new reloading bench

M

Micro man

New member
My wife has given her blessing to expand my reloading bench in the spare room in the basement and I wanted to get some input from members before I started it.I currently have a bench 5' x 3' (see photo)which is getting pretty crowded.
I have 2 shelves under the bench with plastic and cardboard boxes full of holsters,gun parts, brass, mags, etc.

I will have about 6 feet of wall for the new bench and wondered about how best to organize everything. Not sure if underbench drawers are the way to go, or something else would work better. Thanks for your input.
 

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If drawers will organize your stuff and make it all accessable I would do it. Go to the local home improvement store ( Lowe's and Home Depot are around here) and check out the kitchen cabinets in stock. Drawer base cabinets are available in several widths and drawer configurations. Put several cabinets together for a bank of drawers, or put 1 cabinet at each end with space in between for shelvs. The cabinets put the work top at about 3' off the floor. You can use the pre-made countertop, but it is made of partical board and won't hold up to heavy use of the press. I used a sheet of 3/4" plywood and cut it to 2'x8' and glued the two halves together to make a 1 1/2" work bench top. AC plywood will be smooth on 1 side and makes a decent surface to work off of.

You will need to screw the cabinets to the studs in the wall. Then mount the plywood. I would glue and screw the plywood to the cabinets. Then you can build a shelving system above the bench.

You could also use upper cabinets for some of the shelf storage. I have found that I prefer just shelves so I can see everything on them . But I do build the shelves sized for specific items. A section for loading manuals and other books, a section for dies, a section for powder, tools...whatever I want to have handy.
 
there is a consideration here. Formica countertops are the best smooth work surface ever. You can get damaged or returned ones at many home stores. I did that once and it made a very good base.
 
2 thoughts

I think big al hunter had several good ideas. Not knowing your layout, you might want to consider making an L-shape layout on adjacent walls. I only see 1 press, so an L-shape should keep most things at arm's reach. As for the table top, I lucked into a wood-sided door section which is rigid and smooth. Remember that a lot of the components are heavy, so build heavy. Also, a ledger board against the wall increases strength, rigidity and stability tremendously. Good luck.
 
I bought some industrial Gorilla shelving from Costco years ago; when set up half-height, it makes two 4' sections into one long 8'. Double plywood, glued and screwed underneath an 8' stock piece of formica kitchen counter from Home Depot and you have a great strong bench that is sold with shelves underneath and enough overhang you can sit on a bar stool with room for your knees. I would suggest for even more stability, that you lag bolt to some wall studs as well.
I was able to stand on the edge of mine and I am 250#; so no torque issues.

Another option for your presses, is to get Inline Fabrication press risers; those elevate the presses up and off the edge to no issues with torque there either.
 
I only see 1 press, so an L-shape should keep most things at arm's reach.
Click to expand...

The problem with L shaped work spaces is that they are literally useless for direct work. You can't really put a chair up to it and use it. When you have them, a few inches is useable from either right side or left side, it will work almost as well as a straight section.

IMO, take a hint from the computer industry that tends to put printers in the corners. If you have a corner, I would use it for storage. either build in or create a tall, wide, large shelving unit. You can store large tools in it, or rarely used smaller items. It's going to be a place where you can put things that you only use once a year or so that is still easily accessed without filling up useful bench space.

But, take another hint. For a long time, cabinet makers put lazy susan style shelves and cabinets in corners. Those were as useless as boobs on a boar because they couldn't accommodate anything bigger than a bag of flour or a can of coffee. This shelf will only be usable for a certain size combination of objects. You can, for example, put a half dozen or more cans of powder in a triangle, a stack of die boxes, cleaning supplies, etc. If you can think of anything more suitable to use that space for, rather than letting it be a wasted space, of course, use it that way.
 
I just recently put in a new bench in my garage. Went from one of those tool box benches to putting in cabinets that run 10' long with 30" counter top. I used two layers of 3/4" plywood for the counter top. I like the cabinets for the combination of drawers and cabinets themselves. Still wanna add strong shelving to the cabinets
 

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Under bench drawers might get in the way of the press' ram.
"...plastic and cardboard boxes full..." Do not belong anywhere near a reloading bench. Buy a proper shelving unit or steel cabinet from a used office furniture shop(Yellow Pages. Or a Habitat for Humanity Restore shop. Also the Yellow Pages.).
Cabinet makers don't build work spaces. They build non-industrial kitchens and furniture. Usually think of themselves as 'artistes' first and not technicians.
Biggest issue with L shaped work benches is the wasted space in the corners.
"...printers in the corners..." They go in another room or "over there out of the way". The hint should be coming from a watering hole bar where everything is within easy reach, but not in the way of the working space.
 
PhillySoldier- very impressive reloading bench! Everything neat and organized, looks like you shop at Inline Fabrications. They make some good stuff.
 
T o heir, maybe they do in the current wireless age, but I still have a printer with a short cord hooked up in a corner in my office.

The principle is correct, at some time everyone has been in an office, or even a home office with L shaped desks. The most worthless piece of real estate got the least essential equipment.
 
Thank you and yes it makes for excellent organization. There is still more i want to get. As i and others have said, i would recommend some type of cabinet configuration. My cabinets are actually 5 different ones mounted to each other. You can pick and choose the configuration you want.
 
The latest bench I built I used aluminum sheet for the top 3mm thick and then edge banded it like you would with laminate then eased the edge with a carbide router bit. Totally love it. The only other suggestion is when mounting presses and so forth use at least three washers and a split washer and a nylock nut. The three washers should be larger stepped as they contact but with the same bolt diameter. Also use hardened bolts and washers if you can get them. Also I run hornady lock and load presses and drilled them out for half inch bolts.
 
Kitchen cabinet bases works very well. I recently rebuilt my bench using 2 cabinet bases that were being discarded and were set to the curb. They were still in very usable condition and didn't cost me a thing. One cabinet has 4 drawers to it with the bottom drawer being extra deep. The other cabinet has a top drawer and an open cabinet below with a shelf.

Because of a disability with my legs I do all my loading sitting down. I know, many do not like that but it's what I have to do. So what I did is take a 2"X2" and bolted it to the side of the cabinet using tee nuts. The bench top height was set at 27" which is about the same height as most desks. The tops of the cabinets is at 35". This arrangement allows me to sit in a computer chair at the bench and still easily see everything on my press and reach all parts and tools needed.

Also because everything has been bolted together I can still take it apart and move it quite easily. Oh yeah, my bench top area is 40" wide by 26" deep which also does not include the tops on each of the cabinets.

So if you can salvage some old base cabinets do so they are sturdy and very versatile. Also this bench is set up for the sole purpose of reloading as I have another small bench set up for everything else.
 
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