Just built a drying table

[Once Fired]

Historically, I have not been a handy guy.

Give me a computer, and I can perform surgery on that thing - software or hardware - without batting an eye. Ask me to build a website - fine. But fifteen years ago, if you gave me a tape measure or hammer I'd just get a thousand yard stare.

Well, I've been learning for those last 15 years. Slowly, but I've been learning. Besides, using power tools is just plain fun. I am male after all, so I have THAT gene for sure.

I've been working toward expanding my reloading area in the garage. I recently built my giant media separator to support my cement mixer tumbler. And, I had gotten into citric acid bath wet tumbling too. So, I needed a method to easily dry my brass after I shook most of the water out.

And so a 2x4 journey was begun. Here are pics of my drying table construction effort.

First was the top frame. I used two 8 foot boards as the length of the table, for strength and ease of construction.



So it's 8 feet long. I cut the 96" 2x4's into three equal 32" pieces for maximum utility on board feet and decent table height. That made it 35" wide, and right at 32" tall. It'll barely fit through my front or garage access door if I need to bring it there for any reason. (Think apocalypse prep!)



I got the table off the ground with one 2x4 leg on each corner, but knew I needed far more support to properly hold what weight would be on this table on an ongoing basis.

The hardware cloth was 36" wide, so I layered that over 3x from one side to the other running width-wise across the table, not length wise. I used the wire that held the hardware cloth roll shut as stitching to reinforce where the two layers overlapped. Every 2x4 surface was used to secure the cloth on the underside, approximately every 4 inches.

Materials:

• one roll of 36" wide x 10' long 1/4" square hardware cloth
• a bunch of 2" and 3" deck screws (no bolts)
• a boatload of 1" roofing nails
• seven eight-foot 2x4's

Tools included:

• Hammer
• Power drill (corded - my 18v wasn't up to the task)
• Circular saw
• Hand saw
• Tape measure
• Level (only used roughly speaking)

Things I wish I had:
Sawhorses
Bigger clamps



So here it is with all 6 legs now, and the corners have an L-shape instead of a 4x4 block.

Cost to build it:
$2.67 x 7 for wood = $18.69
$17 hardware cloth roll
Nails and screws I had on hand
$35.69

This thing is built like a tank. I started with screws instead of bolts knowing over time it would succumb to the large weight on it, and purposely went overboard with the screws. Besides, I didn't have the bolts on hand I would've wanted to use, and that would have meant less power drill time anyway.

Future improvements might include:

• Additional block in center of "L" for corner legs
• Center support running length of table
• Rolling wheels under feet
• Upgrade to bolts
• Add another layer of hardware cloth to bottom

Now just seeing that table full of drying brass is a wonderful thing. It's the little things in life, isn't it?

[TacticalPlinker]

Holy crap!... That's a lot of brass.

Oh, nice table too.

[johnny1290]

I'm no expert with wood, but that looks darn nice and $35 is amazing!

[Off the Roster]

looks nice! the only place i see a weakness really is that center support leg. it looks like you have enough in the corners that it will not be a problem unless you have to kinda drag the table to move it. you could easily add a 2 x 4 along the bottom on each side, seating into the hogs trough like you did on top. screw the leg onto that and you are gtg. the wood looks raw still, might need to find a protecting finish - time will tell. maybe a cupholder : ) nice work but be careful, building your own work surfaces to your personal specifications gets addicting too!

[stilly]

DAMN! Shoot much? :O

Maybe consider putting a thin plywood panel under the drying bins and have it tilted in one direction to allow draining to the back and then another thicker plywood panel on the bottom for storage. Could be good to do that with your wheels upgrade. Oh yes, and get that thing PAINTED! It will suck up water and swell and warp until it is sealed. Always paint wood or seal it anyways...

You might want to be careful around that hardware cloth. When you have a frame like that, nono, I will give you my experience- When I had a frame similar to that that I used to make a sifter for dirt to sift out the nutsedge in my yard, I found that after a few months, some times where I had a nail or screw holding the cloth tight to the frame, was ripped/broken and the cloth was loose or off the nail/screw. Then, where it was wrapped around the 2x4 that I had, right at the right angle on the bottom It ripped in a straight line and that rip went unnoticed until it was about 8 inches long and dirt was bypassing the sifter and falling out the side instead.

