Workbench Review _Need to Pass This Along
It seems like the really good reports of practical, reasonably priced benches are few and far between. So many of us have been disappointed with commercially available products and their escalating costs that we have resorted to building our own benches even if it means not having it look as good as we would like.
Well here is a work bench that not only met my expectations but is totally 100% satisfactory in both packaging and assembly. It's the:
'Mobile Heavy-Duty Workbench' by Seville Classics, Inc. which I found for a young friend. He has been wanting to get set up for reloading but lacked the funds or skills to build a nice, sturdy reloading bench for himself.
Overview
This deluxe mobile workbench features a large, sturdy, hardwood work surface of 48" x 24". Its solid wood top is 1.5" thick, and the bench's total height is 61". This bench also includes two stainless steel drawers, a 24" x 48" mounted pegboard, and a 23-piece hook set. The entire unit moves on four, heavy-duty 3" locking casters, and the solid steel frame has a textured, powder-coat finish to match all the other Ultra HD products!
Specifications
# Deluxe mobile workbench features large, sturdy hardwood work surface of 48" x 24" Solid Wood Top: 1.5" Thick
# The total dimensions of this bench is 48" x 24" x 61" H
# This bench also has 2 Stainless Steel drawers, 24 x 48 mounted pegboard with 23 pc. assorted hook set
# Heavy-duty 3" locking casters
# The Solid Steel frame is textured powder-coat finish to match all the other Ultra HD products!
The outside packaging showed a little damage as can be expected from anything that makes the trip from China. My expectation were not good for the product inside. Surprise! The product was in excellent condition do to the planning and execution of the packaging. There was not one nick, dent or chip anywhere on any of the pieces. The drawback to this is that the Greenies would have a coronary over the amount of plastic and Styrofoam used to keep the product this nice.
The directions were clear, including some small drawings to augment the list of directions. Everything was included right down to the proper screwdriver and wrench needed to assemble the bench and the rubber drawer liners (incredible!). Drawer liners from Sears are extra for most of their benches and tool chests. The wood top was very nice looking and was coated with something like a poly finish of some sort on all sides including the bottom. The drawers have ball bearing glides and will support 40 lbs. each according to the brochure. The pegboard is metal and rigid and even came with an assortment of usable hooks.
The assembly went without any hitches whatsoever. The parts lined up, the holes lined up, the screws and bolts worked and it took just a tiny bit of attention to get it square in the beginning. The assembly time was just about 1 hour from opening the box and laying everything out to tightening the final screw. Some of this time could be eliminated but I wanted the young owner to have the satisfaction of doing most of the work himself.
This bench is good enough for even the advance reloaders to get for an addition work surface. The best part besides the quality and ease of assembly is the price: $129.95 + tax carried out to my car.
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=447793
We found this bench at Sam's Club but they might have other distribution options.
They also has the Seville Commercial Workbench which is shown on the same section of the website. It would be perfect for gunrooms and reloading areas.
Best.
Well here is a work bench that not only met my expectations but is totally 100% satisfactory in both packaging and assembly. It's the:
'Mobile Heavy-Duty Workbench' by Seville Classics, Inc. which I found for a young friend. He has been wanting to get set up for reloading but lacked the funds or skills to build a nice, sturdy reloading bench for himself.
Overview
This deluxe mobile workbench features a large, sturdy, hardwood work surface of 48" x 24". Its solid wood top is 1.5" thick, and the bench's total height is 61". This bench also includes two stainless steel drawers, a 24" x 48" mounted pegboard, and a 23-piece hook set. The entire unit moves on four, heavy-duty 3" locking casters, and the solid steel frame has a textured, powder-coat finish to match all the other Ultra HD products!
Specifications
# Deluxe mobile workbench features large, sturdy hardwood work surface of 48" x 24" Solid Wood Top: 1.5" Thick
# The total dimensions of this bench is 48" x 24" x 61" H
# This bench also has 2 Stainless Steel drawers, 24 x 48 mounted pegboard with 23 pc. assorted hook set
# Heavy-duty 3" locking casters
# The Solid Steel frame is textured powder-coat finish to match all the other Ultra HD products!
The outside packaging showed a little damage as can be expected from anything that makes the trip from China. My expectation were not good for the product inside. Surprise! The product was in excellent condition do to the planning and execution of the packaging. There was not one nick, dent or chip anywhere on any of the pieces. The drawback to this is that the Greenies would have a coronary over the amount of plastic and Styrofoam used to keep the product this nice.
