Suggestions for 'in a rented condo' reloading bench

Talljoe said:
Just down sized to a rented condo. I have pretty good amount of spare space, but can't build anything permanent. I have a Square Deal B in 38 ppl,, and a Hornady 'Lock and Load'. for 9x19 primarily, but occasional other calibres. No rifle reloading except pistol calibres.

Bench has to be solid enough not to jiggle around too much.

Lot's of steel frame benches on Amazon, but I wonder if they would jiggle about too much.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Thanks

TJ
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I have a small folding work bench from canadoan tire when I was living in an apartment. It worked well. You can also find old solod wood desks on fb marketplace. Vintage real solod wood furniture is strong.
 
IronCanadian said:
Used a Black and Decker Workmate for years with a single stage rcbs press.
Reinforce the place your going to mount the press, scrap of 3/4" plywood works great.

Increase the table top with another piece of plywood.

Uses c clamps to mount powder dispensers , case trimmers.

Small foot print , can be folded.


This is what I did, found an old wood countertop scrap at the Habitat Reuse store and bolted it to the top to reinforce. This also allowed me to drill holes and bolt the press to the top without altering the workmate.
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Good idea, I use the B&D workmate to hole my vise. Cheers
 
Since close to 20 years, I use this from Ikea, very sturdy with wheels on one side.
Attached to it is a RCBS Rock Chucker, a powder hopper a case trimmer etc...
Easy to wheel into your locker when not in use.
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Here’s what I use
It’s an old steel framed portable vice stand that my dad made years ago
I have both my presses on it and can sit on the couch and load ammo all day long lol
 

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Keep ahead on your bullet stock by several boxes (heavy!) and stack them behind the press. That'll hold the bench down, and then the bench is still light enough to move without that load.
 
Another vote for the Workmate benches. When I was in an apartment I made a small tabletop out of two layers of 3/4-inch plywood laminated together. Mounted my press and other gadgets on that, and had a "keel" on the bottom that allowed me to clamp it into the Workmate. The idea was to be able to take it apart quickly and store it in as little space as possible.

Never worked out that way. I used it so much that it ended up just living permanently set up in my kitchen! But, dang it, I knew I could take it apart if I wanted to! :)
 
257hunter said:
I have the same workbench in my loading room. And the steel topped version for my annealer. I’ve found it plenty solid, it comes as a flat pack so easy enough to get in and build where you want it.
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Workmate bench, 3/4" plywood, C Cl;amps. Used for over 10yrs , through undergrad,grad school, no problems, multiple moves, multiple Provinces. No problemo.
 
My usual advise is to mount the press to a piece of lumber like a 2x6. Glue some shelf liner or something to the bottom of the lumber, and then you can use some C-Clamps to hold it to any convenient surface like a desk or kitchen table. Then break it down and stow it in a rubbermaid bin somewhere when you're not using it.

Depends what kind of reloading you're doing. I got a lot of mileage out of my lee hand press, doing several steps on the couch in front of the TV. The bench press is really only needed for heavy sizing operations; other steps like priming and seating work just fine with a hand press.
 
Make sure all the interesting gear disappears into innocuous boxes when you're not actively reloading, in case of curious visitors. The bench itself can become a table or a generic workbench.
 
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