Shellplate storage?

[Andy Griffith]

Well, I got frustrated again yesterday evening, and I'm trying to figure how I want to do it...

I've got 14 shellplates for my Hornady AP- I've had them on a dowel attached to a wood block. Seems some of them have a bit of surface rust on them- just a spec or two...

I think I'm going to store them in a ammo box with some spray lube on them and some desiccant- but I'd rather have some kind of way of storing them on the bench and kind of "display" them- maybe a box thats lined with felt or something with dividers so they stand on their sides with each one in a "pocket"...

I don't know- I'm not a master of organization.

Maybe I should send them off and have them blued like the old projector plates...

 

[Rule3]

I do not know how big the Hornady shell plates are, but I used recycled 1qt Chinese soup containers to hold my Lee Turrets with dies attached. Keep the shell holders and dummy rounds in them also to set the seating dies.
Keep the dies and turrets coated with DuPont Silicone and Teflon spray. Never had any rust yet.

Yes, it's low tech but the food grade containers seal tighter than any Rubbermaid, are clear and stack nicely. I keep them out in a file cabinet drawer in the garage, hot and humid.

 

[FrankD45]

Here is how I rack and display tool heads for my Dillon.

This won't help your concerns about rust though. I don't have that issue since my "man cave" is in an upstairs bedroom that I took over.

Frank

 

[socal s&w]

I wish that I had a picture here, but don't so I'll try my best to describe what has worked for me.......although rust is not an issue here in SoCal.

I was at a hardware store that makes keys and noticed a nice little white, plastic, key rack. You can hang it on a wall, very compact and light.

It has colored key tags on it, enough for my needs, so I thought that it would work for my shellplates if I used beaded chain looped through the key tag, which indicates the shellplate number, caliber, etc and loops through the center hole on the shellplate.

The tags then slide into little slots on the holder that mounts to a wall, or any other surface. The tags are large enough to write all of the information that is needed, is highly visible and works like a charm.

I believe that they have as many as 8 slots/tags, but you can string as many as you need together by purchasing more of them.

They look just like these.........

Office Depot Key Rack Assorted Color Key Chains Holds 8 by Office Depot

Hope the link works.

 

[625smith]

Here is what I did with my shell plates. I also wipe them down with G96 gun treatment before I hang them up. I got these hooks at the local hardware store. Sorry about the mess on the bench.

 

[JohnnieB]

- maybe a box thats lined with felt or something with dividers so they stand on their sides with each one in a "pocket"...

Put a "see-through" lid on the box and a dehumidifier in it.

Here's a link to plans for a Barrister Style bookcase:
Popular Woodworking Magazine

With a little fiddlin' with dimensions and materials, you might come up with a "box" to hang on the wall near your reloading bench.

John

PS - Easier to build if glass door is attached with piano hinge rather than being self storing.

 

[blujax01]

Put a "see-through" lid on the box and a dehumidifier in it.

Here's a link to plans for a Barrister Style bookcase:
Popular Woodworking Magazine

With a little fiddlin' with dimensions and materials, you might come up with a "box" to hang on the wall near your reloading bench.

John

PS - Easier to build if glass door is attached with piano hinge rather than being self storing.

You are a genius! 25 years ago I built a glass doored oak wall case along those lines for VCR tapes. I ran across it in the basement last week and almost threw it out. Now I know exactly how to "re-purpose" it. Thanks for the inspiration.

 

[ISOM]

Storing shell plates

I have a half-dozen HORNADY shell plates, that I store in individual ZIP-LOCK Bags when not in use.

 

[JohnnieB]

You are a genius! 25 years ago I built a glass doored oak wall case along those lines for VCR tapes. I ran across it in the basement last week and almost threw it out. Now I know exactly how to "re-purpose" it. Thanks for the inspiration.

I sure have been called a lot of things in the past 67 years, but that's a first.
Granted, brains do run in my family, but in my case...they ran right on by, or so my sisters tell me.
However, my Daddy taught me to never insult someone by not accepting their compliment, so: Thank you for your kind words.


I store ammo in "re-purposed" cabinet sized cigar humidors with Goldenrod dehumidifiers mounted in them and snarfed-up a "good for kindling only grade" 32"x12"x14" barrister style humidor with the glass broken out of the door for next to nothing at a flea market. It's still a work in progress, but when I get around to it, it'll be re-glazed and wall mounted close to my reloading bench with powders, primers, dies and die holders residing in dry comfort and highly visible.

I must confess ---- Neither was my original idea, or at least not one of mine in its entirety.
I'm just passing along freely shared ideas from others that additional others might find useful, and possibly improve upon, like I did.

John

 

[Skip Sackett]

My man cave is in the basement. Even though it gets really humid here, my tooling doesn't rust. I have a dehumidifier there and all is well.

If I did have a problem with it though I would use WD40 for just what it is good for, water proofing. I know a lot of tool and die makers that use a stone to finish mating surfaces before they bolt them together. ALWAYS, before they do, they spray those surfaces with WD40 to prevent rusting. It seems to always work.

I do that with my moulds too. After the last fill, while they are still hot, I spray them with WD40. They stay in the garage so humidity is a factor. Since I use a wet rag to quench the moulds with as I am casting, they are introduced to both water and steam. I have forgotten to spray one or two though and then they will get a little patina on them. A brass brush and a little WD40 and they are good to go again.

 

[Andy Griffith]

In all the years I've had the stuff, I've never had a problem with rusting until now. I think maybe I was sweating while loading and caused it.

The glass (plexiglas) topped thing is what I'm going to do.
Stick a place on the end for for desiccant.

 

[JohnnieB]

In all the years I've had the stuff, I've never had a problem with rusting until now. I think maybe I was sweating while loading and caused it.

The glass (plexiglas) topped thing is what I'm going to do.
Stick a place on the end for for desiccant.

Shhh! The Climate Change nuts might hear you and say it's proof of Global Warming.

------

I'll probably use Plexiglas on my project also, but the thing is already wired so it'll get a small Goldenrod.

John

 

[Forrest r]

I just use liquid car wax on mine. I wipe off the excess after it dries.

Don't have a rust problem when I use it. The wax also works great on other things like handsaws/saw blades, straight edges, old advertising tin cans, ect.

 

[SW&Larry]

If you look in the Hornady manuals, it shows the shell plates coming in a nice, square snap-close case.

That ain't what I got. I got the plate in a typical retail rip off and throw-away clear plastic holder.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

I store my dillon square deal caliber conversions in square tupperware container with snap on lid. A spritz of WD40 or your favorite lube and they are good forever. Plus they stack and are labeled for easy access.

 

[dd45]

I use empty (of course!) peanut butter jars for shell plate storage. I keep them in alpha-numa order so it is easy to find the one I want. A list stapled to the wall behind my bench lists components needed by cartridge for my Dillon 550.

dd45