Work bench top

Hello, in the process of redoing my 30"x 14' workbench. Topped it with. 1/2" plywood which is countersunk screwed to the structure below. I want to put a coating of some form on it to protect it from glue, epoxy, acetone, and various gun cleaning products.

Any suggestions as to what to use?

I coated mine with 3 coats of polyurethane and it has held up pretty well. If it is going to take a lot of abuse, you might consider putting down a sheet or plexiglass of Formica that can be replaced when needed.

markkoelsch said:

Hello, in the process of redoing my 30"x 14' workbench. Topped it with. 1/2" plywood which is countersunk screwed to the structure below. I want to put a coating of some form on it to protect it from glue, epoxy, acetone, and various gun cleaning products.

Any suggestions as to what to use?

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A sheet of 1/4 melaminr. It's fairly hard, durable, inexpensive, and easily replaceable (assuming you just screw it down). If you get the kind that's shiney on both sides, you can just flip it over and used the other side until it's damaged.

sooner.boomer said:

A sheet of 1/4 melamine. It's fairly hard, durable, inexpensive, and easily replaceable (assuming you just screw it down). If you get the kind that's shiney on both sides, you can just flip it over and used the other side until it's damaged.

Click to expand...

I second this idea as I have used it myself with good results. It is cheaper that my idea too.

My workbench is a cabinet from a lab sink that was tossed during a remodel (nice because it's made from lumber-core plywood). The top is two 2 x 4 sheets of 3/4" plywood, doubled over, and screwed together . On top of this goes either a sheet of melamine or luan plywood (depending on what I have at hand, or what's cheap). The top overhangs the base by quite a bit. This allows me to make special purpose tops by using another sheet of material and a hook fashioned from wood along the back edge. I've got tops set up as a drafting board, and as a pantograph.

I covered the top of my new rocket workbench with a sheet of tempered hardboard. It's cheap, it's smooth, and it's easily replaced.

My other workbench is covered the same way but I have two large cutting mats end to end over the top of the hardboard. The central portion is covered with a sheet of tempered glass. A triple layer of waxed paper over that is great protection from epoxy...you just wipe it up before it sets...so that's what I do.

My workbench is wanting to be resurfaced. I'ts almost 7 years old. It's just a piece of 3/4" MDF and as such it takes on every stain, paint and glue. I like that I can drill and cut into it. But as per your initial question, would counter top epoxy suffice?
-Ken

Though I usually tend to shy away from "disposables" when they aren't really necessary:

I learned a great, though somewhat counter-intuitive, way to address the question of "what's the best bench top surface?" - and that is: poster-board. Yep, just plain old heavyweight paper or cardstock. Cut it to size and tape it down on the edges. It's a surprisingly tough surface to work on, you can writes notes and measurements as you are working right on it, you don't have to worry about paint or glue spills on it, the white surface is easy to see small bits on, you can use a very plain (and inexpensive) subsurface underneath it, etc. When it gets too grungy, simply peel it off and replace it with a new layer (sometimes you can simply turn it over and use the other side). It actually lasts longer than you might think. Of course some folks are very hard on there bench-top surface and might have to replace it "too often", but if that's the case you probably don't want something really nice anyway.

Poster board is cheap and easy to find. Give it a try.

s6

My work space is small, as is my bench. I bought the cheapest hollow core door and cut it in half (~3 1'2' long). I had to fill the cut edge with some scrap wood. I finished both sides of the panels with a couple of coats of polyurethane.

I placed a panel on my bench. When I want to change projects, I just pick up the top and set it aside. I put the other in place and continue on. I could set that one aside and work on the bench top for a third surface, but haven't needed to yet.

Don

I do most of my work on my ridiculously over sized kitchen counter/eat in table combo. It is a granite counter top and I have had no problems. Any epoxy comes right up with a scraper. My garage workbench is laminate.

awesome info! I'll be setting up a workbench in the next few months in the new house and this will be super helpful