What wood to use for portable reloading bench?

[300WMAficionado]

Hey guys. I have a Black and Decker Workmate 425 that I will be converting to do reloading. I live in an apartment where space is limited so I went this route. Problem is, I don't know anything about wood or wood prices haha. Cutting/sanding/glueing/fastening isn't going to be an issue since my dad will be helping me with that part. The big question is what wood to use? I will need a 4'x8'x3/4" sheet that will further be cut to make sides, back, and top and of course bottom. I really would like to get hard maple but I've called Lowe's and Home Depot and all they have is laminate stuff which I'd like to steer away from. Any opinions guys? What wood would you use? Will be mounting a Redding Big Boss Press if that helps.

 

[TheOtherZilla]

I buy a piece of cheap counter top.. HD has some stuff for cheap..

 

[watercam]

What is good about better laminates is that they are straight and warp free. Try 3/4" Birch plywood from a better lumber yard. I would think a 4'x4' piece would do the trick on a small top unit as you are talking about. It can be stained most any color to your preference. Also, in Sinclair's catalog they have a portable, free standing press stand that works well. It may or may not be of interest to you. It is meant to be taken to the range to load their but if space is limited it may do the trick for a while.

 

[JPat]

What I used for my apartment size reloading bench was a cut down butcher block table top from an old table someone threw in a dumpster. I then mounted it on a 70's style end table built out of 2"x 4" pine.

Jim

 

[bheadboy]

3/4 " birch plywood, HD or Lowes, seal with poly and you ar home free

on the top where the press will clamp, double it to 1 1/2" glue/screw the two toghether

Bob

 

[TheOtherZilla]

Back in the day when I had no place to reload, I used the kitchen table.. I mounted my press and powder measure using "C" clamps..

 

[dennisinaz]

I have bought 3 1/8" glu-lam beams that were in the bone pile, cut them to length and glued them together to get the width I wanted. you will need a planer, jointer and belt sander to do the job right. Makes an awesome bench.

I would not use hardwood unless it is going to stay in a climate controlled environment. If you choose hardwood, Oak or Alder are very stout and suitable woods. Both are very easy to source and most lumber yards that sell trim material.

 

[BoydAllen]

I think that you will find that 3/4" birch plywood will work fine, and look good when a clear finish is applied. Post a picture of your finished project.

 

[300WMAficionado]

Hey guys and thanks for posting. I've been studying for finals so I've been a little wrapped up with college. I will definitely post pictures on here when I get it all done. I'll post befure-during-after pictures when I get it all done. My last final is Friday 13th haha! So give me like 2 weeks after that and be looking for the new thread. I think I will go with the laminated stuff since it's better at different temps and humidity. I'm thinking Birch after reading everyones comments. Once again, thanks you guys!

 

[300WMAficionado]

Reloading/Work bench is done guys! It took a couple of days (allowing polyurethane to dry between coats). Dad helped me out. He had some spare 3/4" plywood he let me use. The only problem we had was with the sides. We kept getting a gap between the sides and back, even after screws and glue! But we got it knocked out. We did NOT do any modifications to the workbench itself. We just essentially made a drop-in top with a piece of wood underneath to allow the workbench to clamp to it. To prevent it from popping out, we screwed 2 pieces of steel underneath that are slightly longer than the gap while the bench is tightened. After sanding the "work top area" I sprayed 4 coats of Deft clear gloss lacquer and then with vinyl gloves and a rag applied 3-4 coats of Miniwax fast drying clear gloss polyurethane (used 220 grit sandpaper and lightly sanded between coats). It came out really nice! I have a lot more pictures but I cant put them all on here at once. If you want some more pics let me know and I will email them to you.