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Thread: The AR-15/M4 Workbench Info/Picture Thread

  1. #21
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    Does the vise have to be the kind that bolts onto the table or can it be one that clamps on? I would like to try to get into building and working on my own rifles also, but I would like to get the tools without having to spend a fortune. For example, Robb has that great thread on tools needed to work on an AR, but is all of that needed or can the more "amateur" of us get away with a more bare bones setup? Thanks for all your guys input, this thread has been helpful.

  2. #22
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    Today was wicked productive. Did an MDF tabletop, since all the plywood I saw was bowed, warped, and just fugly/nasty. Painted the tabletop. Mounted the tabletop. Found some sort of "oops" piece of rubberised matting at Lowe's in the flooring section when I went to pick up the screws for the mounting. The mat is similiar to an Army sleeping pad, but more rubbery. In short, perfect as a base for working on long guns. It's textured, as well, so no rolling parts/pins/etc.

    Best of all my dad hooked me up with an old Craftsman vice, randomly at about 10 o'clock this evening. I was smoking a cigarette in his garage, and..."WTF is this in the corner, in a box of scrap wood"?



    Tomorrow's project is refinishing it. Tonight I wire brushed it and prepped it for painting.

  3. #23
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    That should be a solid vise.

    I bought a house from a real estate agent. My basement room was her one time office, so it's kinda girly looking and light blue. (She had this pastel blue and pink thing going throughout the house, luckily my wife is a wiz with paint and brush) When we were moving in I put all my shit in there and have since just started working around it, just too much to move out. I got a workbench kit from Menards and mounted a Wilton 8" multi-vise to it and a flex work light. I bought rubbermaid shelving for my non-heavy stuff and put up some banners to cover some of the gay colors up. Ammo and heavy shit sit on the floor and make funny indentations in the carpet. Safes are pushed to the corners. I run a dehumidifier year round.

    I really need to get some pix up, too funny. My wife calls the room disgusting and says, "I think you have a problem". I put a "No girls allowed sign on the door. She was not amused.
    S/F

    Al

    "Hold on to your hate, it helps you stay focused"

  4. #24
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    I think my upper block is from Bushmaster. It has a Stanley cabinet hinge on the bottom.

    I had to hog out one end with the dremel with I first got it because it wouldn't let me install a Larue locking collar, and I've used the hell out of it since then without issue, until I went to work on an 9mm upper and didn't want to take the dustcover & brass deflector off. I have something similar to this now for the 9mm uppers.

  5. #25
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    I am going to be using a formica counter top for my bench. Lowes has 6 foot lengths for $40. We use formica for assembly fixtures at work. It holds up really well and can take some abuse.

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by rob_s View Post
    Standing in front of the bench, facing it, I have mine on the far right corner, all the way at the front. I used to have my reloading press mounted on the opposite, left-hand, corner.
    Is there a minimum amount of space from the edge the vice should be mounted if one were torqueing barrels?

  7. #27
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    You guys are trying to make mounting a vise into brain surgery.
    The only thing you need to consider when mounting ANY bench vise, is CLEARANCE.
    If you have a swiveling base vise (and you SHOULD), then you definitely want to mount the vise on a CORNER of the benchtop, since it will need to have clearance on BOTH the side AND the END of your bench top.
    Just make sure your work (what you are clamping in the vise), and the vise handle itself have CLEARANCE. It's that simple.
    "ROLL RIGHT SNIPER!"

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by uwe1 View Post
    Is there a minimum amount of space from the edge the vice should be mounted if one were torqueing barrels?
    A question I need answered as well. I probably won't mount mine for a week to let the paint cure.

    While we're on questions, what sort of work lights are you guys sportin'?

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Razorhunter View Post
    You guys are trying to make mounting a vise into brain surgery.
    The only thing you need to consider when mounting ANY bench vise, is CLEARANCE.
    If you have a swiveling base vise (and you SHOULD), then you definitely want to mount the vise on a CORNER of the benchtop, since it will need to have clearance on BOTH the side AND the END of your bench top.
    Just make sure your work (what you are clamping in the vise), and the vise handle itself have CLEARANCE. It's that simple.
    Haha, razorhunter, I am a relatively tool ignorant, white collar worker who has only gotten into firearms for 15-16 months. It's fair to say that I am complicating the issue way more than it needs to be. My gun workspace is currently my walkin master closet.

    I am debating if I want to set up in my garage as the summers here are scorching hot. I don't currently have a spare room in the house either so I'm just trying to get a good idea of what I will need when I finally get my shit together.

  10. #30
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    Pics, or it's all fish-stories:

    Tabletop/G26/World's Cheapest 'Smith Mat:



    Vice:


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