Looking for a reloading bench - Need some help

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Reloading bench...

We had the same problem, couldn't find a good strong bench to use. Went to Sam's Club, and found a fantastic bench, for $199.00. It is 5 ft long, 25 inches deep, and 37 1/2 inches high. It has a sturdy maple top, 1 3/4 inches thick, with strong powder coat steel legs and adjustable feet for leveling the table. It's not on their website, you have to go there and look in person. We love this table, it's really stong, and had no trouble drilling and mounting our Dillon 650 onto it. They also have a smaller version, with a backboard, and a couple shelves, think that one went for about 150. Good luck! I think this table is stronger than all the other ones we looked at!
 
Build it

I have long been a strong believer in built-it yourself, and build it right the first time. Pound per pound, wood is far stronger than steel. Get some 4X4s, some 2X6s, some 1" thick plywood, bolts, screws and gorilla glue.

Sit down in the chair you intend to use, in the room you intend to use it. Do not be stuck in the mindset that all materials must be in even numbers, i.e. 27" high for the deck. Perhaps your comfortable seated deck height 29 3/64". Whatever it is, built it to your comforts. Shelves are a must, and they must be readily accessible. The length and depth also should be your comfortable reach.

By the way, IMHO, the reloading bench is not the repair and revise table. That is a separate piece of furniture. A parting thought. If you hope to win your wife's admiration and support in the endeavor, make the table took and feel quality, not an eyesore.

Doc2005
 
I mostly agree with Doc on the Build It Yourself route. Wood is much less expensive than buying a desk or workbench, and wood is easy to fabricate with simple hand tools. You'll only need a sketch based on your own ergonomics when seated. Storage is good, and shelves make good use of vertical space. It doesn't need to be complicated, but it does need to be strong. Building it will allow you to have a completely custom solution to your own reloading needs.

Here's some inspiration. I built a vertical reloading bench over 12 years ago and mounted it to the wall in the back of a walk-in closet. Close the door and you don't know it's there. I've moved since then and it's in my office, on the wall opposite of my PC. Mounting to the wall makes this incredibly strong and stable, and all the shelves provide a lot of storage space. It's amazing what fits on 28" of wall, 12" deep including press overhang, and it only took a couple of hours to design, build and install. I've been very happy with it. If I had unlimited space, I'd make it a little wider and a little deeper, but I'd definitely keep the vertical orientation and the wall attachment for stability.

ReloadingBench3A.jpg

All the gory details are here:
http://www.ktog.org/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=2504;action=display;num=1160075953;start=1#11

I disagree with Doc on one point. It doesn't need to be pretty. Just put it in YOUR room (garage, whatever) where your wife won't need to look at it!
 
+1 on the maple bench at Sam's . .I don't have a use for it but i"m tempted to buy it because it's so damn nice. The one's at our Sam's were 72" long for the same price mentioned. They even had "optional" roller carts that fit under it perfectly with the same maple top. If I had hit the lottery I'd buy a couple of those and roll them out for my scale/powder dispenser (so it was separate from the bench)

Merry Christmas!
 
sale at sears

Sears has these on end of model clearance sale right now. I got the bench and a rolling cabinet for 40% off.

eb71671c.jpg


http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/prod...subcat=Garage+Organization&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes

http://www.sears.com/sr/javasr/prod...subcat=Garage+Organization&BV_UseBVCookie=Yes
 
I have the bench you pointed out from Lowe's. Only problem with it is the clearance on drilling holes int he top to mount the press to. That, and the top decking is essentially just real thick paper / cardboard - not even really compressed particle board or MDF. Get it, put 2 sheets of 3/4 ply together, mount them as the top, and you're good to hook. I did that with mine, and have no problems with it. Makes a pretty professional looking setup for those of us with a surplus of thumbs.
 
Went to Home Depot and bought a workshop bench kit. This was about 3 years ago. Was on sale for less than 50 bucks. Put it together, covered the surface with 3/8 inch ply, then covered that with vinyl for a smooth surface. On top of that I added two cubby hole shelves for bullets, tools and paraphenalia. On the bench I have a Lee LoadMaster, C-H 3 stage press, Lyman tumbler.
The bottom has a strong shelve for anything else you want to put under the bench.
 
I use the Gorilla bench OSH sells, similar to the bench in the link above to Lowes. I found that the full width drawer is a nuisance as I have to mount the pressed on the sides to get clearance. I intend to remove the drawer and put storage on the shelf in order to bring the press around front.
 
Here is a picture of my reloading bench. The picture was taken for a Karma contest on another forum thats why its cluttered with all sorts of unrelated stuff. When I reload I follow all rules of safety. Anyway the bench is from Sears, as others have suggested. I think I got it on sale for 89 bucks. I routered a v-groove around the edge to keep things from rolling off and I also rounded over the sharp edge. The groove also collects powder nicely which I can then feed to my houseplants.

IMG_0795.gif
 
+1 on the maple bench at Sam's.
I went to sam's today to look for this bench. Man, it was perfect... just the right size, nice thick top, 2 easy rolling drawers, metal powder-coated legs and pegboard. I'm definately going to get one.

only things is, I was wondering that since the front edge has 2 drawers that roll out, is how the best way to mount the press at the front edge so that it doesn't interfere with a drawer rolling out...

