Workbench Top - What Oil

[ddurrett896]

Just build a workbench top out of Red Oak and want to protect with an oil. It's going to get messy greasy in the future, coated in everything from paint to oil and carb cleaner.

Read about oils and it looks like I can use Tung Oil, Linseed oil, Teak oil or Danish oil is my best bet. What's my best option? Thanks!

 

[mxdev]

Danish oil is just a mix of Poly, Mineral Spirits and Linseed or Tung oil. Similar effects can be achieved by making your own, or changing the process.

Red oak is extremely porous, and will absorb any liquids that come into contact with it unless it's sealed, and it can leach and squeeze back out onto other projects and contaminate them. It can ruin the finish on any woodworking project for example.

My vote would be apply a few coats of linseed oil, then finish it with a few coats of poly to keep solvents and oil from leaching in. The "bowling alley" poly I applied to my bench has held up to a lot of abuse, and cleans easily.

 

[cullen]

epoxy

 

[sberry]

It's going to get messy greasy in the future, coated in everything from paint to oil and carb cleaner.

No rule says you got to be a slob.

 

[Kaizen]

If not woodworking I’d put metal over it. If it were just woodworking I’d use danish oil. Poly or the like make things slippery which is not good for wood operations.


Sent from my iPhone using The Garage Journal mobile app

 

[Jackfre]

I don't want a slick top on a woodworking bench. I have one done with Daleys SharkFin oil. No real protection but a nice look. A work table I recently built was done with a couple coats of Boiled Linseed Oil. Essentially both are sealers. I think the BLO best of the two.

 

[SGKent]

Worked as a machinist and built engines for a living for several years. That red oak will get beat to hell even with a very hard coating on it. You will want a stainless steel top for oils and engines, and it will be full of dents and scratches when you are done. I keep a disposable Masonite top on mine. It you must have wood, get thin layer of your oak to put on top, so you can remove and replace it when it becomes unsightly.

 

[jimreed2160]

I covered my beater bench with cheap laminate flooring. A $20 pack should be more than enough for a few changes. I treat my beech woodworking bench with a 75/25 mix of turps / BLO. Too much blo will turn wood black over time.

 

[Bretny]

Just soak motor oil into it. Tung oil is nice stuff and i have it on my living room floor. Not really much point in useing what is realy a foodgrade furnature finish on a work bench.

Yes red oak seams like it will be good for a top but usualy the grain isnt that tight so can chip and splinter easily.

 

[DC73]

I just keep a bottle of Howard Feed-N-Wax around: https://www.amazon.com/Howard-Products-FW0016-Feed-N-Wax-Conditioner/dp/B001BKQYGW

Works good enough for me, especially if I re-coat the workbench before a potentially messy job.

DC