Lets talk about workbench top materials?

[Aaron_W]

I've built quite a few workbenches over the years, my go to is a plywood base for strength, with an easily replaced 1/4" Masonite top if I want a smooth surface, or a sanded plywood top if I don't care.

Plywood has the benefit of being tough, and fairly cheap but untreated will absorb chemicals / oils. With a piece of Masonite it has a cleaner appearance and can be easily kept clean. When the top gets too beat up, it is cheap and easy to toss it and put down a new piece of Masonite.

I see hardwood tops seem a popular option, although I'm not sure what their benefit is other than being more attractive than a similarly thick plywood top.

Synthetic kitchen counter top materials can often be had cheap, are fairly tough and easily cleaned, but with a pressboard base don't take pounding as well as real wood.

Metal tops obviously have the benefit of durability, and conductivity (welding).



I just picked up this sturdy work table. My plan is to enclose the sides with thin plywood because it will be going into a corner where anything escaping behind or to the left side will pretty much be lost to the void for all eternity. I'm debating on what to do with the top. It looks like it once had a small lathe bolted to the top, and the top has a lot of old oil staining. Some bits of swarf I found in the drawer is another clue to its earlier use.

I can leave it as is with its (to me) attractive age and patina, but it is pretty rough so I'm leaning towards just dropping a new piece of sanded and sealed 3/4" plywood over the existing top. I see there are a variety of hardwood tops (most Maple or Birch) I could get for $100-150 (which is 2-3x what I paid for the table). Really not sure that this offers a benefit beyond appearance. This will be tucked into a back corner of the basement where few will see it.

My primary use for the table will be to finally have a spot set up for reloading and small gunsmithing projects, but of course being a small shop area any flat surface becomes a work area.

Looking for some other views on workbench tops. What is your preferred bench top and why do you like it?

 

[DavidR8]

I have sheet steel on my bench. I don't weld on it but I wanted something that I could easily clean all the dirt, oil and what not that always accumulates.
I lucked into the top as it was a metal store display table and was the length I needed.

 

[John281]

McMaster-Carr sells cushioned rubber mats for workbenches. I haven't tried them, though.
My workbench surface is a rubber mat having a diamond-plate pattern on it that makes it slip and oil resistant. It was salvaged from the deck of an ice-breaker ship back in the 70s. I wish I had more of it.

 

[sycle1]

I use that painted plywood they use it for Formwork for concreting.
It is smooth and takes the rough stuff pretty well and its cheap.

 

[C-Bag]

Ive had wood and metal sheeting and wood is my least favorite. The kind of work I do I don’t pound on the bench but get oil and various liquids on it and wood softens and ends up getting gouges out of it. The last bench I had a piece of Formica top left over from the kitchen remodel and tried it out. I like it because it doesn’t scar metal finishes on projects and metrology tools when dragged across it and its easy to clean. That’s a big deal for me because I use that bench for prepping parts for powder coat so any oil left on it will cause the powder coat to not stick.

 

[Masterjuggler]

If that bench has a decent top and its only problem is it's gross, why not take a hand plane to the top to resurface it and flatten it out? Doesn't take too long either.

Half a year ago I resurfaced my own workbench actually. It had a masonite top, but the plywood underneath had warped a lot and I wanted to flatten it. I ended up putting down some leftover bamboo flooring and hand planing it flat. I didn't bother sealing it with anything either. It gets a ton of oil, grease, solvents, etc spilled on it. It's a workbench, whatever. Still hard enough to take a beating with a hammer. I like wood because you can always give it a light planing to make it nice again, hardly removes anything.



EDIT: About hardwood vs softwood vs plywood, personally, I enjoy softwood the best because it's not as jarring when you hit it with a hammer and absorbs vibration better when hand sawing, but it also gets beat up a lot faster. Depends what you want to do. Plywood is fine but can chip easily and you can't really resurface it like solid wood. If you must go plywood, maybe just get a cheap masonite top like you've been doing.

 

[Nutfarmer]

It depends on the bench use. In the metal fabrication area a heavy metal top works the best. In the woodshop I like a hardwood topped bench . All around use and electronic work it's hard to beat masonite over plywood

 

[dewbane]

My all-time favorite benchtop material is a walnut-veneered poplar dining room table my neighbor left at the curb. I got it free, it's good and thick, and it's pretty. I use the bench for woodworking, and whenever I'm using anything that might foul the surface, I put down parchment paper. Parchment paper really rocks. I haven't found the substance yet that would stick to it.

In your case, however, I would probably just slap a piece of 1/4" Masonite on that, or maybe plywood with Masonite. Or I might not bother with either until I had crapped up the existing surface.

 

[Tozguy]

My primary use for the table will be to finally have a spot set up for reloading and small gunsmithing projects, but of course being a small shop area any flat surface becomes a work area.

My preferred surface for reloading and light gunsmithing is Formica. Easy to keep clean and resistant to oils and solvents. Dried glue (epoxy and p.u.) are easy to scrape off.
Nice solid looking bench you have, it should 'spruce' up fine.

 

[fixit]

A POST FORMED countertop with a backsplash from Lowes/home depot would be my first choice if I was you. A coat of paint on the bottom (unfinished) sides would make it ok for humid areas. I had some like this in my shop till IRMA in 2017