Best finish for a hand tool workbench?

[Jason White]

Just finished building my new Roubo-style workbench. I made it out of solid ash. Want to put some type of oil-based finish on it, mostly to keep glue from sticking to the top. I've been told to avoid film finishes like polyurethane. Is tung oil a good choice?

[mike stenson]

If I put a finish on, it's just a 50/50 mix of linseed oil and whatever solvent I happen to have on hand. Item and done. It's going to be abraded, stained, and eventually planed off again soon enough anyway.

btw, if I had tung oil, that's what I'd use. I tend to not though.. but I almost always have linseed on hand.

[Jimmy Harris]

There are personal preferences, but not really a right or wrong here. Something like poly would probably offer the most protection. But some people might complain about it being too slick. However, if you don't build up too many layers, and/or thinned it out enough, it wouldn't fill in the pores completely, and leave you some texture. And then people make work benches out of closed pore woods like hard maple, which tend to be pretty slick, even without a finish. But they don't complain about the texture. So how much that matters is up for debate. You could also try something like shellac, which is much less slick than other synthetic finishes, especially thinned out. And you could sand any slick finish with a course grit sandpaper to give it some grip. On the opposite end, something like BLO wouldn't offer much protection at all, but would leave the wood to feel more like natural wood. And it might still offer enough protection, depending on how you treat your bench. You just kind of have to figure out what you want your balance to be between protection and surface texture. From there, you've probably got a couple of options to choose from that will get you what you need. It might even be wise to mix your own formulas and try it on some scrap, so you can fine tune the amount of protection and texture to suit your needs.

Personally, I just went with Watco Teak Oil on my hard maple bench. Hard maple doesn't like to absorb finish too easily, and Watco Teak Oil is heavy on the solvent, so it's really thin, which helps with absorption in dense, close-pore woods like hard maple. It also has some BLO and a little bit of a varnish of some kind to give it more strength than just BLO alone, as well as some UV protection. So I chose it for how thin it was and for the UV protection, because I have some elements of padauk in there. It works pretty well in that it doesn't build up a surface (so long as you don't apply too much), but does harden and offer more protection than BLO alone. So it doesn't feel exactly like raw wood (harder), but it has a texture like raw wood. It's not cheap though. And if it weren't for the padauk, I'd probably have gone with a Danish oil or mixed my own. But I wanted the UV protection element. Also, I do tend to lean slightly towards protection over surface texture, as it's my only benchtop to work off of.

[Ben Ellenberger]

I don’t try to keep my bench “nice”, and it is just made out of construction-grade Douglas fir. I used BLO, and typically wipe a little more on whenever I’ve got a rag with some left over. Once or twice I’ve done the same with a rag of danish oil. I tend to mix my danish oil heavier with BLO than varnish.

I would not want to use a bench with a film finish.

[Eric Brown]

I also like teak oil, but there is something else to consider. Do you have good ventilation? Can you open windows or something? Some finishes stink, to be blunt. My wife really hates some of them. So I typically wait for good weather and finish outside.
My bench is in the basement so thats out. No finish works better than you think. Just be careful with glue and put plastic down before finishing on top of it.

[John C Cox]

I'm not much of a fan of non-drying oils, or very slow drying oils for that matter. They tend to pick up dust and stray grit. If it was mine, I'd give it a quick swipe with some Minwax wipe on poly and leave happy.

[mike stenson]

that's why the 50% solvent mix. It dries faster, generally over night.. at least in my shop.

[William Fretwell]

I finished mine the first time with smoking hot BLO, it gets absorbed very well. Apply with metal tongs and wire wool.
It does add a depth of colour to the wood. Yours will be very light at the moment.
After the first BLO oiling I just use Tung oil once in a while.
The finish is not slippery.

[Paul Saffold]

A really nice French polish would be great. Start now and you might have the grain filled by 4/1/2025.

[Andrew Hughes]

I like the smell of mineral oil and linseed oil. Once a year I tru up the top of my bench and mix whatever half cans I have left over. Except Rubio monocoat it’s too expensive
Good Luck

[Derek Cohen]

A single coat of Danish Oil or similar. This is just to offer some protection against glue drips and other avoidable marking. The top will be planed down - I do mine yearly - and you want a finish that is not difficult to remove with a hand plane.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Prashun Patel]

Any finish will work as long as you apply only a single coat. I am partial to oil based varnish because it applies conveniently with a rag and can be rubbed in, and dries completely.

[Zach Dillinger]

I have 50/50 turpentine and BLO on mine.

[Warren Mickley]

I have never put a finish on my bench. I made it in 1979.

[Jim Koepke]

When it is time to glue something or other messy work, my stash of cardboard supplies protection to the bench surface.

jtk