Preferred finish for shop carts etc

[Bill Littler]

This has probably been discussed before but my searches don't yield much. Just out of curiosity do most of you apply a finish to your shop items like carts, work benches and the like? How many of you leave them unfinished and if you do why? If you finish them what is your preference for a finish.

Happy Hump Day!

Bill

[Prashun Patel]

oil/varnish on my benchtop.. Resists glue, sweeps easy. Feels silky. Easy to fix.

Everything else: I am too lazy to finish.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I use several coats of wipe on poly. For shop tools and carts, I find them a good place to use up partial old cans of poly.

[Howard Acheson]

Shop items are the best place to practice finishing and try different finishes. In my personal shop, almost every item has a different finish and were applied with different techniques.

[Paul Lyons]

Happy Hump Day to you too Bill!

I like to use polyurethane on everything. No particular reason other than that's what I've always done.

[Robert Delhommer Sr]

Either unfinished or clear poly coat. It is going to get messed up anyway.

[glenn bradley]

On work surfaces I use BLO and some paste wax; it's not brittle so it doesn't scratch, its easy to refresh and drips don't stick. For carts, jigs, and fixtures I use shellac; cheap, easy to apply ad dries in under an hour. I don't use poly on my furniture so I don't generally have it around. If you have it handy, it is very abrasion resistant.

[John Hays]

I like to paint my shop stuff with oil enamel (i.e. Rust Stop by Ace Hardware).

For wood, I don't use any primer at all and just let the first coat soak in. After that dries, I usually skip sanding and roll or brush one more coat on. This process seems to make the surface pretty durable. And even though the paint only comes in gloss, the result is more like a semi-gloss, so it matches the factory finishes on my tools a little better.

For metal, I do use a primer coat and lightly sand it, but I use the spray cans. Then I'll spray two more coats without sanding. This gives the surface a slight texture and cuts down on the gloss effect.

I will say that the paint is a bit pricy ($10 per quart and $30 per gallon), but I'll only have to paint once... Rust Stop is tough stuff!

[Chris Damm]

The only finish on my shop carts is dust. The work bench has poly.

[Bill Littler]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm somewhat of a newbie in that I've only used the typical stains and poly topcoats. Think I'm going to try some 50/50 tung oil and mineral spirits on my planer cart this weekend. Been a busy summer and totally looking forward to a 3 day weekend with no plans other than to spend some time in the shop and with the family.

[Michael W. Clark]

I don't purposely finish any of my shop carts or jigs unless I am experimenting with stain/finish and they happen to be the same wood as the project or I have leftover stain/finish from a larger project that is not worth saving or can't be poured back.

[Prashun Patel]

Skip the MS. If you want to make it more wipeable, heat it first. Also, I'm tellin' ya, a little bit of wax or varnish in there will really speed your time to sealed/dry/hard...

[Thomas Bank]

Another vote for BLO, tung oil, or similar finish. Takes the abuse better than the poly finishes and easy to wipe on another coat if needed.

[Alan Bienlein]

I don't worry about finish for a shop cart or cabinet. I just find it pointless as its just gonna get banged up and possibly other finishes spilled on them.

[Frederick Skelly]

I use tung oil finish. Easy to apply. Easy to renew and to match while renewing it.

If I need glassy-smooth (router table top) I use poly.