Wood Bench Surface - Wood Type and Treatment

[mtrmn]

My junker workbench is bare plywood stained with Hoppe's, WD40, finely ground specs of smokeless powder, all manner of lube oils and residue where I sprayed the gunk out of guns with carburetor cleaner etc. Have also overhauled carburetors, worked on chain saws, and whatever else had to be done. Let's just say it's a "natural finish" which is a result of what naturally would happen during those activities.

 

[greybeard57]

I see, my bad. Umm, post 51 holds the answers you seek. It's aunaturale' wood finish with a little paint, some grease, elbow sweat, crushed bug juice, cleaning chemicals, etc. on the tall bench and the short bench has a layer of old half rotted plywood on it that I found out back in my burn pile. Like I said, I recycle about anything I can. I found a old rusty can of can of polyurethane coating in the barn today and was thinking I may sand the tall bench and slather that on it. I'm not much on pretty stuff, just stuff that works as well as it needs to work under any and all circumstances. If I need to work on something nice like my Vepr I cover the bench with a scrap piece of smooth carpeting that I get at the local home decorator store for free. I get a kick out of re-purposing things.

 

[holdencm9]

Another thread sparked my memory and I realized that I never followed up on this thread. Thanks again to everyone who responded, it was a great help.

I ended up going with a single 3/4" plywood board for the top, oak veneer, but I did reinforce the center of the bench with another 2x6, so it is VERY stiff. I ended up using a pre-stain conditioner, 2 coats of minwax "oak" stain, and about 7 coats of poly! As you can see, the shelf that sits on top of the bench is not yet finished, but it will eventually probably get similar treatment.

As for the edging of the plywood, which I know many don't like the look of exposed plywood edge, I just sanded down and made sure to dab it with the stain and poly each time, sanding in between, so it is nice and smooth and actually I like the look of it as well.

 

[GLOOB]

That looks a lot like my own. I can almost smell the boiled linseed. Actually poly, in this case.

Job well done!

 

[Drthelongshot]

This is what I used on my last bench. Comes unfinished. Great price

 

[270WSM]

Red Oak Stair Treads - Home Depot

I used Red Oak Stair Treads, dowel pinned, glued, sanded, stained, and then a few coats of spar varnish. These stair treads are laminated from smaller hardwood sections then verneer, also nice was that the have a rounded edge already. These are rock solid. Home depot http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-11-1-2-x-48-in-Red-Oak-Stair-Tread-11-5-x8-RO/202088436 I used two of these.

 

[Mohave-Tec]

I use 3/4 marine ply and leave a 2.5 inch lip across the front except where the 2x4 frame runs out to the edge. My presses straddle the 2x4 and there is a 2.5 1/8 steel plate glued to the underside of the lip to fortify the lip for clamping things to.
I could launch a Saturn V from this bench. The most important thing after making sure the bench is sturdy and durable is making sure it is standing water flat and painted an eggshell white. Flat so things don't walk around and white so light is reflected in all directions and there is contrast to everything reloading.

 

[holdencm9]

270WSM, that is a real smart idea too! I never even thought to use stair treads. I was and still am a novice with woodworking, so doweling or biscuit-joining multiple boards together and getting a flat surface may have been a challenge. Now I am starting to learn more (and accrue more tools) so maybe bench # 2! Of course I one day hope to get a router which will offset the need for the pre-rounded edges....funny how firearms and reloading have sort of sparked a new hobby.