Put a new top on my bench

[Patrick L]

One of my summer projects was to put a new top on my reloading bench. I originally built this bench 24 yrs ago. I remember because it was the first thing I did when I graduated from college. While other people were looking for jobs I built my loading bench. One thing you have to admit, my priorities are straight!

Anyhow, I have the original bench detailed in the reloading bench pics thread, post #126. I copied an idea from an old Wiley Clapp article on bench design. Basically the top is made of 4 layers of plywood. There are cutouts in the face on the top 2 layers forming inverted "T"'s that you can slide out, and various tools are premounted on other T boards. The only thing I have permanently mounted is my Ammomaster progressive, which does 90% of my metallic reloading. Everything else, shotshell presses, trimer, lubesizers, etc. are on insert boards. Here are two shots of the bench as it originally was

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Loading%20bench/GunStuff007.jpg

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Loading%20bench/GunStuff008.jpg

I left the bench unfinished. As you can imagine, after 24 years, the top was fairly oil and solvent soaked. At work this spring, some old built-in cabinets were ripped out and discarded. I couldn't get over the beautiful finish grade plywood they were made out of. I salvaged a lot of it, and the first thing that came to mind was a new bench top. It was fairly straightforward carpentry, and I even finished the edges with some 1/4 inch lath.

As she is now

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Loading%20bench/Newbenchtop001.jpg
You can see the lubesizer is on one of those insert boards in the left hand station


In this picture, you can see the 2 inch strip I needed to add. The longest piece I had was still 2 inches too short to do the full bench!
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Loading%20bench/Newbenchtop003.jpg


This is how I ended up trimming the blank boards on the insert stations. I had originally considered cutting or routing the "T" cavities out of the front trim pieces, but ultimately decided to just break the trim. Obviously this is just on the blanks that are in place normally, Like the lubesizer insert in one of the previous pictures, the inserts with tools mounted aren't trimmed. Yeah, I know, I should have replaced the tops of the blank insert boards. Maybe in another 24 years!
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Loading%20bench/Newbenchtop002.jpg

A few coats of polyurethane sealed the whole thing. I'm quite pleased with how this ended up!

[454PB]

Very nice, and good photography. I like that idea of a plastic bag cover on the press.

[geargnasher]

+1 454PB! Pretty slick. Most of the stuff I have came from a salvage pile somewhere, remodels can be an absolute gold mine of materials. I use cinch-sak garbage bags to cover my progressives with the tall case feeders, helps keep the dust off.

I also happen to remember that article by Wiley Clapp, it was in Guns & Ammo, I used to buy it when I was in high school and just getting started reloading. I don't know if he invented the swap-out tool bases, but that's the first exposure I had to the concept. I remember he iterated the need for a SOLID bench several times in that article, truly the voice of experience.

You must have done something right to have it last you 24 years, and that freshen-up sure looks nice.

Gear

[462]

Very nice, and the powder scale and trickler are at the correct level, too.

[Patrick L]

Thank you gentlemen!

I agree covering the presses really goes a long way to keeping them working smoothly. I tend to sweep and vacuum often, so a lot of dust gets kicked up.

I actually read that article in an old DBI book Wiley co-wrote with Dean Grennel (my all time favorite writer) but I'm sure, as they do now, writers had articles that said the same basic thing in several publications.

462, thanks for noticing. The scale also is totally separated physically from the bench, so bumps and stresses from various loading operations don't cause the scale to oscillate. I originally built this bench in the basement of my parent's house and had the scale shelf on a concrete block wall, shot into the block with a powder actuated nail gun! I could have set off a nuke on the bench and not jostled the scale.

[44Vaquero]

Looks very nice, the stone block is a nice touch too. Good work!

[Wayne Smith]

I know it's a new bench, but it is waaay to clean!

[Patrick L]

No, its an old bench with a new top! I like it clean; I'm of the school that says you do better work in a clean orderly space. I know some disagree, but hey its a free country.

I'm fact, the one thing some people criticize about my bench is the fact that its so narrow, only 20 inches deep. I built it that way on purpose; its big enough to work on, but it forces me to keep it picked up.

[geargnasher]

You only need 11" of bench depth to mount a press and have plenty of room to work. Anything else is just storage and catch-all. That's why I'm an advocate of the shallow bench and lots of shelves.

Gear

[Patrick L]

+1 Gear! I agree, enough bench to work on but not turn into a storage space, and lots of shelves.

The pics of the new top don't show all the shelves above the bench. Here they are in an old pic

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Loading%20bench/GunStuff.jpg

And on the wall opposite, behind the bench

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb157/patrickl_01/Loading%20bench/GunStuff009.jpg

That large black thing the shotshell presses are resting on is actually a wooden cabinet that holds powder and primers, and all sorts of empty shotshell hulls on the shelves below.

[skeet1]

Patrick L,
Looks like you did a great job. Very nicely done.

Ken

[novalty]

Nice job! Looks great.

[izzyjoe]

wow, you have got you're stuff together! i built my bench deep and wide, and i have shevles at the back with sliding doors to keep the dust out. but if i ever build another one i'll remember this, yeh right, i'd better write i down now!