Bench Question

[Franco79]

Do you guys ever bolt or screw your reloading bench to the wall or floor?

What determines if a bench must be bolted down, a little wobble, a lot of wobble or does every bench get the bolt?

I currently have this bench (http://www.harborfreight.com/workbench-with-4-drawers-60-hardwood-69054.html). With the press and everything else on it, Im guessing it weighs about 250-300lbs.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Franco79

[Boxer1]

I did use some L shaped steel brackets to mount my bench to the studs in the wall to make it super sollid.

[Zoomy]

I did not think that it would make a big differance but after I bolted it aganst the wall it felt as if the press was running so much smoother. I also found less powder popping out of the brass when the press indexes. The added quietness made the whloe operation less tiring. It is like going from a worn out 20 year old car that rattles and wobbles to a tight new car. For best results bolt it high on the bench to counteract the pull away from the wall when cycling the handle. I used 5/16 inch aluminum angle with 2 elongated slots for 1/4 inch lag bolts screwed into the bottom of the bench top. I then used a 3/8 inch concrete anchor bolt to secure it to the basement wall. The elongated slots allow adjustment front to back and side to side. Use shims (plastic if available) and cut slots in them to clear the 3/8 inch concrete anchor and adjust for any out of vertical out of paralelism wth the wall.

To really make it sweet add heavy duty adjustable feet to tighten everything up.

Edited August 23, 2013 by Zoomy

[Poppa Bear]

Mine weights 400+ and is bolted to the steel supports in my basement. No wobble makes everything run smoother.

[Franco79]

Thx for the input guys. Guess ill attach a 2x4 to the bench and then secure it to the wall some how..

[cautery]

Neither of my two benches are mounted to the walls or floor, but they are heavy to begin with... modified NORMA plans. They also have a ton of weight on them. But the biggest reason they don't move is that I installed leveling "spikes" on the legs sort of like you do with big speakers or a sub-woofer so the vibrations won't allow them to move, et al.

I installed threaded inserts in the 4"x4" legs with counter-bores beneath them to clearance the 3/8" "spikes" in them. I put hex nuts on the bolts for use as leveling stops to keep the bolts from turning once set.

The legs now rest on the head of a 3/8" bolt... not a spike, but it works... it concentrates the entire weight of the bench on less than 2 square inches of contact space. And the bench tops are dead level to boot.

[tohm]

I had a small but heavy bench sitting on the floor when i was using a 550 for reloading, when i got the 650 and started loading i loaded a bunch of 40's didn't think much about it other than how cool a 650 is. When i went to the next shoot I had a LOT of no fires, high primers, hard to even see visually but enough it was like shooting with a single action army. I went home scratched my head and tried loading some I found the bench had a small gap to the wall on the corner where the 650 was mounted. Put a piece of shim in there no more shifting and no more bad experiences. Also learned to always check my rounds before going to a shoot! The new bench is monolithic to the basement wall it goes nowhere.

Good luck

[Blankenhole]

I made a work/loading bench myself and I have it set on 4" cast wheels that can lock. I find that usually just locking the front two work well enough that it doesn't move around too bad.

[Dukecola]

My last bench wobbled and I had to do that, my new bench was a kit I bought at cabellas, has wide plastic feet so it's so sturdy it doesn't move. It's on carpet so not sure if it was on tile or wood floors what it would do. I think benches will move less on carpet. Plus is helps when you have 10,000 bullets on the bottom shelf as ballast.

[gm iprod]

I have one free standing bench than runs 100Kg / 220lbs. Made from 36mm Triboard, painted, about 1600x600mm. Using triboard for legs and back support. It can be attached to the wall my use of a strip of the triboard 200mm wide screwed to the wall by the studs and then screw bench to edge of strip.

The fitted in bench uses the same material just attached to the wall by a strip of 6x2 bolted to studs and 4x3 fence posts for legs. Totally idiot proof.

[dtuns]

I had my Cousin weld me up a stand and bolted it to concrete floor in garage solid no movement.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

[Piney]

My bench is now fastened to the wall. I placed a 2x4 across the back of the bench's frame. I used lag bolts and fastened it to the wall studs (shhh-- don't tell the wife there are now holes in the wall !).

It made a noticeable difference in how the press, a 650, runs.

[Lee G]

Reloading benches don't have to be complicated or expensive to be rock solid. Mounting to studs is by far the most cost effective option. I made this one from scrap MDF and some left over birch. I used four 3" lag bolts to mount it to studs. The top is just 2 pieces of 3/4" MDF lamentated together. It has no flex at all.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d71/killer31/FAC407F4-27F4-456B-B03D-6FE9104D66BA-979-000002924A03DFC3.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d71/killer31/7E69BBC7-F3A1-4280-A3F4-36069DE0C83E-979-000002925FD4881E.jpg

You can see the large bench with the 1050 is bolted to the wall as well. I have no supports on the floor.

Edited September 8, 2013 by Lee G

[madworx]

Reloading benches don't have to be complicated or expensive to be rock solid. Mounting to studs is by far the most cost effective option. I made this one from scrap MDF and some left over birch. I used four 3" lag bolts to mount it to studs. The top is just 2 pieces of 3/4" MDF lamentated together. It has no flex at all.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d71/killer31/FAC407F4-27F4-456B-B03D-6FE9104D66BA-979-000002924A03DFC3.jpg

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d71/killer31/7E69BBC7-F3A1-4280-A3F4-36069DE0C83E-979-000002925FD4881E.jpg

You can see the large bench with the 1050 is bolted to the wall as well. I have no supports on the floor.

Wow nice simple design. Looks like it works perfectly!

[rgvwheeler]

I built mine and screwed it straight to the studs in the wall. It's really solid. I didn't care for the wobble of a free standing bench.