Reloading bench question

[cfullgraf]

Lots of good information already posted.

My 2 cents worth, you want the bench rigid and stiff. There is alot of force placed on a bench when sizing cases and you want to minimize these forces from deflecting you bench under operation.

Nailed joints will loosen quickly. Bolted joints will be better but glued and bolted joints are better. Have loads transmitted directly to something firm like floors as opposed to being transmitted through joints of the bench. That means have columns located directly under the press to absorb the resizing load.

jmorris' metal truss style bench is a thing of beauty and a joy for ever and is a great reloading bench but not everyone has the capability in their shop to build one. But, it is an example to emulate.

 

[GT1]

My bench has a 1/4" raised lip on both sides and the back, with an additional cover plate blocking anything from going down the back side. . The day you dump a flat of primers on your bench will be the first time you will appreciate those little add ons. Since my bench in screwed in to the studs in the wall I'm not really interested in moving it nor trying to fish anything out from behind it.

 

[GW Staar]

This Lee Quick Change was the most recent addition to my bench..... I'm outta room and needed to share space between Lee's APP and RCBS's APS bench primer.


It works....but I'm only 90% satisfied......don't like the flex inherent in the system...

I have an Inline Fabrication flush mount with custom holed tops for the same 2 tools. Showed up viva UPS yesterday.....going to give that a try.....I can already see it's heavier duty. I'll let you know how it compares. It's going to cover all the holes but one.... not going to bother with routering it flush. My bench has had more surgery than I have.....and that's saying a lot.....and it's still immovable sturdy.

While I like jmorris's metal bench a lot, my wife doesn't.....nor did she like the old one before I remodeled it to look nicer......her garage too. I'm fine with that. She's always had better taste than me. Picture below is old....have it filled up with more presses and things now.....I only thought 8' was enough.....

 

[SQLGeek]

@GW Staar I've been wanting an Inline Fabrication mount for a while. Just haven't committed to making it permanent yet. My high tech C-clamps are doing OK for now.

My mess....man I need to figure out some storage. The bench is solid though!

 

[Bob Willman]

My reloading bench was constructed from scratch. It started with six 4" X 6" X 72" white oak pieces which were given to me by a friend. My previous bench was made from a piece of bowling alley floor where the pins set which I lost in a house fire. After getting the oak planks trued up, they ended up 5 1/2 X 3 X 71. The top frame perimeter is made from 2 X 6s. The legs are made from a 2 X 6 and a 2 X 4 put together like an angle iron and bolted to the frame at each corner with 2 bolts on each side of the corner. While building this in the garage, I realized that once assembled I would be unable to carry the top to the basement. So the oak planks are doweled together without glue just to keep them lined up and belt sanded smooth. The frame was assembled in the basement and the 6 oak pieces put on the frame one at a time. Under the top and inside the frame is a 2 X 6 screwed into the front and back oak piece so the top will not move on the frame. The whole thing can be disassembled and moved if necessary. The back shelves were added this spring. The bench does not move.
The oak top is finished with tongue oil.

 

[GW Staar]

@GW Staar I've been wanting an Inline Fabrication mount for a while. Just haven't committed to making it permanent yet. My high tech C-clamps are doing OK for now.

The Inline Fabrication flush mount came in. It was a bear to figure out how to mount. You see, my bench has a triple 2x4 torsion beam at the front under the top......so that means, counting the 3/4" top, 4 1/4" of solld wood to drill through. That's not real hard except for one thing. The Inline Fabrication hardware comes with 1/4" machine screws and not even close to that long. Home Depot didn't have anything longer. I usually use bigger hardware (easier to find 5" bolts). So what to do.

I drilled 9/32" holes all the way through, then drilled 31/64" holes from the top 2" deep. Dropped 1/4"x2" coupling nuts in the top. That way I could bolt the base plate to the bench with 1/4"x 1" flat head machine screws. Then from the bottom I screwed in 1/4"x 3" bolts and fender washers to secure it tight. You do what you have to do.

