Does anyone have plans for a small reloading bench?

[Lavid2002]

I guess this is firearms relates seeing I will be reloading ammunition on it.
I am very mechanical. Im goot at building things, working with machinery. I work at a dock and I fix small outboard motors. BUT I dont even know the first thing about carpentry...
Can someone give me some plans for a 4'x2' reloading bench?(More like a table)
I am about to make the annual trip to home depo(Look at that 2 jokes in 2 scentences) And I could pick up the goods there. I would like the bench to be really stable. Ill also be cleaning/working on my firearms on this bench so to store parts, bullets, corn, extra brass etc.... I would like to have a shelf under the bench. Anyone know where I can find plans for this? Or do you have a design you like in particular?
Thanks so much!
Dave

[Joat]

I have plans for a corner reloading bench but they are too large to attach. (by 6 kb )

I pulled them from this site: http://www.ray-vin.com/frtech.htm

Hope they help.

Joat

[jonjon1885]

hey Lavid,

i had the same question about 6 months ago, and the response i got was
http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=207081
make it the size you want it, you supply the lumber they give you the legs. Mines great, made it too big the first time then cut down the wood to fit in my home office.

hope it works for you too.


Cheers-

[Lavid2002]

those legs are pretty cool! Let me see if I can find some strong wood for those and Weve got a bench : D

[jonjon1885]

one hint i have is to have the top level be the thick plywood, or mount the press on the edge into the 2x4 if your going to be loading for rifle, the other levels you can use the cheap-o thin ply. so far i love my bench. built it for under $100 including the legs.

most other benches will have you either spending $$$$ on pre-made ones, or trying to build one form scratch, or paying even more for some one with the skill to custom make it for you (i don't have that skill) BTW mine is 35" x 50" and i started off bigger so that why i ended up spending as much as i did

[Capt. Charlie]

Here's an idea, I bought this about 10 years ago from Lowe's. It was a work bench in kit form and cost me about $150., plus or minus. It's roughly 6 foot wide by around 2.5 feet deep and 5.5 feet high. Took me about 3 hours to put together, but man, is this thing heavy! All I did is add the flourescent lights and a power strip.

[jonjon1885]

the kit comes with stuff to make the shelves and with other clamps and hooks(polemer but work well), and you can custom make the sizes of every thing you want

[armoredman]

Coverted TV stand, loaded thousands of rounds on this setup.

[Technosavant]

I made one about that size. No pics, but I'll describe it.

Tabletop: 4'x2' plywood, the thicker the better. Around the two short and one long sides, build a box frame of 2x4s, stacked like I beams. Under the remaining long side, I have two 2x4s, laid flat and edge to edge (to the entire front end is reinforced for about 7" in, for mounting presses). The legs are regular 2x4s, cut to length, with stabilizing 2x4s at the bottom (except for the front, so I can stick my legs under there). 2" and 3" coarse thread drywall screws were used liberally in this endeavor.

I also used some 8x.5" pine boards and mounted them above it for component storage (with short chunks of 2x4 supporting them at the posts).

It is functional and loads stuff just fine. Took about 2 hours to build.

[Lavid2002]

Got impatient, went to home depot. I bought some 3/4" thick plywood (Thickest they had) and got 4 sheets of 2'x4', I also got 2 4x4s and 5 2x4s and some 3" coarse drywall nails. Ill double down on the top of the bench so it has 1 1/2" of plyqwood for extra strength. Ill also install a shelf with one of the two remaining plywood boards. All the wood and nails are in my shed. Momas having a party tonight so the saw would be loud an interrupt. But there just dying to be built. I cleared a section in my room. Imstalled a small box with little drawers for small tools, nails for cloths, and I measured and marked all the wood. I CANT WAIT! Im so excited! Ill paint everything but the tippy top of the bench white. Ill leave the top wood color, maybe even cover half with scrap carpet stapled to it for whn I clean my firearms on the bench.
long live shooting sports
Dave

[skeeter1]

"Coverted TV stand, loaded thousands of rounds on this setup."

Along the same lines, I came across an old kitchen table for a good price (free) 25 years ago. Still works just fine as a reloading bench for me. It's ugly, but it's in the basement, so who cares what it looks like? Just a thought...

