front of the bench. That's 24 sq feet, I'd install at LEAST 5000 lumens of lighting, and the more distributed the better. I'd suggest three 4' fluorescent tubes, center, left, right. If you can cast a shadow, your lighting isn't right yet. IMO good lighting result is better than expensive lighting. T12's may take a ton more power and are obsolete, but if you have one LED and compare it to the 28 4' T12's in my shop, you'll be happier working in my shop.

You'll figure out what works for you. We have a similar config. I have 24x48, but I can clean, gunsmith, and cast somewhere else. Each side gets a press, tumbling goes underneath, paraphernalia in a Kennedy toolbox next to the bench, a riser holds more tooling. It works well for me.

Thanks for the tips, some good things to think about here.

As far as lighting, I am a cinematographer by trade so I am taking an experimental strategy with this. So far, the lighting I just received is casting 8,000 lumens of 6500k daylight LED. But the sources are long and small, like a fluorescent tube. One thing is rarely discussed about bench lighting is the quality of the light. A small radiating surface relative to subject size means harsher light and harder shadows. These long, small diameter LED tube lights I am mounting are plenty bright enough but the light can be fatiguing to work under because it is not only bright, it is harsh. I may fabricate a wooden frame that will be the full size of the bench. This frame would have a piece of gridcloth or fairly heavy diffusion across it. The frame would then be mounted between the lights and the bench. It would take the relative size of the light source from two, small diameter tubes to a huge 72" x 24" soft source.

This would cut down on the overall lumens output of the source, making it not as bright, but I suspect still bright enough but more importantly it would make the overall ambient level much softer and easier to look at for long periods of time. In laymen's terms, it would "make the shadows much softer" which also means that the light itself "wraps" around 3D surfaces much better. I would then supplement that big soft panel of light with LED track lighting with six aim-able sources that I could use to put a spotlight on areas that need high detail. So having adjustable super bright pools of light on certain areas would give more contrast and not wash everything out. My bench top will be off-white so it too will serve as a huge reflector.

Thanks for your input.

[stilly]

Yeah I got a regular workbench that I converted over to a reloading bench. All I can say is my PRESS is on the far RIGHT with exit containers down below. What you do with yours is YOUR business...

But in all honesty, if everyone tells you to do something and it does not work for you, does that mean that you are doing it wrong or does it mean that that setup was incorrect for you?

It is YOUR bench man. You should decide what works well for you, not let a bunch of internet guys tell you what is right and wrong in setting it up.

Of course I understand that it is always nice to get opinions and ideas, but you know what they say about them...

And it looks like there are certainly some food-for-thought ideas being given. The internets is working without exception! 6.32.2a removed...