The directions were clear, including some small drawings to augment the list of directions. Everything was included right down to the proper screwdriver and wrench needed to assemble the bench and the rubber drawer liners (incredible!). Drawer liners from Sears are extra for most of their benches and tool chests. The wood top was very nice looking and was coated with something like a poly finish of some sort on all sides including the bottom. The drawers have ball bearing glides and will support 40 lbs. each according to the brochure. The pegboard is metal and rigid and even came with an assortment of usable hooks.
The assembly went without any hitches whatsoever. The parts lined up, the holes lined up, the screws and bolts worked and it took just a tiny bit of attention to get it square in the beginning. The assembly time was just about 1 hour from opening the box and laying everything out to tightening the final screw. Some of this time could be eliminated but I wanted the young owner to have the satisfaction of doing most of the work himself.
This bench is good enough for even the advance reloaders to get for an addition work surface. The best part besides the quality and ease of assembly is the price: $129.95 + tax carried out to my car.
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=447793
We found this bench at Sam's Club but they might have other distribution options.
They also has the Seville Commercial Workbench which is shown on the same section of the website. It would be perfect for gunrooms and reloading areas.
Best.
0
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Thanks for the tip!
I was actually looking for something just like this, and was thinking, I'd have to go out an build my own, but not going to do it now!
Edit #1:
Just bought the thing and lugged the box home.
First impression: Wow. . .that's a heavy box. It weighs 100lbs if it weighs an ounce.
Second impression: PITA to fit inside a Mustang (but I managed to do it and drive home safely)!
I'll post more after I get it assembled, though it will probably take me a few days to get around to it.
Edit #2:
Took me a month to finally get to assembling it, here are my impressions afterwards:
I effectively agree with everything Nononsense said above. Unlike a lot of these put-together-yourself furniture things, the bench was quite easy to assemble. All the holes lined up with minimal effort and everything went together smoothly; really no problems at all.
Took me just over an hour to put it together all by myself. I used the opened box as an assembly surface to prevent scratching anything, and the box worked well for that purpose.
The package comes with all the tools you need to assemble it (just a double-ended wrench and long philips head screwdriver). I saved a little time and effort by using a power screwdriver, but you certainly don't need one. A skilled helper probably could have reduced the assembly time by a good bit.
Every single piece is individually wrapped and protected in the box, so everything was 100% when I put it together. No marks/dents/scratches anywhere.
Instructions were written in English (ONLY English), SIMPLE, and CLEAR. That's a plus. The pictures were pretty good too, and you could probably assemble the thing using just the pictures, if you had a little bit of common sense.
Parts themselves were clearly labelled, which is nice. Whole thing only used two kinds of fasteners (large bolts with washers, and philips head screws), which helped make assembly easy. The bolts and screws each fit into threaded receivers, so they went in easily and solidly. (No tapping of metal/wood, nothing stripped or stuck).
-Top is 1.5" thick heavy lacquered wood. Nice looking and should be plenty sturdy to mount stuff into.
-Drawers are kind of flimsy, but they go in and out smoothly, and considering the overall cost of the unit, just having them is a plus. Kit came with dark rubber liners to put in the drawers, which was a nice touch.
-When assembled it looks exactly like the picture above. What you see is what you get.
Actually, that's not entirely true. I don't think its depicted in the above picture, but in my package two of the enclosed metal pegs from the peg-kit have 4" long arms. So I put them near the top of the peg board and placed a board on top to create a nice shelf.
-Overall quality of the bench itself is good. The metal legs aren't super-thick, but they're solid and certainly good enough for working/reloading purposes.
-The wood top is held down by six bolts, and once assembled, its not going ANYWHERE. Pegboard is made out of perforated STEEL (not wood or plastic) and magnets stick to it.
