UPDATE:
I have an update for y'all. It rained this weekend, so I gave Ed, the guard, the day off and got the alligators secured, and went to work on the reloading bench. I'll have pictures later, but here is what I did.
1) The frame was pretty much as I described it. 2X4's with legs that were bigger than 2X4, but still smaller than 4X4. I used 3" deck screws and Gorilla glue to put it all together.
2) I had an 10" wide plank of 1/2 inch plywood that I sunk into the top going across. After the glue set on that, I glued pieces of it at three hardpoints going across the front so that where the presses attach, there will be an extra inch of plywood underneath.
3) On top of the frame, I put down 1/4" ply and then laminated a 3/4" chunk of particle board and then put 1/4" ply on top of that. I had planned on using 3" bolts to hold the press, but I'm going to require 3 1/2" bolts instead. That should be enough, n'est pas?
After the final gluing, I loaded 100lbs of lead ingots and some economy packs of 12 GA on the surface and turned the lights out. This morning it was all rock solid and ready for final sanding and painting. I was digging for the stain and varnish, and found the paint I used on the old bench. There was more than half of it left, So I'm going to go back to the idea of painting it. Battleship Gray on the top and Forest Green on the bottom.
The good news is I only had to use 1 new 2X4. The rest were all scraps, mostly from packing crates.
The other good news is #3 son, Angus helped with the project. He's 19 and been working since graduating high school at an HVAC fabrication plant. He has turned into an awesome worker in the past year.
