What should I do?

[Tom Winship]

I built my workbench from maple about a year ago, and, in a hurry to get on to the next project, I applied no protective sealer/finish to the surface.
Now, a year later, it has the normal useage stains (water, sharpening detridus, etc.) and I have started planing it off.
My question is, what finish should I apply when I get it planed back to new condition? Both from a sealing and durability standpoint?

[Bob Vallaster]

My preference is a penetrating oil, like tung. Cut 1:1 with thinner for the first coat. Apply 2-3 coats. Rejuvenate in a couple of years when it gets rough again.
No doubt you will hear from the many boiled linseed oil fans in the audience.
Different strokes for different folks...

BobV

[Jim Koepke]

My answer would be to ask what do you have on hand to do the job.

Tung oil is a nice finish. Most that I have seen is already mixed 1:1 with thinner.

Boiled Linseed oil is also a good sealer.

I tend to use the Tung oil on fine projects and the BLO on knife handles and garden tool handles.

I am not sure if one makes a harder finish than the other. I like the BLOs ability to swell wood, making old cracks close up and disappear.

jim

[Tom Winship]

Thanks guys, and I do have tung oil on hand. I use it to finish mesquite furniture and it does a good job on that.

[David Weaver]

I don't really put anything on mine usually. Sometimes, I oil it, and sometimes I even wax it (which is a big no-no if you're going to do stock prep, right?). It seems like no matter what, since i do a combination of woodworking and metal planemaking on my bench, It's fairly often that I sand or scrape the surface to clean it off.

It's kind of nice to do minimal work to the top of the bench and not get too hyper about it getting dirty or whatever, or ruining the finish on it. You can always clean up the top again next year.

To that end, if you wanted anything, I'd go blo or tung oil. Just fling it on and not worry much about it.

[Frank Drew]

I used tung since I had it anyway, and it stood up well. You'll still get the odd stain or two on your bench, probably, but it is a work bench, after all.

[Ken Peluso]

Ive always just used BLO since I always have it and its so easy. I don't do any glue-ups on my bench though so I dont worry about glue penetration. I've thought about the BLO/Turpentine/Beeswax mix before, but opted not to since I dont want to plane on a slick surface.

[george wilson]

BLO or tung oil will at least seal the wood so stains won't penetrate very deep. I just used a few coats of linseed on mine.No need to put a built up finish on a workbench. Remember,Tung takes several days to dry. Linseed is quicker. Do not leave the oily rags laying around. I throw mine outside till they get really dry,or put them into a safety lidded can. I can't tell you how many of those I fished out of the big dumpster that Williamsburg had in the maintenance area. Those cans are quite expensive,too. They'd send a crew in to clean out a place that they wished to change the function of,and they'd throw away everything.