I'm finding myself cramped with my 24" X 48" bench. With a progressive press mounted at the end, it is hard to do anything else on the bench. I did not build this bench with the thought of being able to un-mount the press, so that is a problem, since I only have one bench for doing everything from building and maintaining rifles to reloading.
So my new bench will be 6' long, and have some system for mounting AND un-mounting presses, a vise, and whatever else I need to have on the bench. My bench top will be (as of now) built up quality plywood, at least 1 1/2" thick and sanded smooth, then probably finished with a clear poly varnish for neatness and cleanability. With that given, I'm looking at various systems for this.
One system has a set of cut-outs of standard sizes, and one mounts tools to plywood blanks cut to these standard-sizes, with the cut-out in the bench having a bevel or rabbet that matches and retains the plywood blanks. There are variations on this with metal angles substituting for the rabbet in the bench top. This seems to have good qualities, but it requires what amounts to time and motion studies to determine where to put what size cut-outs.
Another system uses pre-drilled holes in a standardized pattern that matches the equipment mounting holes you're using, or matches standardized plywood blanks that your equipment is mounted to. This system seems to be flexible, but it also seems to require a lot of construction work as well as robbing you of a smooth work surface.
A while back, someone posted about using Incra Track instead. Incra Track is extruded aluminum, it is sized to fit standard 1/4"-20 nuts, and only requires a 1/2" deep by 3/4" wide groove for mounting into a work surface. A pair of straight grooves that traverse the length of the bench is a lot easier to cut than a bunch of holes in a pattern, and whatver you use to mount your tools can be "the right size" for the tool instead of some set size based on a hole pattern. While the open grooves in the track are potentially a place for crap to collect, it would be easy to vacuum out on a regular basis. I'm seriously thinking about using this system on my new bench.
Questions for anyone who uses any of these systems: do you see the same pros and cons I mentioned? Any I didn't mention? Any "recommended practices" for any of these systems?
I will be mounting a Hornady L-n-L AP press that sits on top of a Dillon Strong Mount, a 4 1/2" bench vise, an older RCBS Rock Chucker press, and an RCBS pistol Bullet Feeder on the bench (probably only the L-n-L APand the bullet feeder at the same time), along with whatever else comes along that I "need" to have solidly mounted. With all of that, I have no real feel for what sort of footprint a mounting system for each of these things will need to be, thus the strong draw of the track system. But I still don't know how wide apart the tracks would need to be, nor how close to the front of the bench the front track would need to be.
I can over-engineer the base of the bench once I know what I'm going to be doing with the top, so any first hand experience will be greatly appreciated.
Finally, I'd appreciate it if anyone with experience with track systems like Incra, Woodpecker, and Kreg would chime in on how the tracks hold up, and what sorts of loads they can handle.