New bench top for South Bend, laminated maple, ash, particleboard?

[middle.road]

Old hunk of Bowling Alley, oh wait that wasn't a choice... With a baker's sheet as noted that's what I've had for 20+ years.
I'd go hardwood, maple or ash, has to be thick, put 3 or 4 'ribs' glued and screwed perpendicular to the length. If you have so steel tubing that would work also.
Similar to what Mikey mentioned, two sheets of 3/4" or 1" ply with a 1/2" or so of Melamine sandwiched between them will keep it steady enough.
An 1/8" plate on top would be nice but if cost or availability is an issue, it can be done with wood.
Some of the Lab black stuff would be nice, but I have seen that bend over time. Has to be thick.

 

[WaneB]

Here is the bench. It’s from the 40’s or 50’s probably. It has a somewhat thick steel top, I removed the cement board already.

 

[mickri]

Your bench looks fine especially if it has steel top. I can think of lots of other things to buy before I would spend the time and money to redo the top of the bench.

 

[Sblack]

I have an emco maximat super11 without the factory stand. So I welded up a stand out of 2" square 1/8" wall steel tube and put a relatively thick metal chip pan on. It turned out that the steel tube frame, which is essentially an empty cube, resonates. If you hit it with something hard it will ring. So doing it again I would go for a wood stand, with several sheets of plywood glued together for the sides and back and top. Then I would put drawers in the center for storage, but the point would be to make it massive and heavy for damping. Thin wall tubing has no damping. I could have filled it up with sand, but the tubes were all welded shut. I didn't see the issue until I was done. So I would avoid a steel base.