The Gun Counter

Long story short: building a new workbench to replace my old one since it's shakier than a epileptic junkie on the San Andreas Fault. Gonna mount my Lee Classic Cast Turret Press and a vise to it. The plan is simple enough: two 36x72" boxes made of 2x4, 6 4x4 legs, and lockable caster wheels to move the bench out of the way when I need to open up a shooting lane in my pellet gun/hockey range. I'm putting two sheets of 3/4" plywood on the top box for the main surface and one sheet of 2/4" plywood on the bottom box as a storage space. The current plan is to not have any overhang on the top layer of the box, the bench surface will be flush with the sides of the box. My questions are these: should I have some overhang wherever I mount the press and just mount it to the tabletop? How much should I have, then? Would it noticeably damage the strength of the table if I drilled down through the plywood sheets and the wood of the box itself to run long mounting bolts through it?

I normally don't do this kind of stuff (very long, boring, and often-heard story about Dad and his ability to ruin fun and education by forcing himself into every aspect of a how-to project goes here) so I thought I might ask the woodworkers here before setting out on this project.

So: leave a lip or drill down through a short side of the box and mount it through that way?

Sounds like a fun project. Woodbutchery is not my thing, but as far as mounting a reloading press goes, I would suggest figuring out how sturdy you think the bench/base/mounting needs to be, then double that... big bolts, nuts and washers *through* the mounting surface are essential (much better than screws *into* it), and put metal sheet between the bottom of the press and any wood surface, so it can't bite in.

Photos, we love photos!

https://inlinefabrication.com/collectio ... sic-turret

/thread

If you mount a vise, be sure to put it on a corner, and have it overhang enough so the inside jaw face is slightly outside the edge of the table.

Ive previously posted on what i think is the best setup - butcherblock top with tslots, square tube frame, high enough so you can put 3 roller cabinets underneath.

For the top, I would screw / bolt the lower ply section to the 2x4 frame and glue and screw (from the bottom) the top layer of ply to that layer. I would have a slight overhang (1 inch) to allow for some stand off of the press and ease of the parts moving. Also, I would be tempted to mount the press on its own piece of ply and develop a mounting system so I could hot swap items as needed.

That could be as simple as a 1 sq foot piece of ply with 4 bolt holes. Then any other piece would be mounted on a similar board. or mount in that tracking stuff.

HTRN wrote:Ive previously posted on what i think is the best setup - butcherblock top with tslots, square tube frame, high enough so you can put 3 roller cabinets underneath.

And do that for under $200?

Denis wrote:Sounds like a fun project. Woodbutchery is not my thing, but as far as mounting a reloading press goes, I would suggest figuring out how sturdy you think the bench/base/mounting needs to be, then double that... big bolts, nuts and washers *through* the mounting surface are essential (much better than screws *into* it), and put metal sheet between the bottom of the press and any wood surface, so it can't bite in.

Photos, we love photos!

There will be quite a few bolts to make it easier to break down, as I'm taking it with me if I should ever move out of my current house.

SoupOrMan wrote:

HTRN wrote:Ive previously posted on what i think is the best setup - butcherblock top with tslots, square tube frame, high enough so you can put 3 roller cabinets underneath.

And do that for under $200?

Good, fast or cheap, pick one.

HTRN wrote:Ive previously posted on what i think is the best setup - butcherblock top with tslots, square tube frame, high enough so you can put 3 roller cabinets underneath.

How about a link for the hard of thinking, please?