Busted handloading bench

[Guest]

I have a little dilemma. My handloading bench cracked. Well, the oak plank in the top, where the press is mounted, cracked. I think it's directly related to my house being dried out after a leaky water pipe made a mess of the upstairs. Anyway, I like the bench, and am thinking it will be waaaay cheaper to repair it than to replace it. Anyway, the crack runs along the wood top, directly with the grain across where the two mounting holes are drilled for the press. I don't want to relocate the press along the bench, as I don't really have a better location. Here's a picture of the bench:

Now, what I'm thinking is that I can simply cut a piece to fit underneath the cracked area, with some overlap to shore it up, and then add an additional layer of board on top of the bench (spanning the full width of the top to keep it even and level) it should be sturdy enough for handloading operations. The question is, am I thinking correctly, first off, and second off, what would you use for the boards? I'm thinking something like 3/4" plywood or maybe 1x12 boards - but what wood? I'm not a carpenter by any stretch of the imagination, so I appreciate any help on this.

 

[SJB358]

Dubyam, I would rip your oak plank right down the crack. Get rid of the cracked piece of material. Get some good clamps and some Titebond and glue to the two matched pieces back together. You will get a stronger seam. If you still want more strength, add two pieces of plywood top and bottom, and glue everything with tight bond and clamp the heck out of it. You will have a really strong bench, that will not likely ever crack. You would probably be fine, just ripping and glueing the Oak back together. For plywood, you could get by using about any good contractor grade plywood. Scotty

 

[Guest]

Only trouble with trying to rip it is that I can't get it out of the bench top without destroying the whole bench. This is a woodworking bench I adapted for handloading use, and it has an oak top made of 4x8" planks of oak, all glued together, inside an outer frame of the oak sides. I appreciate the tips on the ply. I'm thinking if I sandwich it between plywood (or some sort of board) I'll achieve the strength I want, and end up with a very durable surface. I thought about laying a formica layer over it for looks, but I think I'll just stain it to match and then put some heavy polyurethane over it to keep the solvent damage to a minimum.

 

[JD338]

I agree with beretzs, rip it and glue it. I think I would go with additional oak over plywood for both strength and appearance.

The other option might be to remove the top and rotate it 180* and reattach.

JD338

 

[Guest]

I appreciate the input. I think the picture isn't clear enough, though. The idea of ripping it and gluing it is a good one, for sure, but would require disassembly of the entire top (which came as a pre-formed unit when I bought the bench) and I'm afraid would exceed the cost of a replacement bench. Flipping it 180deg won't work, either, as you can just barely see there is a trough at the back (for wood shavings, complete with a ramp to scoop them up, no less). I've discovered that all my plastic ammo boxes fit nicely into this trough, though, so it's made a great place to store them, handy for filling when loading up new ammo. If I can't get the top apart (which I'm just uncomfortable with, due to a lack of skills and tools), could I just sandwich it? I'm thinking I could use oak-faced plywood and keep the look, maybe, though that's slightly more expensive. Keep the ideas coming!

 

[C.Smith]

Why don't you got and get some metal plates that are large enough to span the cracks top and bottom, bolt them together with the wood on in between and then mount your press on that. That should evenly spread the forces your press will make. I believe RCBS even makes a metal plate like that.

Sandwiching plywood with glue and clamps will also work. I would use 3/4 inch at least. Get oak or birch as they are stronger than other plywood.

Corey

 

[old #7]

How about a 1/4 inch steel plate with welded studs to mount your press on.
Something like a 8x8 inch plate with a 2x12 inch plate welded to the edge of iit to create a L shape. Bolt the plate to the top of your bench and on the edge where the 2x12 piece is pre drill and run some long lag screws into the edge.
You can also force some glue into the crack before you tighten up the lag screws.
I have a small metal fab shop and would be happy to make one for you, at cost, if you lack the equipment. It would probably cost around 20 for the plate and I think it would fit in a $10 flat rate box.
like this

 

[Guest]

Man, old #7, that's a very generous offer. I think it would work, but I'd want to back the plate with a flat piece underneath to keep the relatively thin (.75") wood top from flexing around the crack or cracking again. I'll take a look at things, but it might be that an angled top piece and a flat bottom piece with nuts welded on (or longer studs) would work, and be a bit beefier. It would also ensure against future cracks, unless I start trying to swage steel or something crazy like that. I'll PM you on the measurements if you think you could make it up easily enough. My metalworking skills are pretty nil - I can drill holes and I've been known to bend some sheet metal with pliers, a hammer, and a wood block, but the results are less than 'custom metalwork' when I'm done, for sure.

Thank you again for the generous offer. I suspect it will be the last repair necessary on this bench, ever, as far as press mounting goes.

 

[old #7]

No problem.

 

[Guest]

Sandwitching plywood would work especially if you were to put some glue under it to attach your "bread" to your "meat". Old # 7's suggestion is a good one also. The metal plate spreads the pressure over a large area.
The main thing is to distribute the force created when using the press. A reloading press puts unbelievable pressure on the boards it is attached to because your press handle creates leverage which adds to the pressure the press exerts to the small area of the table it is attached to. My press has cracked the 1.35" (finished measurement) oak counter top that was made in a cabinet shop many years ago. It was made by ripping 2"oak boards into 2" x 2" strips and glueing them together. The glue seem underneath the press is coming apart. Because of this I don't think ripping and reglueing the crack will do the job. Sandwitching it with plywood would. The plywood would distribute the pressure over a large area. What would you do with the edges if you did this tough? The edges of plywood are rough and would create splinters. Bad for your hands and clothing rubbing it. Pine boards will split much easier than hardwood ones.
It would be best to use oak for any reloading table.

 

[old #7]

I dissagree about the oak.
I was a cabinet maker years ago and that stuff splits easily.
1 1/8" plywood does not split.

 

[SJB358]

For the Plywood, if you went with birch faced plywood and glued them top and bottom with clamps you would have a great work area. I think Old#7's is the best idea. The metal plate, once bolted down would create a great platform for the press.

Odd, My Forster is just bolted to the top of a piece of 3/4 Marine Grade that is my bench top. I really don't feel much force being exerted on the bench face. Maybe the press puts pressure on the face differently, than say a Rockchucker. Scotty

 

[jtoews80]

Perhaps install dowels from the front with glue and then glue and clamp the crack, followed by installing the metal press mount with a bottom plate and or just two pieces of flatiron after it dries for a couple days.

JT.

 

[Ol` Joe]

Can you repair the crack by injecting epoxy and useing a couple deck screws or other long screws driven from the outer edge as a "clamp"? After the glue dries you can remove the screw and plug the hole it left.
A new top board like the plywood you are concidering would finish it off when done.

 

[baltz526]

I think your over engineering the repair. Gorilla glue! take some cedar shims and spread the crack, just enough to get the glue to flow into it. follow directions on bottle, lightly dampen wood before glueing. once you work glue into crack, very well. remove shims and clamp with woodworkers clamps. should use 4 clamps, 2 top 2 bottom. this joint will never fail if glued correctly. to reinforce high stress area of press, two 1/2" hardwood dowels inserted in top and glued will do the job.

 

[C.Smith]

Hey I thought over engineering was the american way. Kind of like how we spent millions designing a pen that would write in space, and the Russians sent pencils.

Corey