Workbench Finish Question

[Don Rogers]

My first workbench is nearing completion and I am wondering “what to use as a finish”?

The bench is made almost entirely of premium 2 by’s bought from the borg and as far as I know are spruce. That is what I was told by the salesman. Anyway, this lumber has a pinkish or reddish tint and is fairly straight grained. The legs are 4” square yellow pine made from an 8” square x 42” long picked up at the recycling center. The top is glued together 2 by’s which are 3-1/8” thick , almost as flat as I need but may need some surface planing. This bench is more sturdy than I imagined. The top seems to be very hard but I would try to protect it from denting by direct pounding.

I am not interested in a furniture type finish as the workbench will be a “user” , not a showpiece. I’m thinking something like an oil finish. Also something that would not make the bench unusable for any long length of time. What would you use?

Don

[Dave huber]

Posted here and elsewhere. Wax and turpentine.
smells nice, too.

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Sealers & Waxes Part 3 – Wax Polish Recipes

In this article you’ll see how easy it is to make your own wax paste finishes as we share two recipes which you can adapt to your own needs.

Skill level: 3 – Moderate skills required
Published on: 04 August, 2012
Written by: Ben Plewes

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Safety Note

Turpentine is highly flammable. Keep all flammable ingredients well away from any source of ignition. In this article we’ll be using hot water as our heat source to avoid any risk of fire. Never heat flammable substances directly with a cooker or naked flame.

Recipe Two – Hardwearing Wax Paste Polish

Ingredients needed:
25 grams beeswax
25 grams paraffin wax
Tablespoon of carnauba wax
130 ml pure turpentine

This recipe is slightly more complicated. I have added paraffin wax to demonstrate how you can keep the cost down. Paraffin wax is an excellent filler wax and a lot cheaper than solid beeswax.

Carnauba wax is extremely hard wearing. It’s used in car wax, shoe polish and even confectionary. It’s useful in furniture wax because of its toughness which makes the wax finish more resilient. The downside is that its melting point – at 82 - 86 degrees Celsius – is among the highest of natural waxes so it takes longer to dissolve.

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Above left to right: Adding grated carnauba wax. Adding more turpentine. Mix until melted.


As before, to make the wax, measure out the ingredients then set them aside away from any cooking equipment. Bring a saucepan of water to the boil then turn off the cooker and move the saucepan to a hot plate. Place a heat resistant mixing bowl in the water then add the carnauba wax first, followed by half of the pure turpentine. Gently stir until the carnauba wax has dissolved. If you find then the need for more heat to melt the carnauba wax, boil a kettle away from from the mixture the replace the water. Once melted, add the remaining turpentine followed by the beeswax and paraffin wax. Stir the mixture until the consistency is even. Next, remove the mixing bowl from the hot water and transfer to a suitable lidded storage container before covering and setting aside to cool for several hours.

Making your own wax polish is very rewarding. I find the quality is unsurpassed too. I’ve not found a commercially available pre-mixed wax polish better than I can make at my bench on a rainy Saturday morning. With such freedom to customise and experiment it’s another area of woodworking that you can easily make your own.

Link to Part 1 – Sanding Sealers
Link to Part 2 – Wax Finishes

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[Jim Matthews]

I use Shellac, only on my workbench top.

It's enough to keep spattered glue, paste wax and machine oil from penetrating the surface.
I find that harder finishes get "slick" in the humid months.

Some have made benches nicer than my furniture, and finish them to a high gloss.
I put screws in mine, saw through them and drop sharp stuff all the time.

No sense in making that pretty.

[Darren Brewster]

I found no need to use any finish at all on my bench. I still don't regret that decision.

[ken hatch]

I'm in the stay away from anything that makes the top "slick" or "shine" group. Bare is good as is a coat of BLO or other drying oil. Remember the main job of a work bench is being a large clamp.

[Pat Barry]

I did the BLO on my laminated Ash top and then applied Johnson paste wax. It is slippery but I use it as an outfeed assist for my table saw so its nice that way and any glue spills and any other spills wipe right off. For me, the use of the benchtop as being a clamping device is not number 1 priority although the simple bench dogs work great coupled with my vice. I do not use holddowns currently so that may make a difference, I don't know.

[Brian Holcombe]

I used an oil finish on mine....mostly because I accidentally dumped over a container of waterlox on the top and decided to put it to use.

Lemons into lemonade...

[Don Rogers]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. They all sound acceptable. Shellac for one, would be quick and easy, as would and oil finish and either one should serve my purpose.


