Finish for mdf work surface

[Dave Schreib]

I am building a shop table that will have an mdf top. What finish can I put on it to protect against glue and paint? Also, this surface will have my cms, planer and drill press on it - and they will be slid around depending on what I am using. So something that will take the abuse of those heavy tools sliding around would be great. Thanks

[Dave Haughs]

Poly.

It will take several coats. You can just about pour it right out of the can on the first coat as most of it will soak in.

[Baxter Smith]

I built some workbenches/cabinets for a friend with MDF tops. Used BLO. Did cover it with a hardboard top since he tends to be fussy in taking care of everything. Mounted a few of his bench top tools on leftover pieces of MDF. When they were soaked with BLO they slid around quite easily on top. Were a little bit oversized so they could be clamped to the overhang when he didn't want them to move.

[Mitchell Andrus]

+1 for Poly. I never use it for furniture, but it is just about indestructible if you build up a few coats.
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[Mitchell Andrus]

Poly.

It will take several coats. You can just about pour it right out of the can on the first coat as most of it will soak in.

Yep, pour it and sweep around with a cheap foam pad style trim thing.
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[Thomas Canfield]

My go to finish for shop surfaces is Shellac. I buy the Zinzer and cut it with DNA and have a can of mix on hand. Today I used it I harduen some MDF that I had made up for jam chucks threaded with the 1 1/4" Beale threader. For a more durable surface it takes a couple of coats doing a little sanding between, but you can apply them about an hour apart. I haven't cleaned the brush in over 5 years, just wrap it up in a paper towel saturated with DNA and put in a plastic bag. Sometimes the bristles are stiff, but soften up when dipped into the Shellac mix. This is not the recommended procedure, but it is the easist and I am getting pretty lazy. I would not recommend this for a real finish, but it does well for the shop. You can add some paste wax to really slick it up, and touchup is easy.

[Philip Rodriquez]

For a hard, cheap finish, poly.

Something that is easy to repair, shellac.

My last choice would be BLO. It just does not make the top as durable because it is not a film finish.

[David Cefai]

Have you considered epoxy?

My workbench top is made of 2 sheets of 3/4" laminated pine board coated with 2 layers of marine epoxy. I used Cecchi resin (Italian) which has an open time of about 8hrs. This allows it to level out beautifully.

It has a honey colour, unlike West Systems which is totally clear.

The surface is adequately scratch resistant but as far as dings go it is only as resistant as the underlying wood.

Glue, varnish, shellac etc come off easily with a scraper.

My overall impression is that when (if) I ever get around to replacing this 2 year old "temporary" top with a 2 1/2" hardwood top, if I repeat the resin coating I will have a worktop that can serve as a tank battleground :-)

[Steve knight]

yes epoxy is the way to go. thin it down a bit so it soaks in. it will dry faster too then most things since it does not need air. you can thin it and keep applying till it stops soaking in then apply a thicker coat to seal the surface.

[Chris Kennedy]

I used BLO on my worktable, and it has been great.

Chris

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

yes epoxy is the way to go. thin it down a bit so it soaks in.

Thinning epoxy can severely weaken it. Warming the surface will also thin it out and allow it to penetrate.

[Larry Nall]

How about a 1/4" sheet of hardboard?
What it gets funky, replace it.

[Anil Kalagatla]

+1 for multiple coats of poly as well. I bought a can before I realized that I really didn't want to use it on furniture. But it worked very well for the MDF surface on my assembly table. You will want to edge the MDF with an inch or two hardwood band though.

Anil

[glenn bradley]

Any film finish will scratch and require repair. I used BLO on my workbench back in the middle of 2007. I just put a thinned refresher coat on as I hurt my arm and I was bored (it didn't really need it). Let me see if I have a current pic . . . You can see it as it looked in January of this year, before the touch up, here.

[Prashun Patel]

+1 for Larry's suggestion. Top it with 1/4" hardboard. I'd still top coat it with something, though.

I top it with whatever leftover topcoat I happen to have on hand. I've had shop tops with shellac, polycrylic, and BLO/wax. They all get 'funky'. But they all make glue pop right off, so they stay flat. And, they all make sweeping dust off easy. - which are the only things that have turned out to be important for me.