I’m lucky enough to have a great set up. I work on my own guns as well as those of many friends. I’m a firm believer in “whatever works for you is best.” Necessity drives creativity. Good luck my friend.

 

Good luck. I just got in a nearly $400 order of 1911 tools from Brownell's. It came in a box smaller than a pair of shoes and weighed a lot less too. Luckily, I talked myself out of buying the expensive stuff. I could probably fit the whole order in a jacket pocket.

My gunsmithing "benches" are a couple of tables I bought at a state surplus property auction. One is about 4'x5' with a drawer and big square metal legs, like something you'd find in a school lab, and the other is a rolling metal cart with built in electrical outlets. Cost me less than $10 each.

 

What is your work space like or storage space for the table? i.e. workspace is a garage or the living room and storage is the garage or a hall closet

 

Workspace is multiple places in home that already have a given purpose- living room, dining table, outdoor patio table.
Storage is a shed and/or garage that are already quite full.

 

The problem with a vice on a lightweight table is just about anything you want to do with the vice, the table will move. Even drifting the rear sight on a pistol with a clamp on vice will move just about any table that you're going to be able to pick up and store away somewhere.

If you could do a folding workbench that is attached on one side to a garage wall, that would be stable enough for when you need a vice. You could use just about anything else for work (kitchen table, folding table) that doesn't need that level of stability. I have a foam mat (like a large mouse pad) that I lay down on a desk for most of the stuff I want to do while watching TV.

Here's a link to one version of the folding workbench http://www.ana-white.com/2014/08/folding-garage-workbench

 

This bench to also be used for reloading.

 

My general repair bench does it all, but mostly car small parts work. And there is usually a couple of projects on it waiting for me to get to. If there is nothing on it and it's cleaned off I feel I have no reason to keep on living, don't want to kick off with stuff in pieces as it may never get back together again

 

Kitchen table and a Shop Fox suction vise. Or get a Harbor Freight workbench and ditch some other piece of furniture to fit it in.

Jeff

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Well, I'm still thinking about my bench setup....what size vise is necessary for the majority of amateur gunsmithing?
Also, would a cast vise hold up for this task, or should I go to a forged vise.

 

Depends on what you want to do. A good size is a five inches bench vise. Cast is fine. Look at flea markets and garage sales for bargains.

But a lot of work can be done with smaller vices. You're likely not bending bolt handles or removing barrels in an apartment.

Jeff

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This is only a test........

 

Depends on what you want to do. A good size is a five inches bench vise. Cast is fine. Look at flea markets and garage sales for bargains.

But a lot of work can be done with smaller vices. You're likely not bending bolt handles or removing barrels in an apartment.

Jeff

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Actually part of this is to be able to do full maintenance on an AR15 - barrel removal and install. And, in all honesty, I'm not sure what 40 Pounds of torque feels like.

 

Buy a torque wrench to fit your armorer's tool. Beyond that, you don't need a special vise for an AR. Anything that can hold a set of AR blocks in place will work. A basic 5" or 6" mechanics vise is perfect.

Jeff

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I have a 4” mounted on a bench I built with 2x6’s and screwed to the wall in the garage. Doubles as all projects bench. Use this vice all the time with soft rubber jaws to work on guns. It works perfect to hold the block that fits in the mag well on the AR’s.

Took flat rubber truck mud flaps and covered the bench top so I can pull push or even pound on the bench top and nothing gets scratched or dented from the bench surface.

 

........Took flat rubber truck mud flaps and covered the bench top so I can pull push or even pound on the bench top and nothing gets scratched or dented from the bench surface.

What are the dimensions of your mud flaps???

 

I don’t remember but they were pretty big and real cheap. Like $25 for three of them.
The bench top is 24” deep and 6’ long and I had to cut them off at 24”. I think they were 34” or 36” wide. I had to look at 2-3 truck supply places to find flaps that were big and smooth. The ones with ridges or names written on them might work if they have a smooth side. I got the idea from a buddy that had a big piece of rubber convert belt from a coal mine on his bench top.

 

My reloading setup was totally mobile until recently.
I made a base for my press from some scrap metal. Its basically a 4" high, 4" deep rectangle about 6" - 8" long. Has a flat base across the entire bottom that extends 4 ush inches past the rectangle. Press is bolted to the base. The base got clamped to whatever free counter i had.

Will try and find pics.

 

 

Looks like your setup is pretty nice. I would struggle without a solid bench. I hate stuff that shakes or wiggles as the tools and equipment on the table seem to end up on the floor.

 

First pic i found. Was the coffee table at an apartment i used to live in.

Have my own gun room now. The tables/benches are pretty solid. But my press is still clamped on

 

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