What's best for preserving the top of a workbench?

[Louis Brandt]

Hello,

I've just bought the Harbor Freight workbench, the one with the finger-jointed oak top. It has a very nice (maybe lacquer or shellac) finish on it. What would you recommend that I use on it to preserve the finish? Should I use household paste wax, etc?

Thanks,
Louis

[Brian Kent]

I would put the emphasis on repeatability. Frank Klausz uses two coats of Danish oil followed by waxing. Even with care, any coating will get scratched and gouged. From where you are starting now, probably wax. Then don't feel bad in the future when you have to redo the surface 1 or 2 times per year.

Brian

[george wilson]

Workbenches should not have finishes on them. They are workbenches! A smooth finish allows wood to slide around more easily when you wish it wouldn't. It will get scratched up from use. We bought a cheap Costco workbench for my wife's jewelry shop. It has a thick,smooth finish.All it has done is crack several places from the wood responding to humidity.

You really ought to remove the finish,and just oil the top,letting the tung,or linseed oil sink in and dry.

[Peter Bell]

I have posted this here so I do not hijack the OP on preserving a work bench top, mainly because it possible requires a different solution to this request.

I have made a cheap workbench with a MDF top. I have not put a finish on it yet but am about to research the best thing to do to preserve it as long as possible.

I don't know how Boiled linseed oil will go on MDF. I guess I should put some on some small offcut to see what happens. My thinking is a gluggy mess. I have put a polyurethane on MDF and it has stood up well on another bench that has my bench top Jointer on it but it doesn't cop the abuse the work bench might.

For my rough work I use another small bench with sacrificial plywood on it. What is the best finish for MDF so as to preserve and minimize the scratches that show up on a Poly finish. Would a thinned down wiping Poly like Minwax Wiping Poly or one made up by thinning yourself be suitable so as to be able to be refreshed up when necessary.

Or would a wax be more suitable?

Peter.


ps.

Sorry, I thought I had started another thread, too late now, so I will leave it here.

[Don C Peterson]

Seconding George...

I don't, and wouldn't, put anything on my bench except for Tung Oil.

[Pat Germain]

BLO is cheep and effective. I mixed just a bit of varnish with BLO and put a couple coats onto my workbench.

[Peter Quinn]

Belt sander, remove finish, coat of oil or wiping varnish, a bit of wax to keep glue from sticking, move on. That is my approach. The bench is a place to do your finest wood working, not an example of your finest wood working. Save french polish for something you won't be beating with a mallet!

[Prashun Patel]

Peter-
as an owner of a bench with an MDF top, here's what I can offer:

The cleanest is to make a replaceable top for the bench. Buy a piece of 1/4 of hardboard and top yr bench with it, using removable fasteners. You could attach edgebanding to the mdf top to provide lips that hold the hardboard in place. You can even just screw it down, countersinking the screws a little.

Whether yr using mdf or hardboard, you can finish it the same way you might finish a wood bench. People round here counsel against using a film forming varnish on benches, but here's my take:

You want to SEAL the bench so it doesn't stain, and so it doesn't look crappy when you cut into it. An oil varnish mix will give you the same thing, as long you WIPE IT ALL off..

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Nail some plywood on top.

[Byron Trantham]

The really best thing to preserve a workbench is to NOT USE IT!

[Dave Lehnert]

I am lucky enough to live close to a woodworking store that is owned by Steve Mickley . He is the finishing forum Host on a well know woodworking site. I was just their a few hours ago to get help with a project. He makes finishing look so easy.
Here is what he recommends.

http://www.hardwoodlumberandmore.com/Hardwood/Finishing/WorkbenchFinish.html

[johnny means]

Personally, I like seeing the progress of my career stained, etched, painted, gouged, drilled, and sawed into my bench top. :)