[BigJakeJ1s]

I bought a 18x24" router table leg/frame kit from Rockler. They offer the parts in different sizes, including 24x48" like you want. Lower stretchers will support a bottom shelf too. Very heavy duty cold rolled steel angles, and heavy carriage bolts to fasten it together. Add a top and a shelf or two, and you're in business.

Here is a larger bench (not sure of dimensions) built on these kits:



Here is a picture of the router table leg set (not including the router table top):



Both of these pics show the front-back stretchers mounted below the side-side stretchers. In fact, both stretchers can be mounted at the top of the legs or at the slightly lower position. I mounted all mine at the top to give maximum support to the top, and I bolted the press through the stretcher.

They also have heavy duty casters available that lock both the pivot and roll motions.

I added a second shelf with wooden supports about mid-height. When loaded up with plenty of tools, brass, bullets, etc. it is very heavy and stable.

Andy

[Oz_Shadow]

Lavid,

Take a little time and effort to use screws when building your bench. It will be far sturdier, especially over time. Nails tend to work loose. Screws hold tighter longer.

[deltaroc]

Here is my corner of the house, actually it is a separate room in the garage. I am lucky to have a garage which is 35' x 35' with 14 foot tall ceilings, so I built a room up in the air so to speak. I share the "man cave" between reloading, guns and amateur radio. Here are some pics. The countertops were once installed in my kitchen, lucky I saved them......packrat. Since my garage was already heated, I tapped into the hot water lines and installed 8 feet of fin tube and put an a/c in the window, comfortable all year round.

[Lavid2002]

Before........

After

It came out GREAT! Thanks for the help guys! Now Ill go buy my rifle and my reloading toys :P
Looks like it will be a great summer, and winter of 08' the money will have been spent on all the expencive stuff so I can shoot right thru the winter for pennies
Thanks guys!
Dave

[Lavid2002]

I thought i did a good job...
haha

[Ralphie]

Armoredman:
I LOVE the converted TV stand!!!

Lavid2002:
I'm not that creative...I just bought a 2-drawer craftsman workbench. It's about the size of what you are looking for (4 x 2). I got mine 9 years ago, so it's red, not black....but basically similar to the current 2-drawer model at Sears:

[actionflies]

$5 table at Goodwill.

[Mondo]

tag!

[djonathang]

Capt Charlie,

If I didn't know better, I'd say you actually have a store, and not a bench. I hope you're taking monthly inventory readings!

DG

My solution for reloading has been to pickup a discarded library/office desk. These wood desks are discarded all of the time. They have the slide out tables on the left and right of the chair, six drawers, and a nice Oak top that can handle a press mounted to it.

DG

[benzuncle]

After figuring out what space might be available and "securing" a corner in my wife's sewing room, I spent $74 on a workbench from COSTCO. I added a little plywood to beef it up and a 4ft tube light overhead. My tumbler equipment fits in the 5gal. bucket on the top shelf for storage.
Here's my "Man Cave":

And:

An added touch:

[Lavid2002]

ATCHUNG!
Thats great! Im going to germany soon! Thats an awesome poster Ill print out one for MY reloading bench! haha

[3gunfreak]

A "thrifty" tidbit. I bought a 3/8 sheet of hardwood and put it on the top(cut to fit of course)and attached it with screws. My bench is 3ft X 8ft and doubles as a firearm cleaning station. If I should happen to spill any thing liquid on the bench, all I have to do is replace the top layer(hardboard) and the bench is as good as new.

[Clark]

Screw or bolt the press to a board.

Clamp the board to a bench or desk with two "C" clamps.

I have 6 presses screwed to one board.
I now use a different kind of clamp:


I also clamp the powder measure bracket to the board.
Then I take the clamp off to pour the excess powder back into the canister.

[snuffy]

Plans? Who needs plans? A loading bench is simply a box with one side closed in, then legs put under it. Anybody can build a box. Decide where it will sit, then measure that space and cut lumber to fit in that space.

The top needs to be supported underneath for strength and rigidity. That's where the box come in, it'll be square or rectangular, depending on where you want it to sit.

It's nice to have plans to know how long to cut the lumber, but seldom will plans drawn up in advance be perfect for your situation. Unless, of course, you have unlimited space. If that's so, then make it twice as big as you think you need, you will end up using that extra space, maybe even consider another bench to catch the overflow, ask me how I know!