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Moving my bench to the garage worried about rusting and looking for tips?


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I’ve been loading on my back screened porch for 25 years on a 550, and I live in Florida.  There is a little rust on the primer magazine, the metal bracket that holds the fail safe rod and that’s about it.  I oil the shaft as needed.  I move the die head inside and cover the press with the nylon cover that’s it.  Next time I break down the press I’ll sand and repaint the rust spots.

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A long time ago I built a shop in part of a walk-out basement. I had a lathe, a mill, a drill press, a Star re-loader, and all the necessary hand tools.

Because of the wide fluctuation in temperature throughout the day, along with the moisture, it wasn't long before rust became a big problem.

My only solution was to set up two dehumidifiers and run them almost constantly.

 

 

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I live in north central Florida, and my press is outside in a non insulated utility shed, and has been there for years. There is light rust on the pull handle, but that is it. I've had no problem with Dillon dies rusting, but Lee dies seem to rust overnight. 

 

Maybe we should think about hard chrome on the presses? LOL

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On 10/27/2018 at 8:47 AM, GrumpyOne said:

I live in north central Florida, and my press is outside in a non insulated utility shed, and has been there for years. There is light rust on the pull handle, but that is it. I've had no problem with Dillon dies rusting, but Lee dies seem to rust overnight. 

 

Maybe we should think about hard chrome on the presses? LOL

Same experience with Lee dies.

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On 10/27/2018 at 3:27 PM, 36873687 said:

Mine in garage also. No problems I keep All powder an primers inside. I just got a 1050 from Florida I can see your  concern. The powder die had completely turned black. Or maybe they were black back in the day

Mine was black as well, lol. Did not think that was the stock color, ill look when I open my new powder drop.

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On 10/27/2018 at 2:21 PM, Hi-Power Jack said:

In Central Florida, I've had all my reloading gear in a storage shed, no air conditioned,

for the past four years.

 

 

Few minor problems, but nothing serious.     :) 

Care to share your issues and how you over came them?

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Like others have already addressed, it seems that some things are more

prone to rusting than others - have to watch out for those items.

 

Also noticed that some brass (9mm) was "developing some type of

pigmentation change"  ….   the last time I posted that it was "rusting"

and many people told me it couldn't rust - so, I don't know what you

call it, but I didn't care for it at all.

 

Seems that some 9mm brass that was stored in cardboard ammo

containers developed "rust - like symptoms.   I keep it all in

plastic now.     :) 

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I've not tried this on my dies/press, etc. in the garage but it works great on blued pistol magazines - car wax.

 

I sweat like a pig in the summer (or winter depending on how hard I'm working).  My P01 magazines (single 16 round magazine carried in a kydex IWB pouch at about 8 to 9 o'clock) come out of the mag. pouch with sweat beaded up all over them, like I'd held it under the shower.  I was worried about them rusting, even though I dried it off every time and wiped it with an oily rag regularly.

 

One of the guys on the CZ Forum had mentioned that he waxed his pistol magazines.  Mostly for improved functioning and reducing dirt/dust pickup when dropped into the dirt/gravel during competitions.

 

I grabbed a bottle of nufinish (couldn't find my Mecguiers at the time).  I disassembled about 5 magazines, used cotton balls and rubbing alcohol to clean/degrease them, let them dry a few minutes and put a coat of nufinish on the inside and outside.  Let it haze over and wiped it off with a soft cotton cloth.  Then I repeated the wax application/drying/buffing off for a second coat.  I wiped off the spring with an oily cloth and put the magazines back together.

 

I've gone almost 2 months now, only drying the magazines off when I come inside, and they shine like new.  Just drying them off with a paper towel or a dry cotton cloth removes the beaded up sweat and makes them shine like a new penny (blued penny).  Not a sign of rust, in spite of the sweat, in a couple months.

 

I will be waxing up some more this winter.

 

I'll bet waxing the outsides of the dies, the painted and unpainted parts of the reloading press, the powder measure, scale, shell holders, etc. would do a lot to keep them from rusting.  I'll need to do that some pretty warm day when I can sit outside on the bench and enjoy the sunshine/warmth of a winter day.

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We recommend using paste car wax, applied to steel non-moving parts to act as a moisture barrier.  Inexpensive is fine. Use a paper towel to wipe any moisture/ finger prints off, then apply using a cotton swab, paper towel, whathaveyou.

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I recently moved and had to move my reloading bench in the basement garage. It is a 3 car garage that is about 850 sq ft. so I added a DIY 1.5 ton mini split unit to this room. Now I can control my temp and humidity and it only added about $10 to my utility bill each month. I purchased the unit for $825 online and did all the installation work myself. 

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On 10/30/2018 at 11:38 AM, bwikel said:

I recently moved and had to move my reloading bench in the basement garage. It is a 3 car garage that is about 850 sq ft. so I added a DIY 1.5 ton mini split unit to this room. Now I can control my temp and humidity and it only added about $10 to my utility bill each month. I purchased the unit for $825 online and did all the installation work myself. 

Could you share the details on the split system? I'm using a window unit and space heaters in my 400 sq foot shop/reloading area. Its insulated so it don't require a lot to heat or cool but I think the split system might be cheaper on power use and less noise?

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2 hours ago, blindshooter said:

Could you share the details on the split system? I'm using a window unit and space heaters in my 400 sq foot shop/reloading area. Its insulated so it don't require a lot to heat or cool but I think the split system might be cheaper on power use and less noise?

I purchased the unit package online here Mini Split Link. The unit I used required 220v service so I pulled the wire from the breaker, ran conduit  on the exterior wall and installed a disconnect. All the other components needed for installation were included in the package except the outside unit wall mount in the event you want to secure it to an exterior wall versus a pad. Once everything was installed I hired a HVAC tech. to pull a vacuum on the line set since I did not have the needed equipment to do this. After verifying the system would hold a vacuum I released the gas and I was done. This unit runs very quiet and you don't really notice it is even on for both the inside and outside portion of the system. The complete installation took about 4 hours and now I have climate control in my garage, which my wife will appreciate this winter.  

Edited by bwikel
added info.
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59 minutes ago, blindshooter said:

bwikel, thanks for the info. I see you're in AL, I reside in eastern NC so I understand the heat/humidity thing. We had a 30 degree temp swing today, rust loves that.

 

Glad to help, message me if you need additional info. 

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All components stay indoors till reloading. I also completely empty the powder dropper after every reloading session. 

 

In addition to what everyone else has said, make sure you aren’t storing pool chemicals in your garage as well!  It’s amazing how quickly everything in your garage will rust up! 

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Ive never had issues with leaving primers and powder once they have been opened in their original container or in the powder droper in the garage. I live in very humid area but I also shoot 20k rounds per yr.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I live in south Alabama and reload in a metal utility shed.  When I got into reloading, I too had concerns about rust.  I bought a mount/riser from Inline Fabrication with their "quick change" system.  Basically, the mount is made to accept a plate that is bolted to the base of the press.  The system is primarily aimed at people who want to use multiple presses on the same mount.  I use a Lee Breechlock to deprime and a 550 to reload.  When not in use, they reside in a docking plate (again Inline Fab) that is bolted to a wall in my closet.  Moving my presses in and out of the house is pretty easy, but it might be tougher with a 650 or 1050.  This system also frees up my workbench for other uses.

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