garage workbench finish question

[Ben W Werner]

After a ton of research of what finish to use on my maple workbench, I still can't come to a conclusion.

I've got few particulars that are making this difficult for me:
This workbench will be located in my unheated garage and in NY we can have wide swings in humidity. Wood I've checked in my garage seems to stay around 12-13% moisture content.
I'm a little concerned about wood bees - I had a couple get into the wood when it was drying outdoors next to my garage, so I want to make sure its well protected from insects.
It will be sitting on a occassionally damp floor when the humidity changes - I'm thinking of using hockey pucks under the legs to counter any wicking (as well as level the bench).

If it wasn't for the protection that I think I need for these three things, I'd could be fine leaving it bare. So from there, my preference would be to use an in-the-wood finish while keeping it as light as possible.

So my list of options that I've come up with:
BLO
BLO/wax
BLO/turpentine
BLO/turpentine/wax
I've read that the BLO can attract mildew and maybe insects, so I'm not sure these will work for me.

A wiping varnish (I've got Formby's tung oil finish).

An oil/varnish (maybe Watco's Danish oil?)
A custom mixed oil/varnish?

I know this has been covered countless times and can predict some of the responses, so thank you in advance for looking at this.

[John Sanford]

Do the entire base in a marine varnish. You want maximum protection and flexibility. The base won't need to avoid being slippery like folks prefer for the top. Frankly, I would do the same to the top, including it's underside, then do a quick light sanding to give it some tooth.

[Scott Holmes]

I suggest an oil/varnish blend. I've been using that on my benches for manymany years and it has worked well in all cases. Mine don't sit on a wet floor. Instead of the hockey pucks you could also "fill" the leg bottoms by letting them soak up all the epoxy they can absorb.

[Ben W Werner]

Could you give some suggestions on products (marine varnish and oil/varnish)? There seems to be a wide variety of mixtures between the brands.

Will using a straight marine varnish pose any problems with flattening in the future?

When you say 'fill' the legs with epoxy - are you saying to use an actual epoxy? or to use an oil/varnish blend for that?

[Ben W Werner]

I see that some recommend the temperature to apply/cure the finish be around 70 degrees ... it might be another month or two before we get that in NY. This weekend will be mid 40's and into the 50's. Can this be done and cure?

[Scott Holmes]

Making your own oil/varnish blend is easy 1/3 oil (tung oil or boiled linseed oil) 1/3 varnish (it really doesn't matter what type of varnish you use for an oil /varnish blend) 1/3 mineral spirits. I normally use what every varnish I have left over sometimes even poly (wow! hard to believe for many I'm sure).

Watco Danish Oil is an oil/varnish blend, premixed and most have stain added for the different colors.

These are "in-the-wood" finishes; they are way too soft to build a useful film finish.

Yes use regular epoxy to fill the bottoms of the legs; the thinner you can find the better it fills. The term I've heard used is "potting" the legs.

[Howard Acheson]

A film finish (lacquer, shellac, varnish, poly varnish) is not the way to finish a workbench top. A workbench is going to get dinged and film finishes will crack or craze or be otherwise damaged. Once a film finish is penetrated, it looses its effectiveness and adjacent areas begin to fail. No treatment is going to make a soft wood benchtop harder. I much favor an "in the wood finish". Here are two that lots of folks find effective.

First, is an boiled linseed oil and wax finish. Sand the surface to 180 grit. Mix paraffin or bees wax into heated boiled linseed oil. USE A DOUBLE BOILER TO HEAT THE OIL. The ratio is not critical but about 5-6 parts of boiled linseed oil in a double boiler with one part paraffin or beeswax shaved in. Take it off the stove. Thin this mixture about 50/50 with mineral spirits to make a heavy cream like liquid. Apply this mixture to the benchtop liberally and allow to set overnight. Do it again the next day and again the following day if the top continues to absorb it. After a final overnight, lightly scrape off any excess wax and buff. This finish will minimize the absorbsion of any water and you can use a damp rag to wipe up any glue excess. Dried glue will pop right off the surface. Renewal or repair is easy. Just use a scraper to remove and hardened stuff, wipe down with mineral spirits using a 3/0 steel wool pad (a non-woven green or gray abrasive pad is better), wipe off the gunk and apply another coat of boiled linseed oil/wax mixture.

My personal preference is for an oil/varnish mixture treatment. Either use Minwax Tung Oil Finish, Minwax Antique oil or a homebrew of equal parts of boiled linseed oil, your favorite varnish or poly varnish and mineral spirits. Sand the benchtop up to 180 grit. Apply the mixture heavily and keep it wet for 15-30 minutes. Wipe off any excess completely. Let it dry overnight and the next day, apply another coat using a gray non-woven abrasive pad. Let it set and then wipe off any excess. Let this dry 48-72 hours. To prevent glue from sticking apply a coat of furniture paste wax and you're done. This treatment is somewhat more protective than the wax and mineral oil as the varnish component adds some protection from not only water both some other chemicals also. The waxing makes the surface a little more impervious to water so you can wipe up any liquid adhesive. It also allows hardened adhesive to be scraped off. Repair and renewal is easy. Just go throught the same scraping, wiping down with mineral spirits and reapplication of the BLO/varnish/mineral spirits mixture and an application of paste wax.

Both of the above treatments are quite protective but are easy to maintain and renew. They do not fail when the surface takes a ding.