Reloading Bench question

[High Altitude]

Made some room in my office for a reloading bench.

How tall do you prefer the work surface to be? I was thinking about 38". I want it to be at a height that allows working while standing or sitting on a raised stool.

I am limited in space and access so the largest the bench can be is 46" wide x 28" deep. I am going to build some 12" deep shelving above it. I have seen some benches that have a cabinet with a door that lowers for their scales to rest on at eye height which looks pretty functional. I am going to try to build something likes this. The bench will have a shelf under it, probably about 18" deep so that I have some room under the bench for my legs/feet while sitting on a raised stool.

I will definitely mount the bench to the wall for stability and will be mounting a flourescent light above it for better lighting.

Any suggestions or tips? I am trying to keep it simple, but functional.

[Boxerglocker]

Depending on you height and desired loading position sitting or standing 38-44" is a good height.
Have look at the bench I bought from Harbor freight for the money though only 34" high (works great with a strong mount, my XL650 sheelplate is right at 46") it can't be beat. I paid about $122 on sale and know that I could no way buy the lumber for that price. Took about an hour to assemble.
http://glocktalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1335067

[WiskyT]

We have a tailor on this board who will take your measuremnts and know how high to make your bench, I'm not kidding.

I like to sit. I didn't know how high to make my bench, so I looked at my kitchen counter figured that must be right.

[sig357fan]

What ever position you want to reload in, mount the press so when the handle is all the way up, ram at it’s lowest point, the handle is at shoulder height, this way when operating the press, its done with just arm movement, no bending or stooping at the waist to get full motion of the press.

You also mentioned a shelf for the scale being at eye height, if you can make that shelf separate from the bench it will help in isolating the scale from vibration/movement caused by press operation.

sig357fan

[PCJim]

If it helps, I'm six foot tall and reload while sitting on a 30" (29 1/2" measured) bar stool with my left foot propped up on the bench's lower shelf (16" above the floor). The finished benchtop is 36 3/4" off the floor. This works for me with a 550b mounted directly to the benchtop, no strong mount.

[unclebob]

It all depends on how tall you are? What press are you using? Single stage press while standing about belt buckle height. Progress press it is best to first to get the press and then using books, wood, boxes etc. see what works best for you. You want the press handle to be about shoulder high and to be able to look inside the case for powder. You need to decide also what else you are going to be using the bench for. Well it work for that also. If not you can use the Dillon Strong mount or build a stand out of wood, metal etc. to get the height that you need. When you mount the press you want at least one foot of space on each side of the press. 18” or more is better. You also need to either bolt the table down or put enough weight on the bench where it will not move in any direction.