Heat for the reloading bench

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The Freeholder

The Freeholder

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I need some opinions, and this seems to be a great place for them...:rolleyes:

I have a question about heating where you reload. My reloading bench is located in an unheated outbuilding, roughly 20x20, concrete slab floor, block walls. Mostly uninsulated, except for some in the ceiling. Not too bad to cool in the summer, but a bear to heat. I only heat it when needed due to energy costs.

I have a 20,000 btu kerosene heater (one of the big round ones) and a 30,000 btu propane heater (runs off 20# or larger tanks). The kero is of course a contained flame, the propane isn't the jet engine sort--it's the one that glows red when running--similar to this, but larger. I tend to use the kerosene.

I'm a pretty new to reloading, driven to it by cost. (With 3 shooters in the family, ammo becomes a budget item!) I'd like to reload during cold weather, which means heating the building to work.

The heat sources are about 8' from the bench. I've got 2 large fire extingushers handy.

All the books say don't smoke, don't reload near open flame, etc. I understand that just fine. What I'm seeking are opinions on the safety of reloading with either sort of heat I have available. Electric is out; not enough available amps. I can wait until warmer weather, but it'd sure be nice to do it during the "slow" season.
 
Maybe try heating it for 1/2 hour to heat it up, then load for 1/2 hour. Close powder containers, heat it up again, etc.
You do brass prep indoors, right?
Maybe operate in large batches, and save the powder and bullet stages for warmer weather?
Maybe mount the press to a something portable and do it elsewhere?
Or heat during prep stages and shut off the heat when charging powder/seating bullets?
Primers don't really pose that much risk from ignition from a heat source that far away.
 
set it up where the heat source is a good ways away, and the heat is blown toward you, or generally circulated around the room
 
I don't think you will have any undue risks with either heat source provided you arent spilling primers or powder on the flame. However I had a small shop that I heated with kerosene and the water vapor given off was enough to rust my tools. Have you considered placing a couple heat lamps over y9ur bench? I don't think theywould tax your available amps too hard.
 
Eight feet sounds like enough seperation to me. You would just about have to toss an open powder container to spill it that far. Also, those oil filled radiant heaters don't pull too many amps, maybe they would work.

Years back there was a story in the Dillon catalog. (yes there is writing in there, not just pictures) A guy was using an electric heater in his relaoding shed. It was under the bench to keep his feet warm. He spilled a big jug of powder, and basically had time to turn and jump out of the shed before the fireball blew past him. No major injuries, one toasted shed, Dillon replaced the press.
 
electric blanket

Maybe 2 of them. Set it on your stool/chair wrapp up when you go to work. and if you don't have to far to move you just keep it around you while your working around the bench.
If that is to much power then add more. I added 2 20amp ckts to my garage when I first moved in. I never use more than one outlet out of 8 at any given time.
 
Loaded for 15 years in an unheated back room / shop of a house we lived in. Not only was there no insulation, but the wind off the prairie didn't so much stop as just slow down a bunch, it was that leaky. Used a kerosene heater or (if it was 20 below) an old barrel stove at the back of the room. I was very, very careful, and I never, never had a problem....there's some "good old days" I don't care to revisit.
 
Just a thought...

How about a ceiling fan, a small space heater far away from the bench, and a black roof? I'm originally from Arizona and growing up there you learn a lot about how to keep a house cool...a black roof is definately NOT a good way to keep it cool. If it gets warm in the summer, you can just open a window and a door and get a nice breeze going through there.

This would be a bit cheaper and maybe safer than the alternative.

Matt
 
I'm lucky that I've got a basement that's relatively warm to reload in. I did however have a similiar problem with my shop. (Where I fix the truck and tractor). I spent a good part of the thanksgiving day weekend insulating the walls and finishing off the ceiling (with insulation) and then running around sealing all the cracks etc with expanding foam. The end result is that I can now heat that up with the kerosene salamander and it holds the heat really well. Might be worth considering some insulation so you don't have to run the heat source as much as you would otherwise.

