Relaoding Bench Ideas/Innovations, Handy Gadets?

J

JeepHammer

Moderator
Building my THIRD reloading bench, (ran out of space AGAIN!)
Anyone have any tricky or useful low dollar ideas for a bench that is basically 3/4" plywood?
 
Almost all of my tools and presses are on removable blocks that secure to the bench when I need them. Keeps space available while still having plenty of room to work with.

The black knurled handles have all threaded rod that I epoxied to them, which extends through the block and bench top into some t-nuts I have installed on the underside of the bench flush with the bottom. I can use what I need, remove it when I don't and have a nice clean surface.

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When not in use, I store them on a shelf above the bench.
 
I was offered fire proof doors from a hospital complete with kick plates, handles and signs for free. I never know when I will need a heavy door so I took them up on the offer (I have to consider they did not want to haul them down from the 5th floor) . Then the other day I was minding my own business when I over heard a conversation about doors, seems someone stored some doors at a storage facility, and then? Forgot about them. The doors were offered to someone and me being sensitive I had to ask why he did not offer me some of the doors. I do not have room for anymore doors but if I needed a work bench top or heavy shelf or upright support for shelf I want for nothing.

F. Guffey
 
Beautiful Butcher Block Top!
Not that fancy, and I have to keep this reasonable size.
About 4 feet long is all I can spare.

So far, it's just a hair over 4' x 2' deep.
I want to keep the Dillon XL650 mounted, and I'm going to recess it into the bench a little so it's not such a hip buster.
It's a little too big to effectively make it removable, and I have the bench top to spare, since this will be a dedicated bench...

I like the idea of mounting smaller stuff on the cantilevered boards! That will make for a solid mount while still getting the stuff out of the way when I'm not using it...

I have a Lee turret press, and I'm looking for a good way to mount the turrets/dies to protect them and have them out of the way at the same time...
I know I can't be the only one with a Turret press, what do the rest of you do with turrets/dies when you aren't using them?
 
Laminated wood is good, for strength I would choose to mount everything on the end instead of cross grain, I have a butcher block, it came from an old liberty ship, once the butcher quit using it I suppose it could be called a parquet block.

F. Guffey
 
Build it taller than you think is right.
Really!
I stand to reload & 99% of benches are too low for comfort. I built mine to the height of my bent elbow while standing.
 
I built mine to load while seating. Figure out if you want to stand or sit, and go with that height.

Since I use the bench for a lot more than just reloading, I went with the lower height so I can sit in my chair and do whatever it is I am doing. If i need to stand for something, I go to the garage and work on the benches out there.
 
I compromise on height, I sit on a tall 'Bar' type stool.
Padded top, but no back or sides so I'm not banging into them, and I'm mostly standing when I slide off it.

I tried getting fully seated, it doesn't work for me,
I'm busted up pretty good, I can't do long periods of time standing, and the stool is a good compromise.

Being from a Liberty Ship makes it that much more cool!
 
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I laminated 3/4" hard maple T&G flooring to a piece of 3/4" AB plywood 30"X72".
The remainder of the 48''x96'' sheet was ripped into 3'' strips which are glued and screwed to make the legs and stretchers. I edged banded the table with 1.25" thick rosewood I had left over from a job. It is very important to have a strong stable work surface. I store all my lead, casting and other heavy stuff on a shelf beneath the work table. I like a table I can really "lean into" and almost impossible to move. Attractive, functional and indestructible. Best wishes
 
Do you have a handy picture?
I get great ideas from other people,
For some reason, *MY* ideas only work out about 1/4 of the time!... :D

This is a variant of the last table,
It will have a cross brace right under the press,
1-1/2" thick top,
And being 4' x 2' it will be pretty stable with the press mounted back away from the front edge with a brace under it.

I was hoping someone had some ideas (like the screw down boards, (which the copyright is now infringed!)
With hardware attached...

I use the Dillon progressive for volume,
I still have several calibers I reload for in the Lee turret press, and I'd like to keep my turrets/dies from getting banged around, I haven't seen an easy/simple idea for protecting those turrets with the dies installed yet...

THE PICTURES ARE GREAT!
If you have a handy picture, or something you do to make things handy (Storage?, Easier?) I'd like to see those pictures or hear about that also!
 