So.....did it help the APP deflection? Yes.....better......not perfect since there is still some flex in the steel vertical support in the APP Frame. But is sure better. There was gobs of flex in the Lee quick change unit.

If I had had half a brain, I'd have saved my money, time and effort, and drilled a threaded hole in each tool plate of the Lee Quick Change and screwed in a set screw to take out the slack..........so where did I come up with that? From the Inline Fabrication quick change......that's EXACTLY what they do.........only I removed their set screw and replaced it with .......

 

[LiveLife]

My mess....man I need to figure out some storage.

Get yourself 5 or 6 tier wire shelving rack (Castered or not if storing heavy bullets) - https://www.costco.com/storage-racks.html

I use stacking plastic storage bins of different sizes to store stuff on my wire shelving (I have 3) like bullets, brass, dies, powder measures, caliber changes, etc. and clear bins make it easy to see inside content and tubs contain any spiils.

Smaller stuff and frequently used items are hung on pegboard or inside drawer units readily accessed from the bench.

And if I don't like the scenery of my reloading room or want to spend time with wife while doing prep work? I just roll my portable bench to anywhere inside or outside the house.

 

[SQLGeek]

That's impressive.

We have a few large shelving units in the garage already. Another smaller unit for reloading is probably going to be necessary. I have my mitre saw living under the bench right now which is taking up any potential under storage. Once I get a shed in the backyard, I can move lawn equipment out there and move my saw over.

It's a bit spendy, but I'm also looking at doing a railed system from Inline Fabrication above the bench.

 

[SQLGeek]

The Inline Fabrication flush mount came in. It was a bear to figure out how to mount. You see, my bench has a triple 2x4 torsion beam at the front under the top......so that means, counting the 3/4" top, 4 1/4" of solld wood to drill through. That's not real hard except for one thing. The Inline Fabrication hardware comes with 1/4" machine screws and not even close to that long. Home Depot didn't have anything longer. I usually use bigger hardware (easier to find 5" bolts). So what to do.

I drilled 9/32" holes all the way through, then drilled 31/64" holes from the top 2" deep. Dropped 1/4"x2" coupling nuts in the top. That way I could bolt the base plate to the bench with 1/4"x 1" flat head machine screws. Then from the bottom I screwed in 1/4"x 3" bolts and fender washers to secure it tight. You do what you have to do.

So.....did it help the APP deflection? Yes.....better......not perfect since there is still some flex in the steel vertical support in the APP Frame. But is sure better. There was gobs of flex in the Lee quick change unit.

If I had had half a brain, I'd have saved my money, time and effort, and drilled a threaded hole in each tool plate of the Lee Quick Change and screwed in a set screw to take out the slack..........so where did I come up with that? From the Inline Fabrication quick change......that's EXACTLY what they do.........only I removed their set screw and replaced it with .......
View attachment 929033

Interesting. I built your bench from the plans you shared on Arfcom once upon a time. So the torsion beam issue would be mine as well. Hmmm.

I was considering doing the quick change system with a 4" mount. Wonder how mounting that would go....

Any concerns about the strength of the coupling nut?

 

[Tilos]

The Inline Fabrication flush mount came in. It was a bear to figure out how to mount. You see, my bench has a triple 2x4 torsion beam at the front under the top......so that means, counting the 3/4" top, 4 1/4" of solld wood to drill through. That's not real hard except for one thing. The Inline Fabrication hardware comes with 1/4" machine screws and not even close to that long. Home Depot didn't have anything longer. I usually use bigger hardware (easier to find 5" bolts). So what to do.

I drilled 9/32" holes all the way through, then drilled 31/64" holes from the top 2" deep. Dropped 1/4"x2" coupling nuts in the top. That way I could bolt the base plate to the bench with 1/4"x 1" flat head machine screws. Then from the bottom I screwed in 1/4"x 3" bolts and fender washers to secure it tight. You do what you have to do.

