Bench Top

Tony

Active Member
If you were setting up an all new casting and reloading room what would use for your bench top? Has anyone ever considered the epoxy counter tops used on lab equipment?
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
I use rubber sheeting that comes in 4 ft by about 200 ft rolls. Hard, smooth, impervious to chemicals and the heat of molten lead. Easy to clean, doesn't ding up. Don't know how long it lasts, it's only been there for about 25 years so far. I have it on the floor also.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
My loading bench is a double thickness of 3/4 in B/C plywood. I then filled the screw holes, sanded it, and painted it with garage floor paint. It has discolored over 10-12 years but hasn't peeled or bubbled. Not bad considering it is exposed to oil and bore solvent all the time.
My casting bench is bare plywood. I considered a sheet of 1/4" Masonite but decided it was as an extra expense that wasn't needed.
 

Tony

Active Member
Rick,
Do you recall who made the rubber sheeting and if it's still available?
Brad,
My current, too small bench has the same top. I've also considered covering it with Masonite.

My small bench will likely become a gun cleaning and repair station.
 

Tom

Well-Known Member
My last bench was the fibre board that looked like fine sawdust pressed into sheets. I gave it two coats of polyurethane and it was a nice smooth surface. My current bench was a floppy bench made from 2x6. I covered it with 3/8" plywood and put in angle braces every 2'. It's solid now and serves me just fine.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Casting bench is 2x12 yellow pine on a 2x4 frame with braces every foot, topped with half-inch sheet rock. The paper turns brown when hot lead spills on it but it is pretty much fire proof. Loading benches are just the yellow pine, glued and screwed to the same sort of frame to keep the boards from cupping. Gun cleaning bench is a piece of prefab particle board/formica with bullnose and backsplash, well braced. The trick to reducing flex with wood benches is lots of bracing and GLUE.
 

Intheshop

Banned
Take out kitchen....mid 1980's?Customergot cherry in,freeby maple take out.Which happens A LOT.What made these interesting was they have that mid 60's,chemistry lab look.And honestly are perfect for a dedicated loading rm.

Top is 2x8 SYP with 1/4" masonite.Shot down with black,evenly spaced DW screws.Matching upper cabinets.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
the loading bench in my garage matches my kitchen counters.
exactly matches.
the one in the reloading room is doubled over melamine.
but the single stage presses in there are underplayed with another strip of 1/2" pine.. and another strip of 2"x4" along the front edge.
this allows the press to cam over under the 2x4 which provides a nice backer to the press body to push against so they don't leverage so much on the lag bolts driven down into the 2x6 frame.
 

Str8shot426

Member
I built my loading room top out of 2x8's. picnic table style. Then overlaid 3/4" plywood to tie it all together. Topped it off with snap together laminate flooring and a solid pine edge. Very sturdy and relatively inexpensive.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
Tony, I did some looking around online for the rubber I used but didn't find it. I bought mine from a flooring store in Los Angeles. Can't remember the correct name for it. I'll look around some more, I know they still make the stuff.
 

Tony

Active Member
Thanks Rick. I plan to do an online search and check out Lowes and Home Depot. It did not occur to me to look at flooring stores but now I know.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Mine is 2x4s glued and nailed together wide to wide, makes it 3 5/8" thick solid wood. Heavy but really solid.

4x4 legs lag bolted on.

Bill
 

Tony

Active Member
I've done a bit of noodling online and the product offering is much more extensive than I would have thought. Thicknesses can be had from 1/8" to 1" or so. Several types of rubber are available: EPDM, Natural Gum, Neoprene, Nitrile, Recycled, Silicone, others? Apparently this stuff is popular for gym/exercise room flooring. I also found two retailers within 2 miles of me that sell rubber flooring.
I wonder if there are any problems associated with having a compressible material between my presses and bench top.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
The stuff I use is about 1/16 thick and not compressible. It's also ridged on one side and smooth on the other. That I'm aware of it's used a lot as floor runners in hallways, at doors etc. There is also quite a temp range available that it can withstand. I became aware of this stuff at work where they use it over temporary cables laid out over walkways etc to avoid a trip hazard. I'll look some more to see what I can find. Also I was wrong in my first post on this, it's 3 foot wide not 4 and I think it came in 80 foot rolls.
.
 

Rick

Moderator
Staff member
This is the place I bought mine from in Hollywood, CA. I did not see it listed on this web page but they only have a few products listed, the place is pretty big. Perhaps a phone call to them would shed some light on the proper name of the stuff. Also don't know if they ship but maybe. I didn't buy a full roll, they roll out as much as you need and cut it off the roll and sell by the foot.

Linoleum City
.
 

Ian

Notorious member
Craftsman used to offer a "rubber" garage mat that had a pattern of slightly grippy, dime-sized circles on it, and it was only about 1/8" thick and not very compressible. I've seen similar stuff colored light grey glued to concrete floor entry areas of hospitals and schools. That stuff would be great for a bench cover if put down with contact cement.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
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That's the stand I made fer the lnl ap. It consists of a worn out Buick rotor, a peice of scrap tube, angles, & plate. The top is a peice of scrap counter top cut off & reused. It's clearly a mess at the moment. Lots o' work- no time. To top it off I'm waiting on a small warranty part for the case feeder so, it's down & out.

The single stage bench was setup temporary and is 2 pcs of 3/4 plywood over a 2''x4" frame.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
That's a mess? Ha, mine looks like that when cleaned up.
I bet it is solid with the pipe like that. I noticed the press is bolted directly to the flange on the top of the pipe, nicely done.
My bench is on top of some cabinet lower I purchased. They are screwed to a 2x4 on the back. The counter top is screwed to the cabinets and the 2x4. I screwed down one layer of 3/4" plywood. A second layer was then glued and screwed to the top layer with joints staggered. The knee hole where the press is mounted has a 2x4 frame around it. One cross member is directly under the rear of the press.
I gave it 3 coats of garage floor paint. After better than 12 years the paint has yellowed but no damage from years of exposure to oil and solvent.
 

GaryN

Active Member
There is a product made for weight room floors that is about 1/2 inch thick. I can't remember who makes it. The last time I priced it about five years ago it was $2.25 a sq. ft. It comes in five foot wide rolls. It is about the consistency of a tire. Very tough stuff. I have it on my benches. You can literally take a hammer and beat as hard as you want. It won't hurt a thing. I have layed it in weight rooms and in a golf store. I do floor coverings.
 

John

Active Member
I cast on an old student desk with two sink cutouts screwed to the top. I then cover it with cardboard that gets changed out when it is too warn. I have never had it do more than scorch when a hot mold is set on it or if sprues land there.