Here you go. I also use a bar stool, but still prefer to stand anyway.
Shelves above & below are a good idea for getting max storage & use in min footprint.
Construction is 7-ply marine with 2X4 corners & braces screwed & glued.
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(All images (C) Wogpotter 2011, 2013)
 
3/4" plywood is good for the base, but put some 3/4" veneer plywood on top of that for stability and a good work surface. Sand, stain, and poly coat.

Don't use any mushboard anywhere.

You can use an extra sheet of base ply for height and even more solidity if you want. Use screws in lieu of nails throughout.
 
Here are more of my bench.

I have an LnL AP, and it is the only thing permanently mounted. It is solid as a rock.

I kept my bench from being too deep - one because I have limited room, the other because I wanted to be able to easily reach the pegboard on the wall and to keep the bench from becoming too much of a clutter station. Narrower on a reloading bench, to me anyway, is better than deeper. Seems counter intuitive, but I have been very happy with the dimensions.

On the long side, the very end that sticks out was supposed to house my filing cabinet, but I completely missed the measurement and it doesn't fit. The white bins that are on the bench top now are beneath it - I keep my brass and some towels/rags in those. I have a shelf under about 2/3 of the entire length of the long side and the entire length of the short side for storage, and where the two plastic bins are now is where my machinists chest sits that houses tools.

I've installed more shelves above the long side, and another one above the short side where I keep dies and reloading manuals as well.

Like every bench, it's always a work in progress and will continue to be so.

Framing Up:

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1-1/8" thick birch/beech (can't remember which) top I got at Ikea:

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Urethane finish - first two coats were satin finish, didn't like it so the last 3 were gloss. Sanded each coat between applications with 300 grit. Yes, I did not cut the corner joint correct at all. I still hate my lack of thought to this day on that one.

I added some trim to dress up the looks, and a little paint on the legs.

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Short side - LnL AP permanently attached. The pegboard on this side pretty much houses anything and everything LNL related.

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With the shelf added:

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Long side - removable tools here, storage shelf underneath.

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Machinist's chest I restored - I keep pliers, files, punches, parts, etc. in here. It was a fun project restoring this thing and it is very handy, not to mention it looks awesome. I'm thinking about picking up another one one of these days.

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I had a bunch of 3/4" box tube drops that made up the truss portion of this bench along with some 18" wide 1/8" steel drop for the top.

Handy gadget portion was welding the outlets to the bottom and wiring them so I can turn power off to the entire bench with one switch, two if you count the one for the aircompressor.


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JeepHammer, I just made this to store my turrets when not in use.
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I used the scrap plywood from the bench top for it. The bench is still a work in process, I just built it a few weeks ago. Holes are 3" in diameter. The press is mounted on a board that can be swapped out. I've got 3 presses and the bench is only 48" long by 30"deep so I only want one press mounted at a time.
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I am considering Tee nuts inserted to the bottom of the benchtop and knobs on top to make swapping easier. I took diameter of some knobs I found on Amazon into consideration when spacing out the mounting bolts pictured. The knobs use standard hex head bolts instead of threaded rods, I haven't ordered them yet. Still need to make shelves with pegboard backing. If I keep reading threads like this, who knows what this bench might eventually look like.
 
jmorris said:
Handy gadget portion was welding the outlets to the bottom and wiring them so I can turn power off to the entire bench with one switch, two if you count the one for the aircompressor.
Click to expand...
It's very nice to have power, and control of said power, on the bench.

I don't have a photo of the current setup, but my bench has switched outlets on each end, plus a second light switch on the left side. The switches are hidden behind the fascia, and the power boxes are tucked under the bench. There is also one "always on" outlet in the center of the bench.

Currently, the left side controls power to bench lights (think, "desk lamps") and a phone charge. The second left-hand switch controls overhead bench lighting and a movable flood light that also has a switch in the cord (for those jobs where you REALLY want some light).

The right side was meant to control things like power case trimmers, powder handling equipment, etc. Right now, however, it controls the laptop charger, stereo speakers (amplified), and space heater....


With the space heater plugged in and everything else turned on, I might be able to reach the 15A rating of the cord used to wire the bench. But, generally, it shouldn't be an issue.

I initially planned to have one more switched outlet on a shelving unit that was to be built on top of the bench, as well as one more "always on" outlet. But... that'll probably never happen. That plan was for a different house and a different set of circumstances; and my motivation to build the shelves is close to zero.
 
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