Finish for a resurfaced workbench

[patrick ramsey]

I've just resurfaced my hard maple workbench. Trying to decise the best finsih to use. Right now I'm considering boiled linseeed oil, or a formula suggested in FW:

5 parts Pratt & Lambert No. 38 alkyd varnish
5 parts Pure tung oil for water resistance
2 parts Japan drier to speed drying time
2–3 parts Pure gum spirits turpentine to make
wiping easier
Any suggestions, or opinions?

[Al Navas]

BLO only, nothing else, applied with a rag, and wiping off the excess. You don't want to apply a film-forming coating. And, whatever you do, don't wax it. The wax will make the top too slippery, as I found out. I ended up removing the finish, and re-applying BLO to the top.

You will find a blog post I did some time ago on my personal blog. Simply search for "finish workbench", without the quotes.

When you are done with the rags, let them air dry completely. These have a nasty habit of self-igniting if not allowed to dry/cure completely.


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[Howard Acheson]

A film finish (lacquer, shellac, varnish, poly varnish) is not the way to finish a workbench top. A workbench is going to get dinged and film finishes will crack or craze or be otherwise damaged. Once a film finish is penetrated, it looses its effectiveness and adjacent areas begin to fail. No treatment is going to make a soft wood benchtop harder. I much favor a "in the wood finish". Here are two that lots of folks find effective.

First, is an boiled linseed oil and wax finish. Sand the surface to 180 grit. Mix paraffin or bees wax into heated boiled linseed oil. USE A DOUBLE BOILER TO HEAT THE OIL. The ratio is not critical but about 5-6 parts of boiled linseed oil in a double boiler with one part paraffin or beeswax shaved in. Take it off the stove. Thin this mixture about 50/50 with mineral spirits to make a heavy cream like liquid. Apply this mixture to the benchtop liberally and allow to set overnight. Do it again the next day and again the following day if the top continues to absorb it. After a final overnight, lightly scrape off any excess wax and buff. This finish will minimize the absorbsion of any water and you can use a damp rag to wipe up any glue excess. Dried glue will pop right off the surface. Renewal or repair is easy. Just use a scraper to remove and hardened stuff, wipe down with mineral spirits using a 3/0 steel wool pad (a non-woven green or gray abrasive pad is better), wipe off the gunk and apply another coat of mineral oil/wax mixture.

My personal preference is for an oil/varnish mixture treatment. Either use Minwax Tung Oil Finish, Minwax Antique oil or a homebrew of equal parts of boiled linseed oil, your favorite varnish or poly varnish and mineral spirits. Sand the benchtop up to 180 grit. Apply the mixture heavily and keep it wet for 15-30 minutes. Wipe off any excess completely. Let it dry overnight and the next day, apply another coat using a gray non-woven abrasive pad. Let it set and then wipe off any excess. Let this dry 48-72 hours. To prevent glue from sticking apply a coat of furniture paste wax and you're done. This treatment is somewhat more protective than the wax and mineral oil as the varnish component adds some protection from not only water both some other chemicals also. The waxing makes the surface a little more impervious to water so you can wipe up any liquid adhesive. It also allows hardened adhesive to be scraped off. Repair and renewal is easy. Just go throught the same scraping, wiping down with mineral spirits and reapplication of the BLO/varnish/mineral spirits mixture and an application of paste wax.

Both of the above treatments are quite protective but are easy to maintain and renew. They do not fail when the surface takes a ding.

[glenn bradley]

BLO and the occasional paste wax job has kept mine well.

[Jim Becker]

Like some others, my bench only gets BLO and that is renewed a few times per year. I don't prefer a film finish on a work bench as it will show the wear more readily and is harder to renew.

[patrick ramsey]

All-
Thank you for all of the input this really helps.

[Chris Padilla]

Agree with Howard: any type of oil:varnish mixture should be very suitable for a benchtop. The best thing about such a mixture: easy to repair/refinish: slop more on, let it sit for a few minutes, rub off the excess...let it cure 24 hours...done. Repeat as dings show up or as you care to.