my multipurpose bench

edojan

CGN Regular
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I have finally finished my bench. It took me a while because I wanted a multi-purpose place where I could do all my activities such as gun tinkering / smithing / reloading / cleaning.
And because the space was limited the bench needed to be highly configurable.
Here is the list of requirements I had (from my memory)

  1. To be located inside the house (and not in the garage / shed etc.)
  2. Heavy enough to support reloading presses / vises / tumblers and even a mini mill (if I decide to bite the bullet and buy one)
  3. Tall enough to stand when working with a heavy vise
  4. High chair to sit for longer reloading sessions etc.
  5. Lots of light (my eyes are not as good as they used to be)
  6. Electrical outlets on the table level
  7. Access to garage wet / dry vacuum cleaner (to keep it nice)
  8. Access to a small compressor (I had one and it was not being used)
  9. Access to reloading components and supplies
  10. Access to gunsmithing / cleaning tools and instruments
  11. Able to change the setup with relative ease (move things around on the fly)


The bench top measures 106"x 40"and sits under the stairs in the basement. I have decided on a wider size to make room for the instrument storage and parts storage cabinets that sit on top.
The bench is constructed from 2x4s screw laminate (two halves each 20" wide attached to the base)

Two sets of heavy duty T-track rails take a regular 1/4 bolt in the slot.
All devices are mounted to birch plywood plates (two layers of 1/2 plywood " laminated together)

The curved staircase's was a challenge to mount the lights on so I had to get creative and attach the LED fixtures to a 1/4" plywood and then hang them from the curved ceiling.

Here are some pics.













 
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If I can make one suggestion on your very fine setup...forget about the Mini Mill (or lathe as well) on that bench with all your "fine re-loading/ smithing" tools. Machine tools "big or small" spread mill-scale and rust dust from the first cut on most any steel, and cuttings,chips of varying size virtually go everywhere no matter how hard you try to be "careful" with them. Keeping/cleaning them totally out of your other tooling you have invested in will be virtually impossible.
 
If I can make one suggestion on your very fine setup...forget about the Mini Mill (or lathe as well) on that bench with all your "fine re-loading/ smithing" tools. Machine tools "big or small" spread mill-scale and rust dust from the first cut on most any steel, and cuttings,chips of varying size virtually go everywhere no matter how hard you try to be "careful" with them. Keeping/cleaning them totally out of your other tooling you have invested in will be virtually impossible.

Thanks for the advice. I have never thought about this. I should try finding a different place for the mill
 
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