Building a new reloading bench - With Pics

[Michael in California]

I don't think the flush plate has to. The overhang is to accommodate the attach nuts. If you provide oversized holes for the thumb nuts, I think you would be fine.

For your thick bench top, I would probably make extended nuts to ease attachment.

[dreyna14]

I personally would have liked to have mounted the T-track on my loading bench but was in somewhat of a hurry. I personally wouldn't use T-track for the press but for smaller things like trimmers, powder measures, etc., it would be very useful. Right now I'm using clamps to hold those items to the bench.

[mikeyr]

I am using t-track for my press, but I have only loaded about 1,500 308Win rounds on it so far and its holding up just fine. I was worried about it when i did it but it seems to be good to go so far. I only use my single state for rifle, I have the Dillon 650 on its own stand but I am going to put the Dillon SDB on the t-track this weekend after having the single state, I think it will be fine.

[Yerman]

Can anyone else vouch for the strength of the t-track for something like an XL650 on a Dillon Stand that would be mounted to a piece of wood that would then be secured to the t-track?

I didn't think about strength.

Does anyone make a steel t-track?

EDIT - I think I found the answer to my own question. Fast forward to 1:00 in this video. That thing moves a lot!

I think I will just stick to bolting it to my table like it was before.

[joefrank64k]

Another vote for Masonite or Formica/laminate for the top layer. Tough as sh*t, easy cleanup, easy install.

Nice job all the way around, OP. Thanks for sharing.

[drkphibr]

I personally would have liked to have mounted the T-track on my loading bench but was in somewhat of a hurry. I personally wouldn't use T-track for the press but for smaller things like trimmers, powder measures, etc., it would be very useful. Right now I'm using clamps to hold those items to the bench.

I agree with this approach.

I installed T-track years ago for smaller items on my bench or items that would not be subject to leverage/flexing such as a mini-saw for cutting down brass, drill press vise for builds, powder measure mobility, etc.

I also like what Dan @ Inline Fabrication has done with his flush mount system and interchangeable or custom plates. The combination of the IF flush mount system and T-track are a great compliment to each other. The IF gear is solid and extremely well made. Love the flexibility and ability to instantly swap out just about anything. I've had a number of custom mounts made and they make the system even better.

I've seen too many T-Track implementations were the person is making rather large/awkward (e.g., where in the heck can you store that - and I use IF storage plates for keeping unused presses/other well organized and accessible) mounting plates and there seems to be quite a bit of flex, something hard to completely eliminate with any mounting system. There is always a trade off.

[Yerman]

Post 3 has the latest set of pictures. I painted the bottom half, finished the clear coat on the top, installed lighting above the bench, routed power to the bench to power the two power strips I mounted, mounted my 650, my Rock Chucker, and my vise.

Only thing left is to zip ties and route all the power under the bench, router the center section to install the t-track I ordered, fill up the cupboards above the bench, and clean up my garage. I will finish this weekend.

[Lead Waster]

On my bench, I installed T-track, but side to side. Mostly because the front of the table has a rounded profile. But I think front to back may make more sense for presses. Sliding in from the side means you have to maybe slide out some things, depending on where you want them. However, the cool thing about T-track is that you can just use T-track holddowns, don't really need to go through a hole in a board if you don't want to.

[Yerman]

Ya...I am probably going from left to right. I already mounted my presses directly to the bench.

I just don't want a bunch of holes in my bench for all my different parts i.e. case trimmer, super swage, RCBS powder drop, etc.

[jrw1911]

Very impressive. I'll copy some of your ideas also but I'm sure my finish product will not hold a candle to yours. Thanks for the photos.