Work bench top. Help

[64 lane]

I was just about to ask what Double B asked. I have a new workbench with a plywood top. I was going to just paint it. This top will not be for heavy metal work or for beating things apart. I have other benches for that. I just want an inexpensive pant that will help keep oil and water from soaking into the wood. What are some good products you guys have used?

 

[bad_idea]

I would suggest staining it rather than painting. Paint can chip and flake off onto whatever you are working on.

 

[fergus]

A layer of hardboard on top of the plywood...it could be tossed once a year when it gets too grimy/gnarly. Or melamine...or formica. A big strip of vinyl flooring? FRP...the plastic type sheeting they use in commercial kitchens or bathrooms sometimes.

A couple coats of poly will do wonders I hear. The more poly the stronger it will be. That would be pretty easy to wipe down.

Somebody's gonna say a sheet of stainless I'm sure. I use the wife's old cookie sheets for nasty oily stuff on top of my wood bench. That said, oil gets all over anyway sometimes.

 

[64 lane]

I would suggest staining it rather than painting. Paint can chip and flake off onto whatever you are working on.

Thanks, I do want it to look good. I will post pics. Whatever I do

 

[64 lane]

A layer of hardboard on top of the plywood...it could be tossed once a year when it gets too grimy/gnarly. Or melamine...or formica. A big strip of vinyl flooring? FRP...the plastic type sheeting they use in commercial kitchens or bathrooms sometimes.

A couple coats of poly will do wonders I hear. The more poly the stronger it will be. That would be pretty easy to wipe down.

Somebody's gonna say a sheet of stainless I'm sure. I use the wife's old cookie sheets for nasty oily stuff on top of my wood bench. That said, oil gets all over anyway sometimes.

This workbench started out as a pallet rack that was too tall for my shop. We just chunked the 3 foot tall leftovers outside. Then I realized it would be about right for a workbench. I took a 8 foot long peace of plywood. The other 2 foot is covered with some metal doors that fit perfect. I figured, use what you got. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I will post some pics after this wkend. Thanks for the info.

 

[Boyd]

I would suggest staining it rather than painting. Paint can chip and flake off onto whatever you are working on.

Agree with this. Here's mine.

 

[kbs2244]

I am with furgus on this one.

Go to you local big box and look at the cheap 4x8 they use for bathroom paneling.
It is tempered hardboard with a somewhat white color.
Ask if the have any damaged panels.
You should walk out with a 4x8 with bent corners for about $5.00
Cut it to fit.

In my experience, it will stand up to anything but acetone.

Replace it when it gets too scarred up.

 

[jasonreck71]

A layer of hardboard on top of the plywood...it could be tossed once a year when it gets too grimy/gnarly. Or melamine...or formica. A big strip of vinyl flooring? FRP...the plastic type sheeting they use in commercial kitchens or bathrooms sometimes.

A couple coats of poly will do wonders I hear. The more poly the stronger it will be. That would be pretty easy to wipe down.

Somebody's gonna say a sheet of stainless I'm sure. I use the wife's old cookie sheets for nasty oily stuff on top of my wood bench. That said, oil gets all over anyway sometimes.

I use a hardboard top also...When it starts to look bad a put a new one on

 

[64 lane]

Agree with this. Here's mine.

Wow. very nice

 

[64 lane]

This workbench started out as a pallet rack that was too tall for my shop. We just chunked the 3 foot tall leftovers outside. Then I realized it would be about right for a workbench. I took a 8 foot long peace of plywood. The other 2 foot is covered with some metal doors that fit perfect. I figured, use what you got. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I will post some pics after this wkend. Thanks for the info.

Thanks everyone. This is what I was able to do this weekend. I appreciate all of the good ideas. I was looking at aluminum angle for the trim, but decided to go with extruded aluminum angle that is used on steps. It is not as nice as Boyd's, but I was very happy with the results.

 

[SweetD]

Wicked nice. Great job.

Dave

 

[DavidTK]

For your purpose, an easy and cheap solution is adhesive backed floor tile - the flexible stuff for kitchen/bathroom floors. It's basically linoleum but in square 1 foot pieces. They run $1-$2 per square foot and install by removing the sticker on back and placing down. Cut to size for the edges. Plenty of selection and, if you mess one up, pull it up and replace with another one. I've used this for general purpose work benches and it works great, looks good, and easy to replace.

 

[GRX]

Looks good. Let me be the one to say that I like a metal top since I work with a lot of solvents and oily engine parts. My 3.5ft x 7ft bench is covered with aluminum sheet that has been formed around the sides. I'd have preferred stainless but it would have been very expensive. The area of the bench where I do a lot of heavy work has a piece of 10 gauge steel on top of the aluminum.

 

[Kevin54]

You could also used some laminated flooring over top of the ply to give it a clean look.

 

[5lima30]

I am currently working on topping a 60" x 24" mobile (on castors) that I recently built. I think I am going to top it with solid wood flooring coated w/ poly. I found some 3/4" tongue & groove yellow pine flooring 6" wide for .53 a foot that I may use. I have 2 other benches including one for welding.

 

[Kentuckian]

My workbench has a used laminated counter top that I pulled out of a dumpster at a commercial remodeling jobsite. It covers a hefty top built from 2x6's. I built the workbench 12 years ago and it still looks decent. Not a bad set up, especially for free.

I do have another small laminated counter top section that came from a sink cutout that I lay on top of the workbench when I do serious work. This piece was also salvaged from a dumpster.