Replies

1. 
   SteveSchoene | Oct 31, 2008 05:57am | #1

   I would very much recommend against any film finish. 

    A coat of BLO or an oil/varnish finish is fine. 

   Personally, I don't see the need for any finish.  It's a tool, not furniture.  When you start making it too "pretty", you hesitate to use it--say by nailing a fixture to the top for a particular project. 

2. 
   hammer1 | Oct 31, 2008 06:09am | #2

   I don't like a slippery bench top. It is a large vice and you want holding power. One thin coat of a finish is usually enough to make glue and spills clean up easily. You can use anything you have kicking around. Just don't flow on a heavy wet coat. A wipe on poly would be a good choice, I'd skip the linseed oil.

   Beat it to fit / Paint it to match

3. 
   BigK | Oct 31, 2008 12:27pm | #3

   Try this recipe, think that I got it from Lon Schlennings(?) book about workbenches. Equal parts of BLO, polyurethane, and mineral spirits. Flood the surface for about ten minutes then wipe off the excess. It leaves just enough of a finish to help protect your bench, and make cleanup easier. This finish is easy to repair, just wipe on some more. Remember to finish all sides.

4. 
   USANigel | Oct 31, 2008 12:54pm | #4

   As stated this is a tool to use.

   Stain and varnish the legs what ever you like just to add a touch of class and for the finish on the top add a sheet of white formica. Its a great surface to work on. Smooth flat, glue pops off, cleans up easy and is water proof. You could use a wood grain formica.

5. 
   ring | Oct 31, 2008 01:15pm | #5

   I see that this question comes up repeatedly on Knots. I think that the only right answer is what works for you. I have 2 workbenches in my shop, one beech and one maple. They both get used all day every day, and neither has any finish at all. Once in a while we take a belt sander to the bench top and clean it up from spills and such. For me it's a workbench, not art.

   David Ring

   http://www.touchwood.co.il/?id=1&lang=e

1. 
   boilerbay | Nov 01, 2008 04:33pm | #7

   Ring,Agreed. I also have multiple benches and they are for working on not looking at. Why would anyone put a slick finish on something where surface resistance is desirable?
   The last thing I need is to watch a piece or bench hook skitter away while cutting that last dovetail.BB

6. 
   HowardAcheson | Oct 31, 2008 11:14pm | #6

   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 through 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.

   Howie.........
7. 
   gb93433 | Nov 01, 2008 08:11pm | #8

   Most likely spots on the bench top will change and get worn. So you wil want to plane the top flat. It would be difficult to plane the top with finish to remove first.

   I would recommend boiled linseed oil or nothing.