1. Pick up phone.
2. Dial local lumber yard.
3. Order a 2' wide x 4" thick Glu-Lam beam of the desire length. It's about $20/foot.

Discovered this recently in designing a gun/loading room for a friend.

WOW never thought of that.

Not here you don't. Maybe in Washington.

For my reloading bench, I built the 8' bench with 6 4x4 legs and 2x4 framework with a 3/4" plywood shelf and a 3/4" plywood top covered with a solid piece of formica countertop from Homedepot's unused rack of tops that were ordered wrong (-$100). I also put some 3/16" finished plywood around the sides and back. It has the backsplash that keeps anything from rolling off. It is he11 for stout. Love it

Or have your logger cut a big pine he wasn't suppose to take to a mill have them cut it into big slabs dry for decades then build your bench

I have an entire kitchen worth of granite in my basement from when the previous owner redid the main kitchen. I've been toying around with overlaying my bench in granite and framing out the rest of the "L" for the granite. I figured it'd make a really nice cleaning station. Just trying to figure out how to drill through it to mount my presses.

i want a bench that will automatically grab and collect spring, detents pins etc as they fly away due to gremlin like forces

quote:

Originally posted by FFemtRN5287:
I have an entire kitchen worth of granite in my basement from when the previous owner redid the main kitchen. I've been toying around with overlaying my bench in granite and framing out the rest of the "L" for the granite. I figured it'd make a really nice cleaning station. Just trying to figure out how to drill through it to mount my presses.

Nice idea!
I would get a bit (same as what the granite top installers use) for $40 and drill that top for your press. It is a diamond tooth "hole saw" or call the granite installers and ask them how much to have one of their guys swing by and drill the hole, better yet find a granite guy and offer him cash and beer to drop by on his way home for 10 minutes of work.

I built my benches out of 4"x4" legs, 2x4 frame, plywood shelves and a formica top salvaged from kitchen remodels.

A used solid core door from the re-store works pretty well for the price. Some scrap steel and a few bags of concrete is pretty stout and cost effective as well:

The last bench I bought was a government surplus lab bench. It came pre-wired for electrical outlets and an MDF top that is 1-/12 inch thick. The best $200 I have ever spent.

Butch,

get the magnetic top model...

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Butch,

get the magnetic top model...

Well shouldn't be to hard to make if you have a steel top.

Just get a couple of good size magnets and rub the top with them should make it some what magnetic.

Mine are built from old Bowling lanes....thick good quality Maple and they were dirt cheap off of Craig's list.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
Butch,

get the magnetic top model...

The type that's encased in a dust proof, transparent globe big enough for bench and user. That way springs, parts and pins roll to the south pole as soon as they hit the walls.

Yeah, I need one of those!

quote:

The last bench I bought was a government surplus lab bench. It came pre-wired for electrical outlets and an MDF top that is 1-/12 inch thick. The best $200 I have ever spent.

My work threw away about 100' of those a few years ago. Metal base cabinets with some sort of black stone like, chemical resistant tops. IT was had to watch it going in the dumpster.

I bought a few 3'X5' pieces of 1/2" thick plastic at the Habitat for Humanity store for $1 a piece.
Someone donated a big water tank and it was dirty so they cut it up.
I plan on doing a benchtop with it as long as it screws down flat. I think it will.
Should be super durable. That stuff is like delrin or a nylon cutting board.

I'm designing a gun/loading room for a friend and he wanted a purty, solid 10' long bench. The Glu-Lam approach will do that at a fair price and a hell of a lot less time than gluing one up and having it sanded on a door sander.

Set up a router with a fence and mill a .25" groove that's .125" deep all the way around the bench to catch anything that might want to roll off.

You can also find Corian counter tops on Craigslist. Pricing is all over the place but I have gotten some really good deals. About to make a workbench for someone else with a piece that is 6" long and has a rounded edge all around...unless she decides she wants the 8' commercial door.