B&D Workmate 225 or 425?

[NorCal Einstein]

I'm going to start making my way into reloading in the next few months, but I need to make a portable, low space setup since I'm constrained to my apartment.

From what I see the Black & Decker WorkMate workbenches are pretty popular platforms to build a reloading station with. The press that I had in mind to purchase would be the Lee 4 Hole Turret, and I'm wondering if there are any real benefits to getting the Workmate 425 over the 225?

Most of the reloading setups I've seen utilize the 225, but I was kind of curious why no one uses the 425. Wouldn't the heftier workbench create a more stable setup? Or is there some major fault/flaw that makes the 425 not do-able for a reloading station.

Is the 425 worth it over the 225 even? I'm broke as a joke after ordering my Les Baer, so if I can save a few bucks with the 225 workbench, I"ll go with that.

Thanks!

[WRENCHHEAD]

i use both. the 425's mounting arms are wider apart than the 225's

425 in the front, both the WM's have homemade tops on them.


heres what they look like opened up, both have the option of having fully extending the 4 legs or leaving them folded for a shorter table.

[NorCal Einstein]

Thanks a lot for posting those pictures. I might have a line on a 425 for about $60 if everything goes right.

Am I right to say that your tops are (2) 3/4" sheets with a 3rd smaller piece in the front to provide a thicker area to bolt down the press to? What kind of wood did you use?

[WRENCHHEAD]

Yup, its 3/4in hard wood ply from home depot. Not the regular 4x8 sheets. And yea what ever is left from cutting i use as a third layer

[Gryff]

I actually built my reloading bench on top of a Workmate (Dillon XL650 setup for 9mm). I find that I have to focus more on "smooth" than "fast" to compensate for the reduced stability, but it is working great now.

I'll try to post pics when I can, but this is the thread that explains how I built the top for the Workmate.

http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=284951

[NorCal Einstein]

This is what I ended up building. I think I screwed up a little bit and mounted the press too close to the center of the table though, I think ideally it needs to be shifted right more. With the current press position, I have to sit to the far left side of the bench so that I can have full range of movement with the arm and not have it hit my leg or the chair. It hurts me to have to drill 2 more holes and patch them up

[klewan]

Something else to try; cut a piece of 3/4" plywood about 6x12. Fasten the press to it with bolts and T-nuts. C-clamp the whole thing to the bench. That gets it out of the way or you can adjust it where you want.

It also helps to have something to support the front edge of the bench. I use a 3/4" pipe and a sliding wood clamp and a pipe flange on the floor. I keep about 250# of lead and bullets on the bottom shelf of my bench to keep some pressure on the pipe. Your setup, I would get a 2x4 with a 12x12 foot on it and jam that under the table.

Is that a Proto Professional combination wrench on the table?

[mls204]

Kind of an old thread, not sure why this was ressurected but since I'm here...here's my 225 setup. It worked so well when I was living in an apartment that I'm having a hard time justifying the effort of building a full sized workbench now that I have the room

[NorCal Einstein]

Something else to try; cut a piece of 3/4" plywood about 6x12. Fasten the press to it with bolts and T-nuts. C-clamp the whole thing to the bench. That gets it out of the way or you can adjust it where you want.

It also helps to have something to support the front edge of the bench. I use a 3/4" pipe and a sliding wood clamp and a pipe flange on the floor. I keep about 250# of lead and bullets on the bottom shelf of my bench to keep some pressure on the pipe. Your setup, I would get a 2x4 with a 12x12 foot on it and jam that under the table.

Is that a Proto Professional combination wrench on the table?

I like that idea of mounting the press on another piece of wood and then clamping that to the table. I'll probably be ready to turn out rounds next weekend and if the positioning isn't right for me then I'll try this.

I'm not sure what you mean by "I would get a 2x4 with a 12x12 foot on it and jam that under the table.". Can you elaborate on that some more?

And no, that's not a Proto wrench, it's a cheap *** set from Harbor Freight.

[klewan]

Take a 2x4 that is about the same length as the distance from the floor to the underside of the bench. Take the square of plywood and attach that to the bottom of the 2x4. Looks like upside down "T", stick it under the table. Cut the 2x4 to adjust the length so it slightly pushes up, maybe 1/4" preload.

[NorCal Einstein]

Take a 2x4 that is about the same length as the distance from the floor to the underside of the bench. Take the square of plywood and attach that to the bottom of the 2x4. Looks like upside down "T", stick it under the table. Cut the 2x4 to adjust the length so it slightly pushes up, maybe 1/4" preload.

Thanks for clarifying that, makes sense now! I'll probably give this idea some consideration this weekend once I get the chance to make some rounds and see how much flex/instability there is.

[insik]

If you havent bought the workmate and you want it cheaper, you can get the work bench from harbor freight for $12 and change the top from homedepot or lowes.

heres mine:

http://www.dprx.com/insik/images/reloading_bench1.jpg

http://www.dprx.com/insik/images/reloading_bench2.jpg