Butcher block bench top questions

[Mrgreen617]

All
Appreciate all answers ahead of time. I bought a birch butcher block top I plan to use for general purpose in the garage. Didn’t realize when I ordered it that it would have a mineral oil finish to it. I was planning on using Rubio monocoat. Question I have is can I just add to this or how to make sure I’m not gonna waste the Rubio mono coat on the top and ruin the top. Never used either product before and this is a first for finishing wood besides stain. Just want to make sure it’s got something good on it that’ll hold up. Again thanks.

 

[budget76]

from what I have seen the Rubio is great stuff for furniture and may work in this spot, but it sounds like a $$ solution for a work bench. I guess if you're doing gunsmithing/other clean work it'd make more sense than a workbench for greasy car parts?

Can't answer directly on topcoat but I'd have a suspicion you would want to sand it clean before the Rubio. I'd definitely be reading the Rubio manual in detail before risking the product.

Or another option is pick up a little bit of beeswax, melt a 50/50ish mixture of beeswax and mineral oil (from the medicine section), let it cool, and apply now and then to the work surface. This is what I use for cutting boards and holds up pretty well. IIRC I paid $10-15 for a 2"x4"x6" block of beeswax, $3 for a bottle of mineral oil, and I have most of that block still

 

[bdbecker]

This might be of some help...

https://www.reddit.com/r/finishing/comments/rbkhbb
Sounds like you'll more than likely need to strip/sand the surface before applying Rubio. That being said, is there any reason not to just leave it as is? Mineral oil is cheap and can be touched up from time to time with little effort.

 

[Garcky]

Very nice-looking bench top. You'll probably need a second work surface, though, so you can keep dirty stuff off that nice butcher block surface. If you do woodworking, you'll need an assembly table for glue-ups. If you work on cars, you'll need a metal top table for the oily or greasy stuff.

As for finishes, you'll probably have to sand off that mineral oil finish for just about any other finish.

 

[Mrgreen617]

from what I have seen the Rubio is great stuff for furniture and may work in this spot, but it sounds like a $$ solution for a work bench. I guess if you're doing gunsmithing/other clean work it'd make more sense than a workbench for greasy car parts?

Can't answer directly on topcoat but I'd have a suspicion you would want to sand it clean before the Rubio. I'd definitely be reading the Rubio manual in detail before risking the product.

Or another option is pick up a little bit of beeswax, melt a 50/50ish mixture of beeswax and mineral oil (from the medicine section), let it cool, and apply now and then to the work surface. This is what I use for cutting boards and holds up pretty well. IIRC I paid $10-15 for a 2"x4"x6" block of beeswax, $3 for a bottle of mineral oil, and I have most of that block still

Not many messy car parts just a bench I want to be resistant to some oil staining and general purpose use for tinkering. I have a weld table and will have another benchtop surfaces for messier jobs. General tinkering is what I’ll do with it was just not wanting an oily surface. Didn’t realize it had the oil until I recieved it I was gonna use Rubio as that was what was suggested for a good resistant and lasting finish. Don’t want to have to apply often if I can avoid it. It is a temperature controlled environment.

 

[Mrgreen617]

This might be of some help...

https://www.reddit.com/r/finishing/comments/rbkhbb
Sounds like you'll more than likely need to strip/sand the surface before applying Rubio. That being said, is there any reason not to just leave it as is? Mineral oil is cheap and can be touched up from time to time with little effort.

Not really wanting the oily surface. To have to reapply frequently isn’t something I want to worry about also. It’s not the end of the world just would prefer a drier finish.

 

[Mrgreen617]

Very nice-looking bench top. You'll probably need a second work surface, though, so you can keep dirty stuff off that nice butcher block surface. If you do woodworking, you'll need an assembly table for glue-ups. If you work on cars, you'll need a metal top table for the oily or greasy stuff.

As for finishes, you'll probably have to sand off that mineral oil finish for just about any other finish.

I plan to have a welding table and two other similar surfaces to this. The others I’ll be buying from local lumberyard no finish. This one was just so cheap I couldn’t resist. Read that mineral spirits wiping over and over on the surface will remove the mineral oil but haven’t tried it yet. Don’t want to have to resend it lol. It’s at a great smoothness now. The applied coat of mineral oil isn’t bad now but I can tell it needs more. I don’t want an oily surface though.

