Compact Reloading Bench Project

[rbeau30]

Well, I do not have a whole lot of room to put a bench, plus I rent, so I don't want to drill some holes in the workbench in my garage.

I found several examples of what I did, I just thought perhaps the info here might help someone out.

I got a Workmate 225 for $49.99 from homedepot.com.

I used 3/8" bolts/nuts/washers throughout the project, along with 2" wood screws.
I also got that really crappy (warped as heck) wood board 25" wide by 1" thick by 6 foot long. It is the stuff where they glue a bunch of 1x4x6 ft together side by side to get a real wide piece of lumber. Not one of these were straight.

I doubled up the table top with the board to create a thick top to mount my press onto. The table top boards were so warped I had to put some gorilla glue and bolt them down at each board to get the sandwich to be real straight.

The sides were screwed from the bottom and from the sides to get a solid/straight box.

Looks like it is going to work for my uses, however the collapsing function does not work well as the top is very heavy now.

[ray1970]

It looks really nice. [Awesom]

Does it seem pretty stable when you use the press?

[rbeau30]

It looks really nice. [Awesom]

Does it seem pretty stable when you use the press?

Absolutely! I sat on the top (165lbs), no problem at all. I haven't actually used the press, but I tried to get it to tip over by putting some off center pressure on it while working the press ram. It is very stable. I will take a side pic of it soon, but the way the workmate is constructed, the front part of the table top (where the press is mounted) is actually set back towards the center of gravity of the bench which makes it seemingly very stable. And along with the wide stance at the bottom, I think it is very very stable.

[kwando]

great idea... I have a partial basement and its basically for storage, so when i do get into reloading i will have to get creative with my bench as well.

[anomad]

I've used one of those with a lee turret and an rcbs single stage. Worked just fine.

[Danimal]

That is kinda what I did too. I needed something that could fit in the closet in my man cave so that I could use the rest of the space for other man-cave activities. So this is what I came up with. I have it loaded down pretty heavily and it does great.

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu288/harthand/DSCN4630.jpg

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu288/harthand/DSCN4631.jpg

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu288/harthand/DSCN4632.jpg

[Danimal]

Sorry the pics are sideways, I rotated them but they un-rotated themselves? Either way you get the idea. I can sit on any side depending on what I am doing.

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

Awesome! Nice pics op, and daminal!

[ray1970]

Sorry the pics are sideways, I rotated them but they un-rotated themselves? Either way you get the idea. I can sit on any side depending on what I am doing.



http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu288/harthand/DSCN4630.jpg


I was wondering how you got those bullets to stay in those bins without falling out. [Coffee]

[rbeau30]

Awww man! I wish I could put some casters on this now :-( and just be able to wheel it around. Maybe I can further customize it.

I like how you have some tools affixed to the side, I'll have tou remember that when I get into this more hard core.

[ray1970]

Awww man! I wish I could put some casters on this now :-( and just be able to wheel it around. Maybe I can further customize it.

Yep. Casters are nice. I built a small welding bench and figured it would be pretty easy to move around the garage without wheels. Wrong. Needless to say, I put casters on it.

[Danimal]

Awww man! I wish I could put some casters on this now :-( and just be able to wheel it around. Maybe I can further customize it.

I like how you have some tools affixed to the side, I'll have tou remember that when I get into this more hard core.

I just used a closet broom handle holder from home depot. It is nice because as I process brass everything is right there and organized.

[sscoyote]

Nice setups. Here's mine--got it free from work--

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t49/sscoyote1/DSCN0167.jpg

[Guylee]

I used a cheapo folding bench from ACE for a while...it worked ok but wasn't very stable. I'm glad it's working out well for you guys!

[coop68]

Built both of these at a friends shop in NE he has all the tools fellow reloader and shooter, makes it easy and cheap took couple of hours to put it together and the night to stain and shellac the top.

i needed a small reloading table portable enough to move back and forth from Colorado to Nebraska while in school and fit into my small apartment room i primarily use it to size rifle brass i have processed 5000 plus cases on this little guy. made it out of scrap 2x6 planned the sides and biscuit them together to make the top sanded down the top till smooth stained than shellac the top had to buy about 30-50 dollars in materials for the legs and miscellaneous.


http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o93/coopoloop68/IMG_2444.jpg


just recently helped out a friend with building another table not portable but enough to mount a progressive and rock chucker picture is not put together will have to post up the finished look. this is just the top after a mild staining about to shellac it. its all finished just need to snap a picture once i see him again. used Craig screws on it so you don't see many holes. this one costed right around 50.00 dollars its 46" X 26" wide about 32" high with bottom self

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o93/coopoloop68/newstuffasofdec2012167.jpg

[MCarp71]

Looks Good! Still arranging all of my stuff

[DSB OUTDOORS]

Well, I do not have a whole lot of room to put a bench, plus I rent, so I don't want to drill some holes in the workbench in my garage.

I found several examples of what I did, I just thought perhaps the info here might help someone out.

I got a Workmate 225 for $49.99 from homedepot.com.

I used 3/8" bolts/nuts/washers throughout the project, along with 2" wood screws.
I also got that really crappy (warped as heck) wood board 25" wide by 1" thick by 6 foot long. It is the stuff where they glue a bunch of 1x4x6 ft together side by side to get a real wide piece of lumber. Not one of these were straight.

I doubled up the table top with the board to create a thick top to mount my press onto. The table top boards were so warped I had to put some gorilla glue and bolt them down at each board to get the sandwich to be real straight.

The sides were screwed from the bottom and from the sides to get a solid/straight box.

Looks like it is going to work for my uses, however the collapsing function does not work well as the top is very heavy now.

http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/af71/rbeau30/image-7.jpg
Now that's a compact bench. VERY nice and portable too. I like it!