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Hey guys. Just goofing around with a table i salvaged from work.
My initial thought was "geeze, this would make a cool setup table or something of the like".
The table rises to quite a height.
The pillars which support the top extend and retract using a small drive system.
It's really stable and well made. Rated for 300+ lbs.

So I replaced the particle board top with a bench top made from oak and maple scraps.





I plan to make some wood side panels and also replace the existing doors with some wooden ones to complete the feel.
What I would like to know is, what type of finish is best suited for benchtops.

thanks
gregor

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

How cool is that!

I’ve always used a hardening oil on my bench. Something like Waterlox, Maloof’s, Rubio Monocoat, or whatever. I also like my bench top to have a little texture to it, so I only sand to 80.


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Sweet rig! I use a wipe on poly for my benches...

I have used leftover shellac, and it was fine.

Repeating what James said: having the bench be too slick is a nuisance. Leave some texture.

Emmet’s Good stuff is a good durable bench finish, or if you know someone in the floor finishing biz, bona Traffic is a really hard 2 part coating.

B

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My memory is so good, sometimes I remember things that never happened.

Our setup benchtops spend 99% of their time covered with carpet samples...raw plywood has about the right level of grip to hold them without double stick tape. The woodworking bench and electronics bench are maple and beech, and get a coat of unbuffed paste wax every few months to repel glue. The woodworking bench is a beautiful piece of furniture with lots of huge hand-cut dovetails, but gets treated like my mom's old farm table finish-wise.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
One of my concerns, albeit slight, was coating it with something that might transfer over to workpieces...such as waxes, etc.
From what I have heard so far, I better get the 80 grit back out. : )

Thx
Gregor

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Wake up and smell the rosewood!

Oil based polyurethane varnish on our workbenches

Boiled linseed oil works great

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Guitar Maker and Purveyor of the World's Finest Tonewoods
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Gorgeous bench. Wish I had it. Opinion on the doors: they work fine, price is right, spend the time that would have been spent on the doors on the end product of using that wonderful bench.

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Peter Havriluk

I always just used what ever was getting old and laying around. I think I used some left over wood floor finish. IMHO no need to make it look pretty, it's gonna get ugly anyway.

Melamine on mine. Or it was.....

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Because any finish will make the surface slippery, I have no finish on my yellow pine bench top. A friend has planed the surface of his maple bench with a toothing plane to give the surface more bight, My bench top will get a little glue on it but it pops right off with a beater chisel I keep in the till, and of course there are a couple of spots of dye or other color on it, but things don't slip. As for whole guitars, I always keep a pad down to protect what needs protecting.

Ed

My maple topped bench has no finish. The benches I have topped with Masonite have wipe-on poly.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Slippery bench surfaces are really an issue? I've never had a problem with it. What exactly is slipping off the bench?

Wax is like Camilla oil on planes...not an issue.

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For the times they are a changin'

- Bob Dylan

That is a great table for set up or many projects.

For finish I would use a floor finish. Something like urethane. (I am with Ernie) It shouldn't transfer anything to your project and it will last. (does that make it serviceable?)

You can lay one of those foam workbench pads on it when needed.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

2K finish, or poured epoxy. Both are very durable. You can brush the 2K on if you thin it real well.

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Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Thanks again everyone.

What I gather from this is that most wood finishes are suitable.
I will also hit it with the 80 Grit to rough it up a bit.

gregor

_________________
Wake up and smell the rosewood!

If it is not a bench top you are going to be pounding on, drilling random holes in, or otherwise abusing, I would put a coat or two of polyurethane, varnish, or some other "film" finish on it that would look nice and could periodically be sanded and renewed as it became stained and scratched. Having a surface you can wash glue off of without it soaking into the wood has some advantages.
If you were going to beat on it and nail into it, then the particle board top was fine, and if you still have it you could clamp it to the new top for times you want a surface to screw into or otherwise abuse.
The work surfaces I use generally have the finish (poly?) they came with, but on one of them I covered with a removable piece of MCP laminated with Formica. It is a bright easily cleaned smooth surface that can also be easily replaced.
A rougher surface wouldn't keep things from getting knocked off the bench, in my experience. Having a cushioned floor surface might be a better option.
If the cabinet has metal doors I would keep them. If they were particle board I would veneer over it to change the look, but they look fine as they are.