 

[Garcky]

I plan to have a welding table and two other similar surfaces to this. The others I’ll be buying from local lumberyard no finish. This one was just so cheap I couldn’t resist. Read that mineral spirits wiping over and over on the surface will remove the mineral oil but haven’t tried it yet. Don’t want to have to resend it lol. It’s at a great smoothness now. The applied coat of mineral oil isn’t bad now but I can tell it needs more. I don’t want an oily surface though.

Sounds good. It's nice to have a good-looking work surface somewhere in the shop.

 

[Packard V8]

Can you post a better photo?

Reason is from here the benchtop appears to be longitudinal laminated strips, sometimes referred to as bowling alley. Butcher block is laminated with the end grain up/down. The two take stain and abuse very differently.

jack vines

 

[BombShelter]

It looks like Rockler sells the monocoat, I'd call them and see what they recommend. I was at the local store a few years back, talked with the floor guy about stains/dyes, turned out he was a expert with several written articles. He hooked me up good with some cabinet dye, I got a ton of complements using dye on a hard to stain wood.

Personally I just put IKEA Oil on my kitchen counter top, you do need to do it a few times a year so the wood doesn't dry out and stains don't sink in.

 

[Mrgreen617]

Can you post a better photo?

Reason is from here the benchtop appears to be longitudinal laminated strips, sometimes referred to as bowling alley. Butcher block is laminated with the end grain up/down. The two take stain and abuse very differently.

jack vines

Will do when I get home. I know I bought from Amazon but it came from industrialsupplies.com. Was a clearance item. Labeled as butcher block work surface. 30”x96”. Was only $300 shipped. I tried to buy more but they were all out.

 

[Mrgreen617]

It looks like Rockler sells the monocoat, I'd call them and see what they recommend. I was at the local store a few years back, talked with the floor guy about stains/dyes, turned out he was a expert with several written articles. He hooked me up good with some cabinet dye, I got a ton of complements using dye on a hard to stain wood.

Personally I just put IKEA Oil on my kitchen counter top, you do need to do it a few times a year so the wood doesn't dry out and stains don't sink in.

yea I installed some butcher block at my sisters house telling her to apply often. She did not, it later warped the parts around the sink enough causing it to leak.

 

[Mrgreen617]

Can you post a better photo?

Reason is from here the benchtop appears to be longitudinal laminated strips, sometimes referred to as bowling alley. Butcher block is laminated with the end grain up/down. The two take stain and abuse very differently.

jack vines

 

[tool_scrounge]

I have a number of butcher block tops on work benches and tool boxes at work. My standard is Boos Block mystery oil (mineral oil) and board cream (mineral oil and bees wax mix). After a light sanding, I apply 2 coats of oil and the two coats of wax spaced 24 hours apart. After I wipe off any of the cream that has not absorbed Into the wood. leaves a nice finish on the wood. Also it is something I can apply indoors.

 

[Packard V8]

The top in the photo above is not a true butcher's block. It is a nice long grain laminate.

In the photo below, notice how the cutting surface is end grain.


jack vines

 

[isb cornbinder]

The top in the photo above is not a true butcher's block. It is a nice long grain laminate.

In the photo below, notice how the cutting surface is end grain.


jack vines

This is another real butcher's chopping block. It weighs over 400# I bought it for my wife nearly 20 years ago. It cost a dollar a pound.

 

[Voi]

I have never used Rubio but have used the similar Osmo Poly X on one project. I chose it over Rubio as it was said to build better for greater durability. I don't know if this is still considered true.

Like Rubio, it is a 2K hard wax oil.

Unfortunately the only project I used it on was about 20 linear feet of door trim. I was a safe project to try working with it before moving on to the project I don't want to screw up.

I only mention this in case you haven't ordered the Rubio yet.

As far as the topic at hand, I do think the suggestion of the beeswax & mineral oil is a good one. I do like the ease of application & repairability for a work bench. And it is sure to work with your bench as is.

However, the supposed benefit of these catalyzed hard wax oils is they offer a nice combination of durability & repairability. The trim I finished seems good but it's not a bench & I haven't had to repair it yet. Regardless, I can see why these hard wax oils would be appealing for a project like this.