SO, just be careful with that stuff. It LOOKS cool and it will tell you it is your friend, but if you turn your back to it it might self destruct so start looking for something better when it needs replacing. My recco is a sheet of expanded steel cut down to fit the entire frame but that will cost you about $49 for the sheet and a few dollars more for the cut- but WELL worth it...
Good luck.

[Off the Roster]

You might want to be careful around that hardware cloth. When you have a frame like that, nono, I will give you my experience- When I had a frame similar to that that I used to make a sifter for dirt to sift out the nutsedge in my yard, I found that after a few months, some times where I had a nail or screw holding the cloth tight to the frame, was ripped/broken and the cloth was loose or off the nail/screw. Then, where it was wrapped around the 2x4 that I had, right at the right angle on the bottom It ripped in a straight line and that rip went unnoticed until it was about 8 inches long and dirt was bypassing the sifter and falling out the side instead.

SO, just be careful with that stuff. It LOOKS cool and it will tell you it is your friend, but if you turn your back to it it might self destruct so start looking for something better when it needs replacing. My recco is a sheet of expanded steel cut down to fit the entire frame but that will cost you about $49 for the sheet and a few dollars more for the cut- but WELL worth it...
Good luck.

if you have to replace it, cut the cloth longer and get 1 x 2s the length of your table edges. put the wood at the edge of the cloth then roll it over a couple of times. it helps hold tension plus when attaching it to the table frame you are screwing through wood and not just the cloth.

[damndave]

That's a lot of brass lol.

[Once Fired]

Appreciate advice - keep em coming.

Chickshooter - Not sure what you mean by the hogs trough for underneath the middle support legs. Do you mean placing another 8' 2"x4" under the existing outside perimeter pieces, plus on the 32" wide ends? Or something else? I think I see your point about the 1x2 trim.

Stilly - the hardware cloth is secured on the bottom & side of the framing all the way around the outside. But I hear your point about the cloth. My biggest peeve about it is the way it can stab back at you, unless you curl every single edge. I didn't do that - just wore gloves to move it.

And I think I plan on staining the wood. Something clear or real light. I want to prevent the wood from soaking up water, but I have no need to make it pretty. Garage rule - if it's ugly but works well, it stays. That's how I stay in the garage, myself!

I hadn't considered making it into a cabinet. I'll have to think about that - it would be helpful to have.

Right now though, I can put a big fan underneath it to speed the drying process. I had also considered putting a reflective aluminum sheet (like an automotive drip pan) underneath the table, to get sunlight on both sides of the brass.

That's why I'd want the wheels - it'd be great to wheel it outside to catch the rays.

[SonofWWIIDI]

Wow! You're cleaning brass for your whole neighborhood right?!?!


Nice table!

[Ferrum]

[Enfield47]

Good job on building your drying table.

[Off the Roster]

sorry, my bad. hogs trough is just the "fancy" name for how you have the "L" made out of 2 x 4 for your corner legs. look at the long piece of 2 x 4 that makes the front edge of your table. if you take a piece just like it, it too will fit into the leg "L", only closer to the ground. you can attach it the exact same way as that top long piece and it will sit right behind that single leg which can then be screwed to it. ankle high will give that leg the best support but shin or knee high would work too. repeat on the far side of the table. these 2 x 4 will also serve as good "seats" should you decide you want to add a shelf too.

[mrkubota]

I just rinse and drain my brass after it's wash and then transfer it directly to the the crushed walnut media tumbler for drying and polishing.

I do 300-500 BMG cases at a time in the mixers.

[Once Fired]

Chickshooter - I see on the hogs trough. You're talking about a perpendicular brace half-way down the height of the legs, either just on front & back long sides, or perhaps all the way around, providing support to all the legs together. Makes sense.

Mrkubota - I am typically washing 4,000 - 5,000 5.56 cases at a time. The amount of water that hides in those things is significant, even with the home made media separator that will supposedly spin the water right out. I got WAYYYYY too many cases stuffed with still-wet walnut media the first time I did what you described a few months ago. Admittedly that was before the media separator, but still not something I desire to repeat.

[jbj]

Just built a drying table

Nice building!

I'd consider legs under the middle spans to help support the center of the frame. Oh, and paint it. Paint really does help wood last longer.