People with hardboard bench tops...

[82SC]

So been finally organizing and doing light work on my new bench top
(3/4 plywood x 2 topped with 3/16 hard board and trimmed on all sides with moulding level with hardboard, ie floating surface)

It was slightly wavy at HD. After I built it, seemed to sit level and pretty. But now lifting on all edges and becoming warpy. Haven't done any wet projects I. It but maybe just moisture in the air?

I'd prefer not counter sink screw it down cuz I'd like a smooth surface. Was thinking dabs of a low stick glue of contact cement so in the future I can take it off with minimal work and maybe a quick sanding of the underlying plywood.

Ideas? Experience?

 

[ScottsGT]

I've got the same crappy top. Any oil spills swell it, humidity, etc... It's one of my goals this summer to replace it. With either a butcher block top or ply covered with hardwood flooring. But it has to go.

 

[drivesitfar]

i had a hardboard surface on 3/4 inch plywood in an unheated shed that did fine for 20 years. i think i remember using contact cement and did it during the summer so not any moisture then.

i have also used little brass inch long phillips head screws on other small surfaces and that did fine too. maybe the material is less quality than it was 20plus years ago, but i bet it is your glue.

also if you have any gap from the nice edge you put on it you might run a small bead of clear caulk around to keep any moisture or oils from getting under it.

good luck

 

[Hpozzuoli]

Why not screw it down then fill the screw holes. It will still be smooth. I find plywood, no matter how think finds a way to warp over time.

 

[jakemac]

I had unsealed masonite over 3/4" plywood on a bench that I built 20yrs ago. It's in my grandfather's shop now and still fine. I used a pin nailer to hold the masonite down then smoothed the puckered holes with sandpaper. The thought when I built the bench was that if the top got wet, or damaged, I could pull it up and replace it easier than the plywood. It was in a humid basement for most of its life and I never had to replace the top. I plan on using the same method when I build my new benches.

 

[sz0k30]

The top on my workbench is 4, 8 foot, oak 2x8's. Can beat on it all day.

 

[ihrescue]

I have seen the hardboard top surface of benches always sealed with a couple of coats of varnish or shellac. I wonder if the trim is holding the top surface too tight to the bench not allowing movement with the expansion and contraction from the environment. It would possibly mean not having it screwed all the way in and actually having the pilot hole in the trim enlarged to allow that movement.

 

[Rico.]

I used one inch thick plywood for my workbenches and screwed them in
from underneath to leave a smooth top. They have been fine for the last
seven years and still level.

 

[GirlnAgarage]

Here's mine: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1941187&postcount=547

Glued 3/4" Birch ply to 19/32" ply, then screwed that to the bench frame

Not wavy other than following the 2x4 frame underneath.

 

[Outlawmws]

I did the hardboard and aluminum molding bit decades ago. With what I work on (and spill) it didn't last.

Formica kitchen counter top is cheap, durable, and comes with a backsplash (far fewer lost parts into the crack of doom) and "drip edge" (that slight roll on the front edge), so most things don't; roll off as easily...

You can often get it free off a remodel, but even new its not expensive and sometimes available cheap if it has a defect...

My current top is going on 27 years old. Like that funny bunny, it is still going and going and going...

 

[jjjrmx5]

I;ve never had a problem with my 1/8" masonite/hardboard top sitting on 3/4" ply with hardwood rails mounted to the bench so the masonite is flush.

I use carpet tape and countersunk screws to hold the masonite to the ply.

The it gets dirty or too worn, I just flip it over, reapply more carpet tape and reused teh screw holes.

3M adhesive remover on the old tape and done.

We have decades old woodworker benches bult that way used professionally and aily.

Never had a problem with waviness.

If on a high humid application or in an unconditioned outdoor shed that hardboard may like to drink up a lot of the humidity, but even in a heated ut not air conditioned mfg. building never had a problem.

 

[rick carpenter]

What I did for a replaceable top was to take 1/2" MDF and bathe it with several coats of 1:1:1 BLO/kerosene/varnish on all 6 sides. It lays flat, and I sunk two screws in to make sure it didn't move on me.

 

[scw1991]

I used the 1/4" hardboard top placed on top of a 3/4" thick plywood top on my 30" deep x 11'-0" long workbench for years. While it worked out ok, I finally upgraded to a 14 gauge galvanized steel top and had a local HVAC shop form a 3/4" lip on the leading edge (to prevent getting sliced). Total price of $125. Never looked back.