I thought some of you might be interested in this. The attached photos show how I have incorporated a quick change base to my reloading presses. I use a Lee single stage press to handle decapping & sizing my brass (I use slightly undersized match sizing dies from the US) and then a factory crimp on my completed pistol rounds. I use a Dillon Square Deal B for the actual pistol ammo reloading.
Photo 1 shows the basic base set up:
Each base is made up of two layers of old 3/4 inch plywood, solidly glued together using Gorilla Glue. Glue the pieces together and then trim the piece to size.
Use your press or tool as a template to mark the hole on the top of the base, drill the holes through to the bottom, and then counter bore the bottom to take the heads of the bolts and still allow the base to sit flat on the bench. Photo 2 shows details of the built up base and Photo 3 shows the underside's counter bores:
Make up a base for each tool you want to mount. One of these days I intend to make a base for each of my workshop's power tools too.
Mark and drill through holes to mount the base to the top of the bench. I measured and drilled holes so they were about 1-1/2 inch in from each corner. Drill down through the bench top and make the holes large enough for 1/4 inch bolts to easily slide all the way through. Use your first base as a template to mark your following bases.
Install 1/4 inch T-Nuts in the bottom of your bench to take the bolts. See Photos 3 and 4:
Now here is my secret weapon. A cheap speed driver from Princess Auto and the right size socket means I can remove one tool and install another in just about 45 seconds flat. The speed driver is more than enough to tighten the base down for use.
Now I made and used the bases before I went out and purchased the speed driver. Consequently the holes/bolts at the front edge are too close to the actual presses to allow quick spinning of the bolts. I have to tilt the driver slightly to clear the presses. If I had to do it again, I'd make the base about 2 inches wider and I'd move my mounting holes outward away from the press.
Here's a photo of my SDB installed with its own base:
When no tool is installed, the underlying bench is clear with only a few small insignificant holes. Ignore the pattern of three holes in the bench around the 11-3/4 to 14-1/2 inch marks. They are left over from my first attempt to develop a removable base - they're no longer needed now that I use the extra thick base with the counter-bores in the bottom.
I hope this might be useful for anyone who wants a quick way to change bench presses. I can easily switch from one press to another in less than a minute. My next challenge is to build some sort of wall mounted shelf system to secure the presses when they're not on the bench being used. With a press installed, each unit is quite front heavy and if you just set them on a shelf they'll fall forward. I think I'll try to rig some sort of slot or clip in the back of the shelves I have. If anyone's interested, I'll let you know how that works out.
As it is, the total cost of this works out to around $5.00 for the speed driver, perhaps $2.00 for the bolts, washers and T-Nuts, and some scrap 3/4 Ply and some Gorilla Glue I had lying around. I squared my bases up on my table say but any good circular saw will do the job.
Any questions or comments are welcome.
Cheers from the right coast.
Photo 1 shows the basic base set up:
Each base is made up of two layers of old 3/4 inch plywood, solidly glued together using Gorilla Glue. Glue the pieces together and then trim the piece to size.
Use your press or tool as a template to mark the hole on the top of the base, drill the holes through to the bottom, and then counter bore the bottom to take the heads of the bolts and still allow the base to sit flat on the bench. Photo 2 shows details of the built up base and Photo 3 shows the underside's counter bores:
Make up a base for each tool you want to mount. One of these days I intend to make a base for each of my workshop's power tools too.
Mark and drill through holes to mount the base to the top of the bench. I measured and drilled holes so they were about 1-1/2 inch in from each corner. Drill down through the bench top and make the holes large enough for 1/4 inch bolts to easily slide all the way through. Use your first base as a template to mark your following bases.
Install 1/4 inch T-Nuts in the bottom of your bench to take the bolts. See Photos 3 and 4:
Now here is my secret weapon. A cheap speed driver from Princess Auto and the right size socket means I can remove one tool and install another in just about 45 seconds flat. The speed driver is more than enough to tighten the base down for use.
Now I made and used the bases before I went out and purchased the speed driver. Consequently the holes/bolts at the front edge are too close to the actual presses to allow quick spinning of the bolts. I have to tilt the driver slightly to clear the presses. If I had to do it again, I'd make the base about 2 inches wider and I'd move my mounting holes outward away from the press.
Here's a photo of my SDB installed with its own base:
When no tool is installed, the underlying bench is clear with only a few small insignificant holes. Ignore the pattern of three holes in the bench around the 11-3/4 to 14-1/2 inch marks. They are left over from my first attempt to develop a removable base - they're no longer needed now that I use the extra thick base with the counter-bores in the bottom.
I hope this might be useful for anyone who wants a quick way to change bench presses. I can easily switch from one press to another in less than a minute. My next challenge is to build some sort of wall mounted shelf system to secure the presses when they're not on the bench being used. With a press installed, each unit is quite front heavy and if you just set them on a shelf they'll fall forward. I think I'll try to rig some sort of slot or clip in the back of the shelves I have. If anyone's interested, I'll let you know how that works out.
As it is, the total cost of this works out to around $5.00 for the speed driver, perhaps $2.00 for the bolts, washers and T-Nuts, and some scrap 3/4 Ply and some Gorilla Glue I had lying around. I squared my bases up on my table say but any good circular saw will do the job.
Any questions or comments are welcome.
Cheers from the right coast.
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