So.....did it help the APP deflection? Yes.....better......not perfect since there is still some flex in the steel vertical support in the APP Frame. But is sure better. There was gobs of flex in the Lee quick change unit.

If I had had half a brain, I'd have saved my money, time and effort, and drilled a threaded hole in each tool plate of the Lee Quick Change and screwed in a set screw to take out the slack..........so where did I come up with that? From the Inline Fabrication quick change......that's EXACTLY what they do.........only I removed their set screw and replaced it with .......
View attachment 929033

I have on hand 3 ft lengths of threaded rod/all-thread in 1/4x20, 5/16x18, and 3/8x16, saves a lot of trips to the store for bolts of a specific length.
Yeh, threaded rod is not high strength but good enough for what I need, and I can weld a nut on the end if I need an actual "bolt".
Seeing that you are always fabricating/modifying stuff you should consider having threaded rod on hand at home.

 

[GW Staar]

Interesting. I built your bench from the plans you shared on Arfcom once upon a time. So the torsion beam issue would be mine as well. Hmmm.

I was considering doing the quick change system with a 4" mount. Wonder how mounting that would go....

Any concerns about the strength of the coupling nut?

I think fine! I like bolting through the beam directly.....makes it sturdy as heck. Here's how it turned out:

Notice the Knob replacing the set screw.....that's 1/4X24 threads on the set screw. Notice I had to butcher my pretty alder wood face......that's where the kit's wing nuts have to go.....otherwise I would have had the front bolts go through the face and nothing else......oh well .... it's sturdy as a rock!

Below, my RCBS ABS bench primer has it's own Quick Change......was glad that Inline made one custom just for that (same bolt spacing & # as the other tube RCBS bench primer.)

Fits nice and stable on the shelf above.....will have to move a thing or two.
Result? I like it fine......but I think I coulda stablized the Lee version just as well by drilling a set screw........However. Unscrewing the two wing nuts is handier/easier than having to have a large Phillips screwdriver to loosen 4 bolts on the Lee to switch tools.

 

[GW Staar]

I have on hand 3 ft lengths of threaded rod/all-thread in 1/4x20, 5/16x18, and 3/8x16, saves a lot of trips to the store for bolts of a specific length.
Yeh, threaded rod is not high strength but good enough for what I need, and I can weld a nut on the end if I need an actual "bolt".
Seeing that you are always fabricating/modifying stuff you should consider having threaded rod on hand at home.

That's another option all right. One I probably would have used, but I only had one all-thread of the size I needed on hand rather than four. I had the coupling nuts and there is another advantage to them. It's pretty handy to just unscrew 4 1" long bolts from the top.....without having to loosen anything under the table. Used Lock-tite when I threaded the long bolts underneath into the bottom of the coupling nuts....and steel epoxy putty around the couplers.....so they are permanent.

 

[labnoti]

I admire all the furniture-making ability on display in this thread.

In my experience, horizontal surfaces will get filled with clutter. It's a law. Therefore my press is mounted on a stand to avoid having to declutter the area around it to work without interference.

I am continually minimizing work surfaces. How much area do I need to clean a handgun? One square foot. If I provide 6 square feet, that space will fill up with other junk because I didn't think about a better place for it. Reloading does not require much work surface at all. At most, I need a surface to hold a Gem 20 scale. That's a few square inches. If I use loading blocks, that's maybe 1.2 square feet to hold 100 cases. Most of my bulk brass and bullets go in bins, not in blocks. Akro bins hang on Akro bin panels, or they are stored in drawers. My dies are in a die rack on the side of the press stand or they are in drawers. Powder and primers are in separate cabinets. So if I could build a "dream" reloading shed, it would have cabinets and drawers, but no bench.

 

[SQLGeek]

I think fine! I like bolting through the beam directly.....makes it sturdy as heck. Here's how it turned out:

That'll definitely do. Shame about the facing though but what are you gonna do?

