Moving into my parents old home after a full remodel. Will have a 20x20’ basement area for reloading. I need a new bench.

Suggestions?

Benches with cupboards all around.

These serve for any light work.

L shaped steel frame bench with 2 inch wood top.

This is for any heavy duty work like presses etc.

This is what we have, and are very happy with it.

Paul,
You are a sucker for basement finishes! Seems like you are always working on one...

I built my benches out of 4"x4"'s with shelves below, kitchen cabinets above some of the benches and work bins above others and topped them all with kitchen counter top material.
For the presses I bolt through the counter top and through the 4x4 framing, very solid.
Lighting is the most important of all and lately I lean to track lighting and under cabinet lights.
Good luck on the present basement.

+1 on the 2 inch top and steel legs. You can get maple tops from Grainger. That's what mine has. You can drill it and bolt things down with lags or get creative with a clamp type mounting set up or drill through and bolt through.
Mine has a variety of holes in it so I can move equipment around as needed.
Drawers under the bench are not very useful because anything that hangs below the bench top interferes with the drawers. I have a few small cabinets under mine (I think they were originally night stands) which allows some storage underneath but doesn't interfere with the presses or anything.
A self above the bench to put your powder scale at eye level is handy.

The bench and cabinets in my shop are maxed out.

2x4, 4x4 construction skinned over with 1/2" plywood

The worktop is two pcs of 3/4" plywood with a pc of masonite on top.

Thanks, Posted this then drove back to CO

My current bench is a cheap cabinet with a Formica top. Yep the press etc make the top drawers useless. Since it isn't heavy nor tied to wall I really twist it when I size 416 bullets to 410.

Since this is my last move!!! Heavy it will be. Love the blue trays.

Ted
Did you paint everything gray?

Steve.........

1. I got two metal benches from Lowes that have 3 drawers and a shelf.
2. I made 2X4 frames to put under the bottom shelf as it's not made originally for heavy loads. With that modification I can load it up with several hundred pounds if I like.
3. I made a table top by cutting 1 inch plywood to appropriate size and gluing/screwing two pieces together giving me 2 inch plywood. The top is 2.5 feet wide and 12 feet long.

It's not too fancy but gives me a lot of room and is sturdy.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve E.:
Ted
Did you paint everything gray?

Steve.........

Textured tan paint with multi color specs on all my bench equipment.

Obviously it depends on your budget and what you like or want. Personally, I like to sit when I load, so my setup is something like a sturdy desk with shelves on the back and the balance to the side on its own little table.

Sometimes places like the re-store will have solid core doors. These are usually ok as a table top, or you can glue a second-hand formica counter top to one and make a pretty sturdy setup. Butcher block or re-purposed rail car floors and such would be pretty nice too. I saw some bowling alley lanes on craigslist before and thought those would make a nice bench too.

It looks good, I like it.

Steve.........

Bowling alley lanes are made of rock maple, it is very hard to saw it eats carbide blades. We tried to make some workbenchs from this material at work and had lots of problems.

My room is 20' long w/ benches along both sides wall to wall.Also upper cabinets + a seperate shelf to hold all the set up cart. specific tool heads for my XL 650.That being said,it's still too small.When one has numerous presses,every die set under the sun + components out the axx,one runs out of room in a hurry.If I had it to do again I would at least double my size.Let us not forget the additional floor space required for the vibratory tumbler + brass/media seperator,etc.

I like the option of working at my bench either standing or sitting, so I made it "bar" height (about 44") and use a rolling bar stool when I wish to sit.

The top is made from a half-sheet of 3/4" oak veneer plywood (8' x 2') layered on top of two thicknesses of 3/4" MDF for stiffness. The end panels are made from the other half of the oak plywood sheet and support the forward edge of the top quite sturdily.

The top is mounted on two 42" tall oak upper (12" deep) cabinets, with a 30" section in the middle to make a handy storage shelf for items used frequently. Using 12" deep upper cabinets instead of 24" deep lower cabinets creates an ample knee space underneath the top when sitting on the stool to work.

The upper cabinets match the lowers and provide lots of storage space for tools and components. I built-in a filing cabinet at the end of the bench. Used filing cabinets are give-aways in this digital age and provide outstanding space for storing ammunition, components, or records.

I found that using ready-built cabinets for my structural components was very little more expensive and much faster than constructing some less satisfactory superstructure. The oak cabinets came from a commercial cabinet supply and were builder bring-backs which had minor marks or scuffs, making them very economical. The big box home stores will also have fairly economical unfinished oak cabinets which would serve the same purpose.

Under-cabinet LED lights on the uppers, along with overhead aimable track lights, provide excellent illumination.

I've been exceedingly happy with this arrangement.

+1 regarding bench height that allows working whether seated or standing, I have a swivel bar stool for times I prefer to work seated. For lighting I have LED lights mounted to my presses and recessed LED lighting in the ceiling overhead.

I made one of my benches out of a stainless food service prep table ($20 on craigslist)with two layers of 3/4" plywood layered and masonite siliconed to the top. All coated with Varithane clear polyurethane sealant.
The table is a little wobbly so used some conduit brackets to secure the bench to the wall.

I also added a molding corner rail to the benchtop edges that keeps things from rolling off.



Another thing I did is drill holes in the edge for the shellholder, die and trimmer allen wrenches. As you can clearly see, I managed to keep one of them located anyway!

My reloading room is small - even tiny by comparison with most here I guess. A room of about 10ft X 10ft.

This is my set up for presses -


I copied the set up of a friend about 22 years ago and this has moved 6 houses. The real advantage of this set up is that the unwieldy press with lever handle etc is tucked away in one corner and it does not get in the way of stuff on the bench.

I just cringe when I see pictures of reloading benches with press on one side and cases with powder on the other. I wonder how many times people bump their arms or knock stuff around because of presses on the same bench.

My storage is mostly reclaimed Rimu (beautiful NZ hard wood) cabinets, desk / drawers etc from an old house I remodeled 20 years ago. I also have a triple locker room cabinet and long shelving up high for gun cases.

Ugly as hell but very functional. Only complaint is that I keep knocking my head on a shelf corner near the press, particularly if I have to lean over and pick up something I dropped!