I guess I'll use lag screws through the maple top, that don't go all the way thru. Or I could use a short piece of 2x6 under the press, and then clamp it to the table... but since this is going in our house in our gameroom, I'm trying to avoid the "garage" look, so that the little woman doesn't complain... :uhoh:
 
Don't have any pics because I am at work, but I built my bench out of 5 framing 2x4's, a 4x4 sheet of MDF, 3" drywall screws and Gorilla glue.

It's just shy of 8 feet long, 2 feet deep and is custom made for me height wise (an important consideration when you're 6'8"). I weigh around 350 and have stood on it when reaching for things stuck up in the rafters of my shed.

It took me maybe 2 hours total. Only thing left to do is cover the surface with either vinyl remnants or with peel'n'stick tile and put a small piece of quarter round on the front edge to prevent roll-offs.

It's not that hard to build it yourself and make it work for you. You'll probably get off cheaper in the long run too.

W
 
I am in the process of building my bench right now. It will be 4' long by 2' deep and is built out of scrap wood (old shelving from my old house I no longer needed).

The shelving was 8' long by 2' deep so I cut the 5/16" decking plywood in half (that is the absolute cheapest plywood at the store and is pretty low quality) so I now have two 4'x2' pieces.

Then I cut apart the frame from the shelf, 2x4 stud material, and rebuilt the frame such that the front and back were 4' long and the cross supports were already cut (ended up being 21" long). Screwed it all together to make a 4'x2' (outer dimensions) box.

Then I laid the first 4'x2' piece of plywood on top and screwed 2 corners in place. I had some liquid nails sitting around from another project and liberally applied it to the plywood. Then I laid down the other piece of plywood right on top, screwed it down all around the frame and put a couple cases of water in the center.

I figure that doubling up the not so great plywood to be 5/8" thick, screwed and glued, would give me a nice strong work top.

Tomorrow I will build another 4'x2' shelf but with only a single piece of plywood to act as a bottom shelf (this one will have cutouts for the legs so the legs will be inside the frame). Then cut the legs. I will reinforce the area that I am mounting the press as well. Probably not necessary, but I have the wood.

Bench will be attached to the wall in the room where it is going.

Total material 1 sheet of plywood, 5 2x4's (though I am sure someone more clever than myself could do it in 4 by tweaking the meausurements). Total time will be about 3 hours because I work slow and am a lousy carpenter...I just learned the magic of using clamps when trying to screw things together and using a straight edge clamped to the wood when using a circular saw. Figure $30 (though I already had the wood, screws, glue, I am just "repurposing" it) and it is the size I am looking for. If I didn't have as much room I could have easily made it only 18" deep or only 3' long, etc. Also, no reason that it couldn't have been built using a handsaw, nails and a hammer. For that matter they will cut the plywood for you at the store.

Size was important since this is going on the second floor in essentially a bed room (it is actually the guest room!)

The only thing I will end up buying is something to cover the top for easy clean up. I heard peel and stick tiles mentioned and those are cheap.
 
Rockler woodworking has a "shop stand" series of fairly heavy steel legs and stretchers/rails for building benches and stands for machinery. They currently have a kit for router table legs/rails that is 24x18x32-36" tall for only $75. They come with heavy duty leveler feet, but they also have a total-locking swivel caster set for them for $30. I went to their local store, and they use these shop stands for a lot of their displays, etc. Really sturdy, and the heavy duty casters are rock solid when locked (they don't swivel or roll when locked). Makes a nice, small, sturdy bench I can roll out of the closet when I want to use it. Add a plywood top and bottom shelf for storage. They're predrilled to add plywood sides/doors/hinges/drawers, etc.

See here.

Andy
 
The Rockler table is a neat concept, assuming it really is sturdy enough for reloading. The local Rockler store is probably OK if you pay cash, but I wouldn't have them ship it to me. They sold or leased my personal info and I was getting every catalog imaginable. It nearly took an act of congress to make them stop junk mailing me.
 
I built mine myself, and the top is wicked strong! I made it by gluing together two pieces of 3/4" plywood, for a top that is 1-1/2" thick. The frame is 4x4 legs lag bolted to 2x4 rails, and the top just rests on top and is help in place with some metal L brackets. It's 30" deep by 72" long and weighs a ton, but it is rock solid.
 
Yesterday I finally completed my reloading work area. I appreciate all the feedback from everyone. I went with a mix of buying a pre-made bench, but upgrading some of the components myself. I waited for a sale, used a gift card given to me from the holiday and ended up spending less then $100 of my own money for everything. The bench is very stable with the double top I put on it.

The final outcome:

100_1313.jpg


100_1312.jpg


Any additional recommendations or comments on something I may have missed?
 
rockrivr1,

Nice setup! The concrete walls give it a bunker look & feel. I can imagine you holed up in there after the coming apocalypse, reloading ammo to keep the mutant zombies at bay. :)

On a more practical side, I bet it's a nice quiet place to get away for a while and reload in peace, free of the interruptions of modern life.
 
Rockrivr1...Yes...You have to use it once in a while. You just can't look at it. Not enough clutter. In fact, no clutter at all.:D

Very nice...
 
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