reloading room, from scratch

i did go with a green that is lighter than i had first intended, yet darker than the walls in the pix. i'll finish cleaning the walls and hopefully paint this weekend. as for a "trim" color, i figure white will be good and will repaint any white surfaces.

if you look at the pic above, the space that i am going to use as my bench looks pretty strong; as it turns out after closer inspection, it's not quite as sturdy, only a 5/8-inch piece of plywood on a fairly-sturdy frame. to fix this, i cut another piece of 5/8-inch plywood and a thin sheet of wall panel to size. i am going to secure them with countersunk screws (paneling in the middle, plywood on top). there are two diagonal braces (near the sink and in the middle) and one verticle brace (against the wall), so i think this will provide plenty of strength. if not, i will come up with a solution. if i were obsessive, i would take that solid block of wood to the right of the sink and find a way to mount it, but in actuality is it quite weathered. i use it for loading with my lee loader and also pulling bullets.

the wall panel is the old-style fake-wood-looking stuff with deep black ridges running down, so i will not use that as the surface. no big deal though - i like the look of finished plywood, so will sand the surface smooth and coat with something to protect it (varnish? poly?) and then mount the press. i also have a couple of small L-shaped brackets that i will use to secure a lip to the front edge in order to catch anything that might roll.

i've got two presses (a CH and a herters) and see no reason not to mount them both as they can be used for different stages of loading. space might be an issue, so another option is to make this area part of an L-shaped corner bench that goes to the left (see picture below - unlimited space!) and the second press can be mounted there. i haen't yet decided if the sink is a good idea or a pain in the ass that should be converted to a countertop (or removed all together).

plenty of room for shelves and book cases, but that is going to take some time.....

Edited by TasunkaWitko

Tas, How about taking a sheet of plywood the size of the sink top, screwing some 2x4s on both sides and the front to the inside sink dimensions and making a removable top for the sink. You could use it to stack reloading trays, components, reloading manuals, etc. on while working. When done you put the stuff aeay and store the panel on edge right under the bench so you free up the sink for use. Just a thought. RD

RD - great minds must think alike - i was thinking of something similar last night. i was even thinking that i could remove the sink altogether, but then decided that it would be a handy storage bin with a top similar to what you describe. also, there is a cabinet underneath the sink for more storage.

al - good point! with tht in mind, perhaps i will put it right above the angled brace that is near the middle? i eventually want to get the second press mounted, perhaps on a bench that makes an L-shape to the left against the other wall.

thanks for the suggestions - keep em coming if yu have any! i plan to clean up the wood filler mess tonight and hopefully slather on some poly.

yep, sink works and there's a bathroom around the corner. all a perosn needs is a well-stocked mini-fridge and there wouldn't be too many reasons to ever leave!

i sponged and sanded away the excess filler last night and applied first coat of poly to the surface, then another early this morning. will do a third coat after work. the can recommends three coats, but consdering that this will be used for quite a bit of work, i am considering six coats. any thoughts?

i am wishing i would not ahve used the filler, which is too light in color to even come close to looking good; also, on top of that, it dawned on my dad and me that we could have driven the screws up from the bottom to just short of the surface, and all there would ahve been were a few very small nail holes, which could have been filled in with the poly. oh well, live and learn - still looks good except for filled-in holes. will try to post a pic tonight.

the plan for the lip is to be about half an inch along the length of the bench - the same plywood screwed in and coated with poly.

rocky - i'm going to see about that removable top for the sink - should be pretty easy!

 

 

well, here's how it looks after three coats of poly. disregard the grayish smudge on the right - something on the camera lens...

i'm still thinking that two or three more coats will be a good idea in order to offer a little more protection from the regular abuse of reloading, but after that and the lip, i plan to get moving forward with the project. along with a removable cover for the sink, i'll get the press mounted hopefully this weekend and then will officially be in business.

rob, you're right about colors and moods. the green i finally settled on is something called patrick green (just in time for st. patrick's day?) and is lighter than the mallard i had originally picked out, but not nearly as light as the stuff that is there. i should get some painting done soon, but at the same time i will also be able to actually USE the room!

Edited by TasunkaWitko

i put one more coat on this morning (total of four) and decided that it will be enough.

although i was expecting a bit more of a "hard-coat finish" and there are still a few slightly wavy spots from my overly-ambitious sanding job, everything looks well-coated  and it certianly seems like it will be durable. i will hopefully get the lip on tonight and will give it a similar four coats. should be bolting the press on friday night.

Edited by TasunkaWitko

well, here's where i'm at as of 10MAR09 - i think i can at least do some loading now.

except for the wood filler, the surface of the bench came out pretty well. I may do a little more refinforcing underneath but it doesn't seem to need it so far.

plenty of cabinet space and i can go out a little to the left and quite a bit to the right.....

 

not to mention that i still have the entire rest of the room!

 

Edited by TasunkaWitko