Ok, I just got a new job that will help me spend some more time at home so id like start reloading again. After we moved last year all my stuff has been in storage and I don't have a bench.
I have plenty of room in my basement.
I just have a single stage press so it doesn't need to be big.
I'm thinking about just getting some 2x4s and ripping a piece of plywood.
Any better ideas? Pictures and plans of your bench would be great.
Frame the plywood top to add stiffness. Bolt the thing to the wall somehow for stability.
This looks like a fairly solid option: https://www.lowes.com/projects/woodw...kbench/project
I agree that if at all possible, it makes sense to bolt it to wall studs in order to make it as stable and solid as possible. I might also consider using either an additional 2x4 per leg or 4x4s instead, just to make the whole thing more solid.
There are a bunch of pictures of benches in this thread:http://pistol-forum.com/showthread.p...oading-setups!
We had a kitchen renovation a few years ago.
Instead of wasting our old kitchen cabinets, I had my contractor bring them down to the basement.
I had plywood, 1 inch thick put into it. I then used a waterproof clear coat to seal it. Nothing fancy. They were able to save the granite of one cabinet when I use as a work bench for cleaning guns.
For $40, I bought an old wooden desk from Habit for Humanity thrift store. It can handle 6 reloading presses. I have mounted 5 onto it.
I have 4 progressive, 1 turret and two single stage presses in tandem. I reload 460, 454 Casull and 500 Magnum on the single stage. There are 4 dedicated powder measures mounted in tandem which speeds up my process in half.
I have dabbled with rifle reloads but I mainly reload pistol.
I think if you go to thrift store or goodwill you may find heavyweight cheap furniture to suit your needs. The key is that you want a stable platform so that the press is stable when using the lever.
I looked into high end tables before but “why” if I’m gonna drill holes into it.
You can build something but raw materials and time can run more money than a thrift store find, in my opinion. A place about an hour away from me, in Wythville, VA sells government surplus furniture for even less ($20-$30 heavyweight wood desks). How can you build something better for less?
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Last edited by CDR_Glock; 02-02-2019 at 04:19 PM.
Heavier the better. Mine has 4x4 legs with two sheets of plywood on top. My wife who is the painter of the family covered and sealed the plywood with polyurethane. I put a shelf on the bottom with storage for reloading tools and brass. I keep projectiles on the floor under that shelf. I have three Dillon 550s and one old single stage on it. I can add the MEC shotgun presses for 12 and 28 but have not loaded shotgun or many years.
Last edited by ranger; 02-02-2019 at 04:12 PM.
A buddy of mine literally just built a bench and gave me permission to post these pics.
I believe that’s 2 layers of 3/4” plywood over a 2x4 top.
Are you now, or have you ever been a member of the Doodie Project?
I have built two big benches by bolting a board onto the wall, and running two by lumber perpendicular to the wall, and then another board under the front supporting the legs. One of my benches is 21 foot long, and the other one is about 8 feet, they are both built this way:
Unfortunately this is about the best picture I can get, because the surface of the big bench is pretty much covered at the moment...
But I guess I can show the bottom:
One cool thing about this is if you ever want/need to replace a board it is simple. My Posness/Warren press dumps the rounds out the back, so I made a huge hole in the bench to send them down though PVC pipe to a bucket. Three times already I have, as I have added presses to that bench, moved thee P/W press and it was simple to unscrew the board with the big hole and move it to the new position. Here is that bench:
Whatever you do, if you can attach it to the wall in any way it sure makes things sturdy.
Pull up the Home Dept site and see their 2x4 basics work bench. It's a frame. It impresses hell out of me. I'm unable to link it. My apologies.
Use a solid core door as a bench top. Very flat, strong, heavy and inexpensive. If you are worried about wear and tear, put a sheet of 1/4” Masonite or hardboard on top of the door as a wear layer. Build the frame out of laminated 2x4s, lap joints. Add diagonal stretchers to keep from racking.
This is what I recommend. I have several and they are very very stable.
Last edited by Trigger; 02-06-2019 at 10:59 AM.
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