-There is about 6"-8" overhang of the wood top on either side of the drawers. So there should be plenty of room to bolt stuff down on either side, leaving the center of the bench for working.
-Wheels make it easy to move around, but unfortunately gave it a tiny bit of wobble. Front two wheels do lock to keep it from moving, if you like.
I just threw a tiny piece of foam rubber under two of the wheels and that got rid of the wobble. Taking off the wheels is easy with the included wrench, and I may eventually do that to make it more solid.
In short, I'm pretty satisfied with this. It should make a decent reloading bench, and with a take-home price of under $150, I don't think you're going to beat it.
For those interested, there was a bigger non-mobile workbench by the same manufacturer at Sam's also. This one is bigger and stronger, but it also costs more, and lacks the drawers and pegboard.
http://www.samsclub.com/shopping/navigate.do?dest=5&item=3296010 -
Sears has a very nice bench not on rollers with four foot light, power strip, drawers larger than yours, and a full shelf on the bottom. The bench top wood section of the bench is particle board not hard to change, I have a Dillon 550 on it and it is stable not bolted down and the cost was one hundred dollars on sale.
Emmett0 -
Sams has a nice heavy duty bench but without drawers, backstop and casters for about $200.
I don't like casters on a HD workbench.0 -
quote:Originally posted by nononsense
...as can be expected from anything that makes the trip from China...
2X4's, 2X6's, and countertop I used for mine were made in the USA. I prefer to give those folks my business when I can, especially now when so many of them need work.
...and I could give a hoot if it has the likes of Toyota, Kia, Ford, or Chevrolet as a nameplate... what I want to know is WHERE was it built, US or somewhere else. Without jobs for American workers, we as a nation are sunk.
Edit; nononsense, I was not trying to be contentious with your original post either, but have been trying to get as many people involved with getting Americans back to work by making it part of everyone's mindset. US made is out there for a lot of things, you just have to look for it.(and I got the wood from a local mill and had too look hard for US made fasteners and adhesive to attach the countertop to the plywood top)0 -
V35,
I have several of the longer benches without the wheels from the same manufacturer. I use them as work surfaces in the vault and fitting room. I mentioned them in the original post as well because of the design. For those folks that have a problem with wheels, simply don't put them on. You have that choice since they don't come attached from the factory. Then find some good, adjustable levelers and bolt those on instead.
carbine100,
I'm honestly not trying to be contentious at all but you might want to check on the country of origin for those screws, bolts and 2x4's. Lots of fasteners are coming in from China now and lots of construction 2x4's, 2x6's, etc. are coming in from Canada. There's been tons of discussion and news articles written on the trade agreements for wood supplied to us by Canada.
Best.0 -
Instead of 2x's which are only 1.5x's keep your eyes open around some construction sites using the new wood composite 'I' beam systems. The rim boards used on the perimeter or something else are like super thick plywood a full 2" thick and usually found a minumum of 14" wide .vs. 11.5"max for dimensional lumber. If your lucky you'll find a 4' scrape piece from 18"-22" construction that will make a one piece top. 0 -
Won't one of your drawers be blocked from opening when you bolt a press down to the bench? 0 -
Chris8161,
Not if you use the end or corner for the press and the rest of the front for scales, dispenser and such.
Best.0 -
Going to check Sears/Home Depot (no membership card required to purchase)...see if they have [the item by name] in their inventory. If not under lockdown, I'll post my findings on this string as an amendment to this post. Best, Joe 0 -
beantownshootah,
I'm glad you found the time to assemble the work table. I'm also glad that yours was as I described the one I helped with.
The Seville Commercial Benches are real assets in two areas I have them in now. They are equally well made and easy to assemble but they come without the wheels. They can be fitted flush to walls with base boards or other obstructions by shifting the top position. I have 6 of them bolted in place in the vault and the final fitting room where they are in near continual use. I use intermediate 4 drawer tool boxes bolted underneath the tops to control the tools required for fitting and final assembly. These can be found at any Sears or other store which carries tool box stacks. These don't have hinged lids or wheels...
Enjoy the bench!
Best.0
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