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Posted: 3/21/2015 9:44:25 AM EDT
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Hi all,
I might have asked this question before, but ya'll have seen the telescoping sign posts before: 
The holes line up between the two pieces. Do you think that would make for a sturdy enough leg for a reloading bench? Like most spindly leg'ed things, adding some sort of diagonal bracing or even a plywood skin (like framing up a house's 2X4 wall) would do a lot to eliminate any wobble. Thanks in advance! |
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I have access to a bunch of the perferated tubing exactly like that at work in various lengths. I brought home a bunch and welded them into a bench frame, not height adjustable. But as far as the strength goes, it's very strong. My bench is 15' long and 32" deep.
My FIL, three BILs and I all stood and jumped on the bench at the same time and it didn't budge. I opted to use this tubing instead of wood because I didnt pay for the materials. Neat thing about this tubing is that you can always change the way it's set up by adding shelves and attaching things to it or even extending. Its like Kin'ex or Legos lol. Edit: Although I didnt build it with the intention to adjusts for height, I could simply extend the bottom part of the legs by inserting tubing and bolting it. |
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Thank you sir!
Yeah, my first thought was the old fashioned erector sets: 
The telescoping sign post stuff could be made to be quite modular. I am surprised it hasn't taken off in that respect. Assuming you just have four legs and a bench top, then all you would need is angle iron drilled with holes at the correct distance, and then they become like ledgers to set a plywood shelf on. |
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I built the frame with abuse and heavy items in mind. So I have plenty of cross brace support. Also have a set of legs at the middle of the bench. So for shelves, I just got some 2x4s and bolted them at each end of the bench. Then layed and screwed plywood on top to have smooth shelves. The total cost out of my pocket for the bench was maybe $30 since most materials came from my work.
My bench is actually two 7' 5" benches next to eachother making 15' total. I did that just incase I had to move the bench or wanted to change up the layout of my reloading area. This metal tubing is a joy to work with. I find myself bringing more and more of it home everyday for projects! |
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