work bench top

[SVanderkolff]

What is the best surface for a workbench? I have 2 workbenches that I use all the time for my small work and leather work. Both are 2' by 8'. Currently one is plywood and the other is coated press board. Neither one is working real well. The plywood absorbes everything I spill on it and the press board shows every mark and cut. I was thinking of either a stainless steel top or a bright white whatever you call the stuff that goes on counter tops. What do you suggest?
Thanks
Steve

[Don Robinson]

My benches are 2" thick solid oak.

[john smith]

My small work bench I made several years ago has kitchen formica on the top.
Easy to clean when you can find the top of it.

[Bear_Blade]

Mine are two inch thick plywood, with 3/4" laminated pine shelving glued down, coated with fiberglass resin, All mounted to a galvanized steel frame. Rock solid.

[Ed Tipton]

Stephen...I personally would not like a stainless steel work bench top. For me, it would be too "sterile", and it just has no appeal for me.

Corian, the "white counter-top material", is a possibility, but it is very expensive. It is easily sanded and not bad to absorb stains. It is somewhat brittle, and could break if subjected to the type of things my bench is subjected to.

My personal favoeite is breadboarded hard maple. This type of top offers a friendly work surface, and can be resurfaced if necessary, but would still have some of the traits you dislike in your present bench. I think hard maple and Oak would be comparable in their charactistics. Red Oak tends to absorb stains readily while white oak is tighter grained, but will still stain.

The advantages of wood is that it is resilient, will bend before it breaks, and it offers a work friendly surface for all types of work.

[ARCustomKnives]

Melamine might be the whate board youre thinking of.

Personally, I'm in the process of building a bench, and eventually, I'm going to put a few layers of 3/4" MDF, laminated together, for a top. MDF is very flat, very uniform, and very heavy, so you'll have a large, flat work surface that has enough mass to mount a vise on, or to hammer on without much vibration. To solve the problem of spills, nicks, dings, etc... I'm going to wrap the edges (which are pretty fragile) in some 2x4 stock, and then I plan to cover the top with a sheet of tempered hard board.

The hard board is relatively cheap, very durable, and easily replaceable if/when it wears out. some double stick tape, or a few small screws or brad nails can hold it in place.

http://www.woodsmithshop.com/downloa...-workbench.pdf

These plans are pretty close to what I'm gonna build.

For one bench in my shop, I have a 3x6 sheet of 3/16" aluminum. I probably weighs about 150lbs or so. I just build a rough frame (4x4 posts, 2x4 frames) to hold it up to a working height. It works well. Solid, easy to clean, flat... the materials were all free though. I don't think I'd try to build it from scratch without having the aluminum at least though...

You could probably build the first bench I linked to for less than 150 bucks from scratch.

[Amitygravel]

Plywood is always one of the first things that comes to mind for workbench tops. If your current top is structurally sound give it a good sanding and a couple of coats of polyurethane. That will solve anything being absorbed into the surface. If you need ideas check out the Garage Journal forum. All things garage and shop there ,tons of info.

[Brad Johnson]

When building my benches a few years ago I went down to Home Depot and bought 2 sections of 8' ft. countertop. They don't absorb anything and they have the the backsplash built in that keeps small parts from rolling off the backside. I bought white so I would know when to dust and clean it. Very important when doing leatherwork.
Hope this helps.