Bench top surface covering?

[Chuck R.]

I ended up going with Formica....20+ feet of it.

 

[Tilos]

I topped my bench with 1/8" hardboard sealed with Varathane.
View attachment 835432

I like what you've done there, with the locating pins and de-sta-co clamp on the single stage.

Also, a riser is a simple way to get the small foot print and the small bolt pattern of the press off the edge of the bench, for less front/back rocking.
That riser has a bigger than the press front/back foot print too, that helps a lot to eliminate rocking too.
This is way more important on presses ( mostly Lee) that don't capture the primer in a cup/sleeve and just balance it on the seating pin.

It seems a steel plate that's bigger than the front/back press base achieves about the same results IF the bench edge doesn't flex.
jmo

 

[Prowler53]

I just used peel & stick vinyl tiles. It's only about 1 month since I finished it, so I can't say how well it will hold up. I went with a black color tile but if I were to do it over again I would go with a white or another lighter color.

 

[kmw1954]

I really thought about the peel'n stick but couldn't find one I liked w/o buying a box with much more than I needed.

 

[kmw1954]

Finally just about finished. Was able to find someone to cut the plate for me so I've been working on this most of the morning. I still need to drill and tap 2 holes for the ABLP Press and then still need to pick up machine screws and drill the plate to bolt it down.

Anyways here are some pictures of what I was trying to accomplish.

 

[375supermag]

Hi...
I have several benches here at The Estate.
One I built about 40 years ago from some long forgotten plans that I found somewhere...basically 2x6 and 2x4 construction for the base. The plans called for a top made of 2x4 but I wasn't happy with that so I modified it by sandwiching together two 6ft x 2ft sheets of 3/4" plywood with glue and screws. I then wrapped it with a poplar edge and stained and sealed it. It was my only reloading bench for many years and still serves as the bench I use for my brass tumblers.
I built a similar bench several years ago that I use for various projects. It is also lagged to the wall in the garage. The top is covered with 1/8" tempered Masonite that has held up very well to all kinds of oil, grease and such. Be very easy to replace when necessary.
I have a woodworking bench that my wife bought me about 24 years ago with two clamping vises. I do very little woodworking these days but it is a very nice bench and the storage area underneath holds a large number of power tools.

My reloading bench that I use for load development and priming is a steel framed Craftsman unit that is about 3ft long. Just enough space for a RockChucker, powder measures and my APS bench priming unit.
I modified the top by sandwiching together two pieces of 3/4"MDF and a piece of 3/4" plywood. The MDF is the bench top and the bench is lagged to the wall. Rock solid... hasn't budged in 15years.

My newest bench is a 6ft. Seville bench from Sam's Club. It is steel framed with a 3/4" hardwood top and leveling feet. It is lagged to the wall and has two Hornady LNLS mounted on it.

I am going to buy a similar 4 ft bench next month to use to mount my recently acquired Dillon 550 and a RockChucker Supreme.

 

[Nature Boy]

I have Formica on mine and have never had a problem..

Me too. That’s my vote

 

[Mostly Lead]

The first reloading bench I built - at age 17 - used a 5/8 thick piece of plywood as a structural component of the bench. The second reloading bench I built - at age 27, after I had collected a sheaf of engineering degrees - used a 7/16 thick piece of waferboard. And this was only because I couldn't get anything thinner (cheaper). Once I had been trained in how to resist and transmit forces, the top of the bench became an irrelevancy. As far as I am concerned, the structure of a properly designed and built reloading bench should harness and transmit all the forces to the ground; the bench top should exist for no other reason than to keep reloading components off the floor.

Do you have some pics or designs that could be shared? I'm always interested to see well engineered systems.

 

[Caplock]

I went to a used office supply store.
Bought a super clean old metal teachers desk for 100 bucks.
It has a smooth fake wood laminate on the top.
Very easy to wipe off.
Has drawers for bullets, powder, etc.
Even was reinforced with extra metal right where the bolts on my rockchucker go. Perfect.

 

[kmw1954]

I know those well and they work excellent. Part of my problem is the stairs in our house. We have metal Spiral stairs that are not very wide and I know from experience that it is impossible to even try to get a medium sized dresser up those stairs. Queen sized mattress, forget it too.

 

[MauriceSam]

I had two sheets of waferboard as my top (using a workbench that was already in place) and hated it . Covered top with vinyl flooring in a light color (12x24 inch tiles. Self stick and also used vinyl floor adhesive glue to bond to surface) . Looks great and easy to clean. Also used piece of pegboard as template for mounting holes for presses. Used T nuts installed under bench for secure mounting. Can mount any press or accessory anywhere along bench. That way I can have multiple presses installed at same time or easily remove and have use of entire surface. I made pattern to fit my MEC Sizemaster base first (which conviently has holes spaced same as pegboard.) and then patterned everything else around that. I use the piece of pegboard to locate the holes evenly along front edge of top. All presses and trimmers etc mounted on boards using same hole spacing. Keep pegboard as template when adding new equipment. Makes workspace modular and adaptable to however you want it.

 

[labnoti]

I like pedestal stands over benches or tables with all that horizontal surface that inevitably gets random junk stacked on it or spread all over it. My press is on a Lee tripod stand which was inexpensive and it works well when heavily weighted with concrete and lead, but it's a bit low. It's also not quite a stiff as I'd like. I'm thinking about replacing it with a Palmgren grinder stand.

But I've got this huge steel office desk. I saw it sitting next to the highway with a "free" sign on it. It sat in my overfilled garage for a couple years before I tried to get rid of it the same way. But no one took it. So I cleaned it up today and now I'm thinking of how to surface the top, which is presently some wood grain laminate over a sheet steel base. The desk is 72" x 30". I won't mount a press on it, but I can use the filing drawer to store powder and the smaller drawers for loaded ammo and gun cleaning supplies.

I think I'm going to use a 4' x 6' x 0.75" rubber horse stall mat cut to fit on the top. There's enough space to clean rifles and shotguns on it, and build some muzzleloader kits.

 

[kmw1954]

labnoti, post some pictures once you have it finished. I'm a repurposer from way back.