Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Reload Bench Idea

I just had a house built. The builder bought two extra base cabinets on accident and just ended up giving them to me. They are 46” wide x 25” deep. The boxes appear to be MDF.

I was thinking about putting a counter top on them and using it as a reloading/gun tinkering bench. Do you guys think this will be strong enough? What kind of counter top? I’ve used butcher block to make countertops before, but birch seems like it might be a bit soft. Laminate countertops aren’t too expensive.

How about this idea? Screw together a cabinet base at the appropriate height. Build with a 24" gap between the cabinets. Apply locking casters. Mount the cabinets to the base and use whatever countertop or 2 pieces of 1/2" plywood doubled up for the top. I like the idea of mobility...

You bring up a good point. The way I’m thinking of doing it, it wouldn’t be easily moved. These cabinets are heavy.

Did exactly that at the old house, laminate worked just fine. Using butcher block made out of hardwood in the new house, although the butcher block tops we put in the house from Menards are quite stout and would work just fine.

My reloading room is built out of the remains of our old kitchen. We remodeled it in the mid 90s and took all of the uppers, lowers and counters and put them in our reloading room. As you can imagine it wasn’t a tight fit do to the layout of the kitchen and the measurements of the reloading room but a little thinking goes a long ways. It came out really good. I did another remodel in there last year and removed and relocated a few of the uppers so it is a much better fit. I even painted the 40 year old cabinets. For the top/bench, I used an old solid core door that was part of the remodel to span where our counter tops didn’t fit. Now, there’s a continuous top and an area where you can slide a chair under to be more comfortable. I topped the top and backsplash with epoxy so it looked better and hid the seams. That part could have turned out better so now I will add laminate from a contractor I know and then it will look the best since it’s continuously flat and level. I wish I could post pictures, but no matter what I do or forum help I get, they’re too big and I’m not smart enough to downsize pictures enough to satisfy the rules.

They will work great. Reinforce the tops of the cabinets with some 2x4's or similar to screw the countertop to. If it is MDF it will be particle board under it and it's easier for screw to out of particle board.

Do you think if I did that and bolted the top down, it might make it easier to disassemble if I need to move it?

As far as a bench top goes 3/4” plywood works fine if you have a good support system. I framed mine with a 2x6 band and 2x4 “joists” starting with one centered and another on each side mid distance to the end. Smoothed the plywood grain with wood filler, palm sanded and stained. Put 3 or 4 coats of urethane on top and it’s held up for 12 years now.

That's how I do it as well. Extremely stable that way. I hate to bring this up, but I see a lot of reloading benches with absolutely no support under the press. Why guys do that is beyond me. The other thread with the beautiful epoxied bench top is a good example of that, but I didn't want to chidt on his thread. You guys can do what you want, but I want my bench rock solid, especially where the press is mounted. Also if you are using a beam scale, elevate it a bit and have it on a separate surface than the bench top. That doesn't seem to resonate either.

Before I populated it.

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/gallery/80/full/185474.jpeg

That's pretty sweet buddy..

Thank you sir. That’s Version 1.01 Learned a few things after using it. Like the swing arm of a Rockchucker rolls under and hits the 2x6 before the ram is up completely. Thus the added 2x4 with the base plate on top to move the press out a little. And if anybody is wondering about getting the aluminum base for RCBS tools, do it. It makes for a very strong mount.

And what it looks like after a weekend of work. Obviously I should have made it 8’ instead of 6’. I’ll stop the hijack now.

Nice!

For those lacking woodworking equipment or skills a butcherblock topped baker's table from the unfinished furniture store is a great alternative to building your own. Similarly my auxillary bench is a butcherblock topped microwave cart from the local big box hardware emporium. I have less money in both than it would take to build one bench given current lumber prices.

Butcher blocks and solid core doors work! When I built my bench I looked for a door and couldn’t find one. Then I got carried away with the project. One other thing I’ll mention for safety and OS moment prevention. Whether built up against the wall or portable make sure you have a way to completely immobilize the bench. When you’re putting power to the press on the down stroke is NOT the time for the bench to go scooting away or toppling toward you. Especially true if you have vertical shelving on the back.

The top shelf on the back of the bench pictured is lined solid with brass. It’s top heavy to say the least. Don’t even want to think about a topple. A bench needs to either connected to the floor or the wall behind. Wall fixture is easy. In my case I screwed a couple of short 2x4s onto the wall, each across two wall studs matching the position of the 2x6 of the top frame. Pre-drill a couple of holes in the 2x6 on each end and run 3” screws thru that and into the short ledger boards on the wall.

My father in law is a carpenter and he gave me a set of old kitchen cabinets that he tore out of a house he was remodeling. For a countertop, I used a double layer of 3/4 inch chipboard, for no other reason than I already had a sheet of it in the garage. I reinforced the area immediately under the press by screwing a scrap of 2x6 into the cabinet, and I also screwed it to the chip boards layers.

Works great, didn't cost me a dime.

I've found plywood to be too soft even when it is thick/laminated. I use maple countertops from Grainger. you can get almost any size you want and I have mine drilled and tapped to accept the various accessories like bench primer tools or case trimmers. The presses are permanently mounted. The benches are bolted to the wall so heavy forces like resizing don't push them around.

To the left of this bench is a similar one 8ft long for cleaning, etc.

Finished product before deciding on resting place for press and filling up.