Did you brace the rear bolts on the mounting plate with anything underneath the surface of the bench?

I was thinking of a plate for my press and one for my RCBS Bench Primer. Then a caddy mounted on the rail system to hold the other. I think that'll work.

 

[GW Staar]

Well, yes. The back screws were half in the beam half beyond it......two choices .....either add a 4th short 2X4 to the inside, glued and screwed, or what I did. Used an 8 ply plywood plate (1/2" very tough) matched size and 4 holes of the kit's steel plate, and mounted it below the beam.....bolt and fender washer through that tight to the coupler above.

I would have done the 2x4 glued on.....with fender washer......but I had the materials on hand, only for the other option......did not want to drag the project on another day. If the tools to mount were both heavy duty presses, I would have done the other option.

 

[SQLGeek]

Perfect. Sounds like another section of 2x4 will be just the ticket. Thank you, sir!

 

[lordpaxman]

In my experience, horizontal surfaces will get filled with clutter. It's a law.

So that’s why it happens! My entire life, I’ve thought it was a family trait. A bit off topic but I find the same thing, and eons ago my Dad taught be you have to put the tools back right away in the same place, clean, if you want to find them next week. Perhaps another thread to find out how to bend that law...

 

[GW Staar]

I admire all the furniture-making ability on display in this thread.

In my experience, horizontal surfaces will get filled with clutter. It's a law. Therefore my press is mounted on a stand to avoid having to declutter the area around it to work without interference.

I am continually minimizing work surfaces. How much area do I need to clean a handgun? One square foot. If I provide 6 square feet, that space will fill up with other junk because I didn't think about a better place for it. Reloading does not require much work surface at all. At most, I need a surface to hold a Gem 20 scale. That's a few square inches. If I use loading blocks, that's maybe 1.2 square feet to hold 100 cases. Most of my bulk brass and bullets go in bins, not in blocks. Akro bins hang on Akro bin panels, or they are stored in drawers. My dies are in a die rack on the side of the press stand or they are in drawers. Powder and primers are in separate cabinets. So if I could build a "dream" reloading shed, it would have cabinets and drawers, but no bench.

I think that must be a corollary to Murphy's law. But I'm worse than that....and better than that. I really keep my bench pretty clear when I'm reloading.....and I like the convenience of having the flat surface during a loading session.......but......I'm horrible during a remodel, during tool add ons, and just any other project......I can put down a screw driver, and the spend the next 30 minutes looking for it. Yuck....hate that. It's a result of having a mind that is working overtime on the "next" step before finishing the current one, I think! At least, once the building project is over, I clean up and enjoy the after......including the flat surfaces around all my presses.

I also have a Gem Pro.....but that's not all I use flat surfaces for: Trim Mate, Trimmer, loading blocks, 10-10 scale, bench swager (before the APP)....loading manuals, loading log books.....different strokes I guess. You're not the only one who prefers stands....cfullgraf comes to mind!

 

[Bob Willman]

I admire all the furniture-making ability on display in this thread.

In my experience, horizontal surfaces will get filled with clutter. It's a law. Therefore my press is mounted on a stand to avoid having to declutter the area around it to work without interference.

I am continually minimizing work surfaces. How much area do I need to clean a handgun? One square foot. If I provide 6 square feet, that space will fill up with other junk because I didn't think about a better place for it. Reloading does not require much work surface at all. At most, I need a surface to hold a Gem 20 scale. That's a few square inches. If I use loading blocks, that's maybe 1.2 square feet to hold 100 cases. Most of my bulk brass and bullets go in bins, not in blocks. Akro bins hang on Akro bin panels, or they are stored in drawers. My dies are in a die rack on the side of the press stand or they are in drawers. Powder and primers are in separate cabinets. So if I could build a "dream" reloading shed, it would have cabinets and drawers, but no bench.

It is called "Flat Surface Syndrome". I cleared it before taking the photo.