One thing about BLO concerns me and that is spontaneous combustion of the application cloths. If BLO would be used and I was careful to immediately put the application cloths outside in a bucket of water, would there be any chance of the BLO on the bench catching fire?


I think the answer is obvious to me because lots of wood items are finished with BLO and are apparently safe from spontaneous combustion. I’m just scared of fire in my shop.


Another question - Jim’s shellac suggestion is appealing in that it is fast and can be easily reapplied. Would BLO or some other oil finish be satisfactory either after or before shellac? If so it seems like it may offer more protection than just one or the other and may last longer.


Don’t mean to seem fussy about this - the bench is a tool, not a piece of furniture.


Of course, I could always accidentally spill a can of some type finish on the bench (like Brian did ) and the problem would be solved. That would be funny - it has happened before to me. With my luck, it would be a can of black paint.

Don

[dan sherman]

One thing about BLO concerns me and that is spontaneous combustion of the application cloths. If BLO would be used and I was careful to immediately put the application cloths outside in a bucket of water, would there be any chance of the BLO on the bench catching fire?

BLO isn't that dangerous, all you need to do is lay the rag out flat when you are done with it. Society has some how created this super myth around how dangerous oil finishes are. Your bench won't catch fire.

[Jim Davenport]

I used Watco danish oil on mine.

[bridger berdel]

My first workbench is nearing completion and I am wondering “what to use as a finish”?

The bench is made almost entirely of premium 2 by’s bought from the borg and as far as I know are spruce. That is what I was told by the salesman. Anyway, this lumber has a pinkish or reddish tint and is fairly straight grained. The legs are 4” square yellow pine made from an 8” square x 42” long picked up at the recycling center. The top is glued together 2 by’s which are 3-1/8” thick , almost as flat as I need but may need some surface planing. This bench is more sturdy than I imagined. The top seems to be very hard but I would try to protect it from denting by direct pounding.

I am not interested in a furniture type finish as the workbench will be a “user” , not a showpiece. I’m thinking something like an oil finish. Also something that would not make the bench unusable for any long length of time. What would you use?

Don

for a brand new workbench, make up a batch of your favorite oil base stuff- linseed, varnish, tung if you're feeling flush, even polyurethane or what have you- but thin it way down so that it will penetrate. apply liberally and let it stand wet for a while before you rub it down. let it dry for a few days. repeat as necessary for the porosity of your benchtop. don't let this build a film, just get it to penetrate deeply.

once that is done, use the bench as hard as you want. when it starts looking a bit worn, do a project that requires an oil finish. start by lightly scraping the benchtop to get off any glue drips or whatever, and clean it pretty well. then do your finishing job, and go ahead and follow through with the bench top.

[Jim Koepke]

Would BLO or some other oil finish be satisfactory either after or before shellac?

I am definitely not an expert on finishing. Maybe someone else who is will chime in.

My understanding about BLO is that it can be applied before just about any kind of finish.

Some finishes can seal the surface so BLO will not soak in or other finishes might not adhere.

It is also my understanding that shellac makes a good sealer for woods like fir either as the top finish or used like a primer for other finishes.

If it were mine, some BLO and turpentine, mixed about 50/50, would be fine.

Do not wad any rags used in the process. Lay or hang them flat or as you mentioned, toss them in a bucket of water. BLO and other finishing oils create heat as they polymerize. Keeping the heat from getting trapped is how to prevent combustion. I save the rags because they make good polishing rags when they dry and get a little stiff.

jtk

[John Crawford]

Looking for an easy, bottled, home-center solution, I put some of the Minwax "Antique Oil" finish on my SWP bench. (I'm obviously not a finishing expert.) This looks good, seems durable enough, and is easy to repair. It was too slick for a while, but now seems fine....

[Tom M King]

I wanted one to look like it didn't have a finish, but really have a durable finish, so I wiped on a couple of coats of Bona Naturale, but I had some leftover from a floor job. I wouldn't spend 115 bucks a gallon on bench finish. It's some sort of acid cure lacquer, adds as little darkening, or color, to any wood as anything I've ever seen, and pretty durable too since it's a commercial floor finish.

[Winton Applegate]

no need to use any finish at all on my bench. I still don't regret that decision.

+ 2
No finish on my 2 x 4 bench / planing beams.
More emphatically no finish on my purple heart Klausz bench.

Finish makes the surface slippier, the oposit of what I want. Most all of the in the wood finishes are not going to protect it from stains (Malloof finish might). A good bench gets planed from time to time to keep it flat anyway.

No finish.