Reloading Bench

P

Pig Slayer

Private
Minuteman
Apr 4, 2024
2
1
Texas, USA
#1
Hey folks, first post here, I have seen some pretty nice bench builds and some improvised benches from Harbor Freight. I want to build my own so after scouring the forum I came up with a design I think will work well. I am planning to build the base out of 4x4 lumber. The base pieces will be assembled with 3/8" x 7" lag screws. For the top I plan on a combination of a 1.75" solid core door and .75" MDF for a total thickness of 2.5". I stepped the bottom shelves back about 6' so I can get my knees under the table a bit to sit comfortably. I will be mounting my Lyman T-Mag 2 press that sits on a 9" riser base from inline fabrication.

I am new to reloading and this will be my first bench built for that purpose. Any reasons why this bench wouldn't work? Any considerations I may have not thought of?


Reloading Bench 2.jpg.png
 
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#7
Something that's worked pretty well for me in the past has been a double layer of 3/4 MDF - basically cut a sheet in half length-wise, and trim to fit - topped with a piece of 1/8" tempered hardboard on top. Think the stuff they used to make the old brown peg board out of, but without the holes. Some strips of double-sided carpet tape, and voila, you have a sacrificial top that can be easily renewed when necessary without rebuilding the whole f'ing bench. Drill into it, spill something, whatever. It can be replaced. Might be worth doing the sacrificial top in shorter sections (~3-4 ft) so you don't have to replace the *entire* top at once because of a boo-boo on one end.

Grab some 1x hardwood from the lumber section (red oak works well for this) and use it to trim out the edges to give you a little more durability. Pre-drill the holes, and attach it with screws into the edge of the MDF. Screws don't have *great* holding power in MDF, but you don't need a ton of strength in this use case - you're literally just attaching trim to make it look better and keep the edge nice and crisp.
 
#8
I used a 2' x 5' butcher block countertop and some scrap lumber. After climbing up and down ladders and standing all day, I like to sit down. So I made mine the right height for an office chair... Means I have to sit a little catty-cornered from the press but it isn't an issue.

I would recommend if you use butcher block that you oil it with something as the manufacturer recommends. My leather working table is also butcher block and I didn't oil it for obvious reasons... So there's some minor checking in spots.

Mike
 
#10
Couple things:
- You are going to want to brace under the areas you have your press is on. Resizing puts a lot of stress on the mount. My buddy's bench is screaming when he does .308 and 30-06. Make sure you have a place to "tie off" 2x4 / 2x6's where the press attaches underneath the bench. Alternatively you could cut a piece of steel plate for under the bench where you mount.
- After thought, add some hook and loop male or female around where you have your press if you go butcher block. It's slick. I bumped (hard) a tray of charged .223 cases that I had to dump and redo
- Build it bigger than you think you need unless space is a premium
- want to reiterate Habitat for Humanity butcher block is a good buy
 
#15
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#19
What are the thoughts of using two sheets of 3/4" plywood, glued together but no legs. Looking at keeping it "floating" while secured to the wall and possibly some angle iron supports in key places.
 
#20
My favorite bench top material has become baubuche panel. Usually costs less than butcher block per foot. Can be found at most plywood or hardwood retailers. If you look around you can find butcher block on sale from the big box stores or places like Rockler. You’ll want better support than what shelf brackets will offer unless you find some real heavy duty ones and lag bolt them to the wall. Picture of baubuche panel I used on a bench I made.
IMG_4152.jpeg
 
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#21
2 layers of 3/4” plywood glued and screwed with a 2x6 “skirt” under the perimeter, with 4x6 posts for legs and one single layer of 3/4” ply board for a shelf underneath has been an outstanding bench with zero flex for me since 2008. Can’t flex (or otherwise move) the thing resizing 50 BMG cases. Mine is 4’x4’ and I have stations on 3 sides with one side against the wall. Bomber.

I later made work benches that were 2’x4’ and used 4x4 legs and 2x4 skirts. VERY unstable in that arrangement. The leg and skirt size makes a lot of difference for rock solid stability. I used 3/8” bolts for hardware on all, to allow me to remove the top and the shelf from the legs for disassembly and occasional transport. (It went from Ohio to Utah once, and in and out of the basement to the garage once.)

So depends on what you’re reloading and how much flex you’re willing to accept. I want ZERO flex for 50 BMG and other big stuff.

I have two of them see pics
IMG_7246.jpeg
IMG_7247.jpeg
 
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#23
NICETRY said:
My favorite bench top material has become baubuche panel. Usually costs less than butcher block per foot. Can be found at most plywood or hardwood retailers. If you look around you can find butcher block on sale from the big box stores or places like Rockler. You’ll want better support than what shelf brackets will offer unless you find some real heavy duty ones and lag bolt them to the wall. Picture of baubuche panel I used on a bench I made.
View attachment 8577708
Click to expand...
Beautiful work!
In regards to your track system,was there a particular reason why you spaced the tracks like you did? I’m getting do mine and was wondering about the spacing,thanks
 
#28
Going down this rabbit hole at the moment and welcome any insight. Nicetry, Do you use the one tall ultra mount and quick change presses and such onto it? It looks like the bolt pattern of a tall ultra mount is a lot wider than the other Inline mounts so I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth the time to install the track.
 
#29
Xferbuckeye said:
Going down this rabbit hole at the moment and welcome any insight. Nicetry, Do you use the one tall ultra mount and quick change presses and such onto it? It looks like the bolt pattern of a tall ultra mount is a lot wider than the other Inline mounts so I’m trying to figure out if it’s worth the time to install the track.
Click to expand...
I have a dedicated mount for each press.
IMG_4160.jpeg
 
#31
Xferbuckeye said:
That looks awesome! Did you set the tracks a certain distance apart to accommodate a given inline mount or was it more arbitrary since you built wood mounts for them? Curious if you did it over again, what you would set the track spacing at.
Click to expand...
T-track is spaced for the inline fab mounts. The mount for my Dillon wouldn’t fit the spacing so used some 3/4” Baltic birch ply to make it work.
 
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