Gun Builders Bench

[TGJaeger]

Well, thinking I have time between now and spring yard work, to do some stuff in the gun room. First and foremost is the construction of a proper gun builders bench. Anyone care to share some pics or plans for one you really like? Dimensions would be most helpful. Things you particurlarly like or wish you’d done differently.
Thank you for your help in advance!!

 

[Jim Evans]

I put a bench together with 2 carpenter vice ,it is 62 wide, 30 deep and 36 high. Its nothing fancy, but it works for me.

 

[rocullen]

Ideas.

 

[Phil Coffins]

Mine is 8’ long and put the vises at elbow height. A vice base that swivels is most useful. The cabinet under it contains a couple of hundred pounds of bullets to hold it steady. And lots of lights!
IMG_0463 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr
IMG_0464 by Oliver Sudden, on Flickr

 

[TGJaeger]

Gentlemen, Thank you for your help! Phil, might I inquire as to where you obtained that swivel vice? Looks to be a very useful item!

 

[Phil Coffins]

They’re available from Wilton, this one is a “ Powrarm 301-1” and has served me well well for nearly 50 years. The vice is Wilton that I removed the base and bolted to the swivel.

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

My current three benches are at 31" high, putting my vise top at 41". Really great for stand-up working, you can get your shoulders behind a saw, chisel, or file.
BUT (there is almost always a "but", and sometimes even a "butt" where work benches are concerned!), with the damage to my spine and leg nerves, it is becoming more and more difficult to work in a standing position. Just can't do it for more than 15 minutes at a time. With a 30-minute sit-down in between.

That ain't no way to run a railroad. My next bench, which I am hoping to build next week, will be about 25" tall, putting my vises at about 35". That way, I think I will be able to work longer periods. I hope, anyway!
At least I am not yet in a wheelchair yet. The VA does provide great electric wheelchairs now. I think if I had one, I would try to put tracks on it for going to the woods for hunting.

 

[TGJaeger]

Wildcat,
Thank you for the ideas! I had to do the sitting thing to my reloading bench for unmentionables. I could no longer stand to work at the bench during long sessions. Neuropathy in the feet due to a back injury and surgery. So I just built a “sitting bench“to do that chore. I love your idea of the tracked wheel chair!
A good blind and spotting scope and a fella’ could spend a rather pleasant day in the field without worrying about mobility.

 

[Codger Craig Wilcox]

Quite welcome. When I was working (wetlands and wildlife biologist), I would sometimes spend several weeks alone in the "wilderness", so when my past caught up to me and I could no longer work in the field, I kept trying to design something to enable me to once again tread in places where others had not gone before me. At least not many!
We are Americans, therefore we have inherent "Yankee Ingenuity", meaning the ability to adapt things to suit ourselves. OK, most of us are Americans. I know we have some UK citizens here, and many from other nations. So, as gun nuts, we have the ability to adapt things to suit ourselves. Change the height of the work area. Put rollers on your seat. Improve the lighting.
And I did the same reloading for many, many years. If he hasn't tossed it all out, my son has a nice set-up with about 120 different dies.

 

[bptactical]

Every bench I have built is basically the same-4x4 legs bolstered by 2x6 framework at the top and 6 inches off the floor on the lower side.
I use an exterior solid core door covered with 3/4” particle board top for the worktop. Polyurethane the particle board so liquids don’t affect it.
The one I built this last year I found a door at Home Depot that had damage on one side. They charged me $10.00 for it.

 

[rocullen]

Every bench I have built is basically the same-4x4 legs bolstered by 2x6 framework at the top and 6 inches off the floor on the lower side.
I use an exterior solid core door covered with 3/4” particle board top for the worktop. Polyurethane the particle board so liquids don’t affect it.
The one I built this last year I found a door at Home Depot that had damage on one side. They charged me $10.00 for it.

that's a good price, but that 3/4 particle board gonna cost ya these days. ~$75

 

[Davey Boy]

I wouldn't buy particle board at any price. I don't do oriented strand board either.

More private lumber mils available now than in 25 years. I will buy from them first.

 

[TGJaeger]

that's a good price, but that 3/4 particle board gonna cost ya these days. ~$75

Gentlemen,
Thank you for your help! bptactical , btw love the handle, that is a good idea about using the door. I doubt that any of the lumberyards or home improvement stores have any returns right now. They are selling their trash for a substantial mark up over new price. I picked up a dozen studs the other day, out of the “select bin”, at $6.00 per, and they were junk! 75% of the bin wasn’t even usable!
Go Joe! (Straight to H***)

 

[bptactical]

I wouldn't buy particle board at any price. I don't do oriented strand board either.

I won’t do OSB as well- it is horrible.

After a couple of coats of polyurethane the particle board is hard as nails and produces a very “dead” (no bounce) work surface.

 

[billraby]

My work bench is 7 feet long and 1 foot wide. Nice thing about a long skinny workbench in the middle of the room is that you can work from both sides of it.

 

[rocullen]

I wouldn't buy particle board at any price. I don't do oriented strand board either.

More private lumber mils available now than in 25 years. I will buy from them first.

I used to use it.....to make target hangers. Too expensive to shoot it up now!

 

[Sidney Smith]

Mine is just my work table that was built by the previous owner of my house and left there when we bought it. It's 8 feet long by about 28 inches deep, has 3 drawers on either side for tools. The guy was a hobbyist carpenter. I replaced the top as it was pretty beat up. It had a carpenters vice that I padded the jaws to, and I also added a 5 inch iron vice to the end of it for the tough jobs.

 

[Davey Boy]

My work bench is 7 feet long and 1 foot wide. Nice thing about a long skinny workbench in the middle of the room is that you can work from both sides of it.

I saw your new workshop on Rumble.

I laugh at myself when I think of a one foot wide bench in my shop. After I pile my workbench high with stuff there's no room to work on anything. It's embarrassing. I generally work in a space on the big bench about a foot square. When it is time to really do a job I do a massive cleanup. It's like bailing out a boat with a leak.

But your approach for your working bench space is perfect!

 

[billraby]

I try to keep only the tools that I am using on the workbench. The long skinny workbench really works great. Problem is that you need a lot more space for it to have room to move around it on both sides.

 

[TGJaeger]

Gentlemen,
Thank you for your suggestions!
I know what you mean about the bench becoming a catch-all for junk i Use on daily basis but am too lazy to put back in the proper place. I am going to hang a small tool chest under the bench so that most of the small tools needed for stock work, checkering, etc. will be kept there and not floating around from place to place. I have a small toolbox sitting right beside my recliner, right now. I’m sure that something I’d have needed recently is buried in there. I am hopeful with a better bench and a proper tool location I can get organized. And, more productive….?