mounting a press

[castmiester]

till you rip the press off your bench.

and how much force do you have to put on any single stage or any other reloading press to begin with ?

The only time I had to work a press hard was when I had stuck cases in a die, other than that never. Converting cases, maybe but even then If you have a stout press, it would be fine. If you know you will be converting cases, then bottom nut with washers. I use T nuts on every thing and learned how to properly lube cases, not to have stuck ones.

 

[Mitty38]

and how much force do you have to put on any single stage or any other reloading press to begin with ?

The only time I had to work a press hard was when I had stuck cases in a die, other than that never. Converting cases, maybe but even then If you have a stout press, it would be fine. If you know you will be converting cases, then bottom nut with washers. I use T nuts on every thing and learned how to properly lube cases, not to have stuck ones.

You can get into situations. Where you have to lean on it sizing bullets and swaging. The sizing becomes an issue especially when you powder coat a slightly oversized cast. Get one that's swelled a bit either lean on it and keep sizing. Or go through the process of melting or beating it out backwards from the sizing die. Do a couple thousand tight bullet sizes, that's a bit of work on that wood.

Often you can put stress on it for a while, then one day on a light stroke the press and part of the bench just come off in your hand.

My first version of a loading stand. It was a Harbor freight portable work bench. Pressed sawdust board top. Three quarters inch thick. Figured I would put fender washers under the press. That would be good enough.
Used it for a 6 months that way. Then one day on the O press I size with. I was loading some .243. Darn press and half the bench top just came off on the first Deprime. Left me standing there like a deer in the headlights thinking what the heck????
I think there is a pick of that here somewhere..
Maybe Fiver has it archived??? He got a kick out of it.

 

[castmiester]

You can get into situations. Where you have to lean on it sizing bullets and swaging. The sizing becomes an issue especially when you powder coat a slightly oversized cast. Get one that's swelled a bit either lean on it and keep sizing. Or go through the process of melting or beating it out backwards from the sizing die. Do a couple thousand tight bullet sizes, that's a bit of work on that wood.

Often you can put stress on it for a while, then one day on a light stroke the press and part of the bench just come off in your hand.

My first version of a loading stand. It was a Harbor freight portable work bench. Pressed sawdust board top. Three quarters inch thick. Figured I would put fender washers under the press. That would be good enough.
Used it for a 6 months that way. Then one day on the O press I size with. I was loading some .243. Darn press and half the bench top just came off on the first Deprime. Left me standing there like a deer in the headlights thinking what the heck????
I think there is a pick of that here somewhere..
Maybe a Fiver has it archived??? He get a kick out of it.

I never had to put excess stress on an oversized cast bullet while sizing, so I don't know what in the world you're talking about, but swaging jacketed yes. In my case rid the T nuts if necessary and put in bolt with a bottom nut, with an 1 inch laminate top.

Depriming? what did you use particle board or sheet rock ? LOL LOL

 

[fiver]

tore one off the bench sizing a 22lr case.
didn't hurt the rim none since it was gone at that point, but my fatass hanging off the handle like a rag doll was enough to remove it.

 

[beagle]

Was lucky when I built mine. Worked for a company that had a contract to renovate Army Calibration vans. They pulled 30" 2" thick solid doors off and sent to dump. I found two in the back of my pickup about every week along with nice finished plywood salvage. Got sheet metal with 4 X 4 dunnage under it. Lag bolted doors on 4 X 4 legs. Built shelves underneath. Hole for door knob went next to wall. Worked out perfectly. Got a 3 door bench, 2" thick. Two Rockchuckers mounted with 5/16" machine bolts and big washers, a #450 sizer, a RCBS uniflow measure, a Pro Melt and Sidewinder tumbler.
About once a year, I go around and tighten lag bolts and mounting bolts on presses./beagle

 

[Jeff H]

...Hole for door knob went next to wall. Worked out perfectly...

That door-knob hole is now a "cable management" hole for the various electronic gadgets on one's bench.

When I moved in here, there were two 36" residential "fire-rated" steel doors in a shed I renovated/expanded into a shop/garage. Those two doors became bench-tops in the garage and one is dedicated to casting. Door-knob hole went against the wall, but is covered up, because the mice like to use it as a passageway.