Portable Reloading Bench–Free Plans
Here’s a great do-it-yourself project for the winter. Texan Robert Lewis made himself a great portable reloading bench from plywood mounted to a Black & Decker Workmate. The bench, roughly 22″ x 19″ on top, folds up to fit easily in your car’s trunk or behind the seats in a pick-up truck cab. Four recessed bolts hold the wood top section to the collapsible B&D Workmate.The sides and back of the unit are attached to the base with small nails. There is a small shelf (also nailed in place) which can be used to clamp a powder measure or hold a scale. Shown in the photo is a Harrell’s Benchrest measure and Harrell’s single-stage “C” press.
The whole unit can be built for about $65.00 with pine, or $80.00 with oak (as shown). Robert explained: “The Workmate was $40. If someone bought a 2’x4′ sheet of 3/4″ oak plywood, I think it is around $30. Using pine plywood would be about half that. Fasteners were $3. Spar Urethane would be $5.”
Robert told us: “I used a couple ideas I found on the web. The Larry Willis website gave me the idea to use the Black and Decker Workmate as a base. I found the Workmate on sale for $40 and the top is made from oak plywood I had in my shop. I sealed the wood with three coats of Spar Urethane. The whole thing folds into a nice package for transportation to and from the range.” Click Here to view a set of plans.
Thank you for your article on making reloading bench. I went right to work after seeing the pic and plans, Works very well and makes a strong base for the press. Sure walks all over the wooden folding dinner tray I was setting up each time to go to the range. Thanks again Lonnie
looks great. iam interested in building this and looked for the B&D workmate but couldnt find one. can you point me in a direction to get one of these B&D Workmates?
Looks good but I have a question. How do the nails/screws hold when going into the side of the plywood? In the past I have had issues with the screws not holding well and the plywood separating.
Thanks.
BTW, I got my Workmate from Ace Hardware. They had two models on display in the tool section.
Sure am glad I ran across this website. I was considering using my workmate as a bench, but hadn’t figure out all the details yet. This is exactly what I was looking for. Many thanks to Mr. Lewis for sharing these plans!
I have one major drawback to this bench, it disappears on me. My sons saw it and I don’t get to see it very often. I’m currently making a second one to hide. I found the B&D bases at thrift stores for about $5.00 each. (Why by new?)
Looks great! My only question is – whether this setup is sturdy enough to support Dillon RL-550B press?
Sweet bench! Combine that bench with the Lee bench plate and you have a very compact bench that takes 30 seconds to set up.
I had some leftover countertop for a project that fit pretty well on my Workmate. I added the second shelf with some 3/4″ plywood and screws. The whole thing is held in the vice on the Workmate with a 2×4 screwed to the bottom of the countertop. It is very solid, and the 1 1/2″ countertop adds a lot of ballast to the press. I could have dado cut for the upper shelf for more strength, but it is only holding small tools.
Thanks very much for the idea!
Great plan. As winter set in here I couldn’t find a reasonable way to sit in sub-freezing temperatures, where my press is today. I have that bench and am going to use the design. My wife just couldn’t understand why the dining room table was getting measured of holes. That simply wont work.
The plans I downloaded seem to have been cut off a bit on the right and some words are missing. Can you email the instructions to me? It is for my husband. Thank you.