Thread: What's a good bench height?

Normie

I finally got my shit together and took some pics of the progress so far for my new reloading bench.

The bench is made out of 40x40x3 rhs with two 300x300x25 steel plates welded to the top for mounting the presses on.
I ve drilled and tapped a series of threads for this purpose.

The dimensions of this bench are 900Lx460Wx800H which is a nice height to sit and reload at for me.
If I was to stand I'd be adding at least another 100mm to this height.

The bench is rock solid with no movement as is but I will bolt it to the floor and wall once it's in its final position.

I've found over the years that the less movement or flex there is in your press and it's mounts then the better and eaiser it is to get the feel of your press and therefore get better and more consistant reloads.

Next I'll add a wooden deck for the top and mount and level a solid platform for my ballance scales and add a powder thrower or two.

Mounted on the bench so far are two Lee Loadmasters and my 30yr old Lee Classic press with enough room to add my Forsters Co-ax press.

I'll post more pics once it's finished.



Cheers
Pete

Looking Good Pete

Looks solid as Pete. Should get good feel through that thing

Originally Posted by Normie

Looks solid as Pete. Should get good feel through that thing

I hope so.

How are you getting on with your bench?

Stalling majorly. Need to get the timber but low of spare funds. Tax return and upcoming bonus should see it done.

P38, how do you find the feel for seating the primer on the load-master?

Here is part of my setup... It has changed a little since this photo (shifted the tool chest to another man shed...) I stand (mainly) at this. Top made out of 200x50 with 19mm plywood glued and screwed onto the top of it. 2nd press is separate from bench, on its own frame made out of a big bit of channel and bolted to the wall and floor in several places...



Have a couple of these lockable cupboards as well for storing powder, primers, etc

Originally Posted by steven

P38, how do you find the feel for seating the primer on the load-master?

Steven

There's not really any feel for the primer seating as there are five operations being completed at once however I judge the feel by the positive stop at the top of the stroke.

I also have found that the Loadmaster benefits from a rock solid mount.

Cheers
Pete

Originally Posted by P38

Steven

There's not really any feel for the primer seating as there are five operations being completed at once however I judge the feel by the positive stop at the top of the stroke.

I also have found that the Loadmaster benefits from a rock solid mount.

Cheers
Pete

yeah my mounting is solid, 45mm thick x 150mm x 4 wide home made pine work bench.

The damn thing seems to need a lot of TLC though or it just stops "progressing" the shell plate. Seems the knurled nut holding the plate has to be "just so", cant be too tight or it jams at the last 1/2inch of the downstroke, too lose and well it doesnt progress. When it works it just great....

Where do you get spare parts from? I need a case ejector plate and the plastic index rod flipper head or whatever its called.

Originally Posted by steven

yeah my mounting is solid, 45mm thick x 150mm x 4 wide home made pine work bench.

The damn thing seems to need a lot of TLC though or it just stops "progressing" the shell plate. Seems the knurled nut holding the plate has to be "just so", cant be too tight or it jams at the last 1/2inch of the downstroke, too lose and well it doesnt progress. When it works it just great....

Where do you get spare parts from? I need a case ejector plate and the plastic index rod flipper head or whatever its called.

Steven.

Make sure the press is well lubricated especially the indexer rod and the frame cams it runs on, under the shell plate and on the case feeder rod.

Also make sure you get a good positive stop at both the top and bottom of the stroke and most of your worries will dissapear.
Check out this site to help solve your issues.
The Load Master Zone - reloading with Lee presses - videos and forums
loadmastervideos.com :: Index

Parts can be had from these stores.
NZ's Premier Gun Shop, Auckland Guns | Reloaders
Lee Reloading Supplies | Reloading Equipment Lee Precision | Discount Reloading Supplies by Lee | Titan Reloading
https://fsreloading.com/catalogs/lee-precision/
Lee Precision the Innovative Leader in Reloading Equipment

Cheers
Pete

Yeah ive watched the videos on leeloadmaster, great site, runs a lot better, but the knurled nut working lose over time is hugely annoying...........

Got a suggested list of spare parts to pre-order? so far im being told 12 weeks wait.....so im thinking of pre-ordering a small parts set.

The ejector plate and flipper arm seem probable, I dont use the primer assembly....use an XR before hand.

Titan are a bunch of 2nd amendment nutjobs so I'd rather avoid. Kept spamming me about teaching small kids to use guns to defend mommy etc, told them to take a running jump.

regards

Originally Posted by steven

Yeah ive watched the videos on leeloadmaster, great site, runs a lot better, but the knurled nut working lose over time is hugely annoying...........

Got a suggested list of spare parts to pre-order? so far im being told 12 weeks wait.....so im thinking of pre-ordering a small parts set.

The ejector plate and flipper arm seem probable, I dont use the primer assembly....use an XR before hand.

Titan are a bunch of 2nd amendment nutjobs so I'd rather avoid. Kept spamming me about teaching small kids to use guns to defend mommy etc, told them to take a running jump.

regards

Steven

Try a little low strength locktite on the threads before setting your knurled nut to where you like it.

If your not using the primer attachments then you probally wont be needing any small parts as they are the ones that can get wrecked occasionally. Dont order any O rings as they are avalible from any hardware ort engineering store.

If you need an indexer rod flipper I can send you one of my spares and you could replace it when your order arrives. Sorry I don't have any spare ejector plates ... had to order some myself. If your handy with a drill and a file you could easily make a couple in a morning using you exsisting one as a pattern.

I hear what your saying about Titan however they do have the parts at pretty good prices.
I just hit the delete when they send through their crap.

Cheers
Pete

I'd use loctite except I'll want to run at least 2 calibers through it (303Brit, 308w) and 3 if I can get a 54R shell plate. Not sure if the 54R shell plate is dis-continued or simply never made, I had a #16 as the suggestion so I assume one was made, but no longer. I Might see if I figure out if I can get the 303Brit one machined locally to suit the 54R, when I get a new 303brit. I assume the thread for the plate is UNC, so I'll try and find a pack of 10 unc lock nuts, or 1 and 1/2 nuts.

My carrier plate seems to keep moving on the ram so Im going to strip it apart, degrease and loctite that.

Im Ok for the flipper right now but it looks like its going to be the most hammered part....the ejector plate should last some years unless I munt it (seems common) but its cheap, hence I thought I'd get one. Reloaders dont seem interested in loadmaster bits these days so I guess its sinclair's or titan. I've stripped out and stored the primer mechanism for now, might re-visit it if I ever do 223.

Making a start now that I can finally get into it.
10X2" was dirt cheap at Bunnings so it is going to be solid.

Originally Posted by kiwijames

Making a start now that I can finally get into it. Attachment 11549
10X2" was dirt cheap at Bunnings so it is going to be solid.

You even have a helper James. If your like me you spend more time chasing them to get tools back then doing the job lol.

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