Regards,
Dave
 
You can buy small electric oil filled raidators that have no exposed heating elements.

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get your self one of those infrared red heat lamps. and mount it above the bench. you know the ones hosptials have when you walk in the entrance. then place the heater on the other side of the shop. that should keep ya toasty warm!
 
Has anyone ever heard of "carbon-monoxide"??? In my work we have a bunch of them. Some burn diesel. Some burn karosene. And some burn propane. All give off CO2...Or burn the oxygen in the space leaving all those other gasses that don't support life as we know it...:D
 
I use a parabolic heater that only heats objects, not the air. I bought mine at Costco and you aim at the area you're going to be working in from about 6 to 8 feet away. I have to turn mine down because if I don't, I get toasted.

They are about 18" in diameter and have a "tip over" switch, so if it gets knocked over, it will turn itself off. It was relatively inexpensive at about $25.00 or so. It also doesn't draw a lot of amperage, since I can run mine on a 15 amp circuit.

Hope this helps.

Fred
 
laughable

Some of the responses on this thread are humerous. Some must think that powder is like gasoline, it gives off vapors that go looking for an ignition source! Sure, IF you dumped some IN the heater, it'd ignite. But no one is dumb enought to do it, unless of course they WANTED to get burned!

Primers have to be heated to a very high temperature to get them to pop. Of course they'd throw that anvil with considerable force, but you'd have to put them purposly right on the heater for at least 30 seconds to have that happen.

"I have a 20,000 btu kerosene heater (one of the big round ones) and a 30,000 btu propane heater (runs off 20# or larger tanks). The kero is of course a contained flame, the propane isn't the jet engine sort--it's the one that glows red when running--similar to this, but larger. I tend to use the kerosene."

This set-up should be perfectly safe, except for the CO concerns.

Aheater
 
Your confidence is inspiring.
I tumble outside or in garage.
After I load for a week or so, 2 or 3 hours a day, theres a fine layer of dust on the bench.
Since I don't load lead, just jacketed, and most of the time I deprime off the bench, this powder is smokeless dust.
Now in the basement it's easy to vacuum this stuff up before it presents a hazard, but outside in a cold outbuilding......
Be very careful, if you can smell powder, then powder is in the air, if it's in the air, then a thin layer is on the floor.
If you sweep or vacuum once a week, you'll be fine, but I know some people who don't vacuum their house more than once a month, so their outbuilding wouldn't be swept, either.
I guess you gotta come up with your own system, like sweeping after each session, or sweeping after each pound of powder, or once a week.
That's what I like about my 550, it leaves primers on the floor, so you HAVE to sweep after your session. :rolleyes:
 
The ignition temperature of nitrocellulose, if I recall, is somewhere in the neighborhood of 450 degrees F.

Don't pour smokeless powder onto or in your heater :)

Edited to add: Nitrocellulose film, not quite the same thing as smokess powder, ignites at 279 degrees F. My recollection might be a bit off.
 
Get an inexpensive heat lamp at Home Depot, the kind with the metal reflector, and point it at you when you reload. If you want more light just use a flood lamp instead of a heat lamp. Get a floor matt too, it's tough to get warm standing on cold concrete.
 
Has anyone ever heard of "carbon-monoxide"??? In my work we have a bunch of them. Some burn diesel. Some burn karosene. And some burn propane. All give off CO2...Or burn the oxygen in the space leaving all those other gasses that don't support life as we know it...
Click to expand...

If I could fix all my "ventilation problems", I wouldn't need about worrying about how to heat the building. :)
 
I'd suggest against using a non-vented heater unless there's a lot of draft. I had one in my garage and the amount of moisure that it gives off is amazing

I'd suggest the radiant thing, either a propane one that goes on the top of a barbecue cylinder, or an electric

Watch so that your tools and dies don't rust
 
I heat my reloading room/office with a oil filled heater like the one in post #11.
It keeps it nice and toasty. My room is insulated but no other heating source.
It won't heat up a cold room very fast (I keep mine on 24/7 with the thermostat set at about 65 degrees.)
 
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