ohihunter, as others already pointed out, MDF (regardless of thickness) is your weakest link. 1" thick MDF is like a stack of cardboard as it lacks cross-directional strength of multi-layer plywood or OSB. And plywood/OSB with 1x6 hardwood board may not be sufficient to provide stiffness you need for LCT, especially resizing bottle-neck rifle cases.bench of 2x4 and a 1'' thick MDF top with an oak 1x6 screwed to the top with my LCT mounted to the board and the bench top. Lately I have felt a lot of flex in the press, so I'm trying to figure a way to remount this so its rock solid. I have been thinking about mounting 2-2x6 underneath the MDF top and carriage bolting it together.
I agree."Stiffness" is achieved from a well designed "system". A stiff benchtop won't do anything, if your joists are flimsy. Stiff joists won't do anything if your bench legs are flimsy ... This is what BDS is getting at.
Using 2x4 brace under the press fastened to 2x4 frame members disperse the load over the entire bench.larger "footprint" disperses the load over a much greater area
By mounting the presses at the ends of 2'x3' bench, you effectively increase the depth to 3' instead of 2' using the weight of the bench to your leverage/advantage. As to up-stroke, in reality the bench will be weighed down with reloading components and supplies (I have about 200-300+ pounds of bullets, brass, powder, etc. along with dies/tools on the bench) and no issues with priming up-stroke with Auto Breech Lock Pro.Your benchtop needs to be thicker than you thought! I like a 24" deep reloading bench ... Additionally, I find the extra bench weight to be helpful during the op lever up-stroke. (Most solutions presented only address the down-stroke.)
Funny you mentioned that as that's what I was thinking as I mounted the C-H single stage press and if you notice in the picture below, it is mounted on the right side corner of the bench.press needs to be located directly over a stout bench leg
Well, my bench legs are securely fastened to Harbor Freight furniture moving dolly casters yet due to presses mounted at the ends of the bench with weight/leverage advantage, I can resize military .308 cases (without bench top flex) and progressively reload on Auto Breech Lock Pro even with weight of empty bench.the entire bench needs to be fastened to every stud inside the wall
Absolutely. The 2'x3' bench is two box frame reinforced into 2 smaller box frame joined at corners with 2x4s with additional stiffness coming from mid-shelf 2x4 box frame with additional stiffness provided by pegboard fastened to back of bench.2x4's make effective joists when turned on edge ... Consider turning the underside of the bench into a series of small "boxes".
Caution:I did the plans for portable castered 2'x3' bench for reloaders who need to reload indoors with limited space. Benefits of smaller portable reloading bench is the option of rolling the bench into a corner or closet for storage, not to mention being able to reload in the comforts of heat/AC and be closer to family.
Are there benefits to massive heavy timber benches? You bet.
Can you reload on a small portable bench? Been doing it and loading all of my THR myth busting test rounds on it for about 10 years now, including sizing thicker walled military .308 cases.
As Eugen and rfwobbly posted, you CAN build bench that is stiff enough to not flex the bench top if bench is designed and constructed properly even though bench size is smaller like 2'x3' using lighter dimensional 2x4 lumber with sufficient "stiffers/bracing".
The 2'x3' bench was moved in 2014 on a 14 hour moving truck ride loaded with over 1400 lbs of reloading gear/components and during the truck ride, one of the moving dolly casters broke but nails/drywall screws used held together so well that bench is solid as the day it was constructed.
Point taken, OK changed to "Construction screws" on my previous posts.Caution: Any confession to using "drywall screws" for bench construction could start a flaming war by the purists with horror stories about the weakness of the "drywall screws" of the past. Edit it to read "construction screws"
I even tested "construction adhesives" like Liquid Nails on earlier portable benches, but I found with proper design and use of fasteners, additional use of adhesive was not necessary.
DM, Yes, LOL! How could we forget your "epitome" of massive leg bench and "garage door header" bench top.And my bench has NO fasteners in it, and it doesn't flex one bit!
Good point. My earlier bench designs did need the extra help. And using wet "green" 2x4s instead of kiln dried or dry seasoned 2x4s will also reduce bench stiffness until wood dried.Yes, but you're talking about very specific workbench designs, both engineered and constructed by a knowledgeable and experienced bench builder. And then, seem to be taking that experience and making a blanket statement for everyone's instruction.
While I am a big fan of your posts here, blanket statements rarely work. I believe the use of screws and adhesives can add a lot to bench building when used in the correct size, length and location. IOW, every application should be taken on an individual case-by-case basis.
I've seen many posts about the Inline Fab working because the press ends up well behind the bench edge.There are some pretty good ideas in this thread. Post 1528 shows/explains my bench setup.
What clever little things have you "invented or discovered" that you can share?
I agree with the suggestions of getting an Inline Fabrication mount for your press. Makes a huge difference in stability and comfort.
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Tilos said:I have not ever seen anyone build a recess/jog into a bench to get a press off the bench edge, has anyone done this?
I have built simple boxes out of 2x6/2x8 (glued/screwed/about $5) as risers that are a wooden version of a Inline Fab that gets the press off of the bench edge.
NiceThere's probably a hundred different ways to get the press off the edge of a bench. I went with somewhat of a cantilever approach. Due to height issues a Dillon strong mount wouldn't work, but it allows the press to hang out over the edge far enough for the swing arm to clear. As the old saying goes...."necessity is the Mother of invention".
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