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I posted this in a woodworking forum, but I wanted to post it here too because you guys have a lot of experience with different types of finishes.

Last weekend I got finally got the top of my workbench together, minus the vises. I'm planed it fairly flat with hand planes and scraped it with my #80. My plane/scraping skills aren't amazing but it looks pretty good. So here's my 2 part question.

1. What finish would you recommend for a butcher block style maple workbench top with walnut trim? Tung oil, blo? Or something more protective like a poly?

2. Should I go through a regiment of sanding from 80 up to 220 before applying the finish, or will scraper quality finish be good enough? I ask this because I've read that some finishes don't like sanding since it bends the fibers of the wood instead of cuts them like a plane/scraper.

No pics till I get the legs on it

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nay

My blogs
Hand Made Gutar
Woodworker++

Nathan...I used about 5 coats of Danish Oil over hard maple. I planed level and scraped smooth prior to applying the DO...no sanding was needed.

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JJ
Napa, CA
http://www.DonohueGuitars.com

Nathan-
Danish oil for me as well- as per instructions on the can- soaking and wiping off the excess. (It pays to have good ventilation- I find this stuff to be smelly). Subsequent coats put on with steel wool.
I'm sure I sanded it, but it's not necessary.
Oil is great- as you use the bench, you will need to scrape it clean from time to time and it's easy to re-apply oil.
BTW- I don't know the style of bench you made, but putting some sort of shelf on the stretchers can be a good idea- If you get a few hundred pounds of wood or other stuff down there it helps keep the bench planted in place. (Mine is also bolted down.)

Enjoy your new bench!

Cheers
John

I third the Danish oil recommendation. I use "Rustins Danish oil" (which is really a wiping varnish) for my heavy woodworking bench. The oil finish is so thin and flexible that it won't craze or flake off, but it still offers some protection from grime, spills and so on. It could not be easier to apply (and reapply); you can even polish it up to a semi gloss if that suits your taste.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

I put down 3mm masonite on my workbenches. When it gets a bit tatty I rip
it up and replace it and the old masonite gets used as tonewood stickers.

Sheet of melamine coated chipboard here, screwed to the MDF baseboard. I can flip it when it gets nasty, and replace after that. I don't own any glue that will actually adhere to the stuff, best as I can tell.

I had the same ideology as Mattia in that I was looking for something that glue wouldn't stick to. (the first time you set a cedar top down on a tiny glob of squeeze out you'll understand).
So I've got two benches that I've dedicated as my "clean" benches. Meaning that no cutting happens on them. They are flat and clean. What I did was float a bar topper called Mirror Coat, which is a two part epoxy that builds well and levels well. I've got that about 1/4" thick. When that had cured I waxed the benches with Johnson's paste wax. This I do every other week or so. This setup has worked very well for me.