Work bench coverings
 

I'm getting close to completing my new work benches (made with pallet racks). The benches/shelves are made with 3/4" plywood so I'd like to cover them with something durable and reasonably priced.

In the past I've used sheet aluminum, treadmill tread, asphalt floor tile, self-healing cutting mats, basically whatever I could find. I've got about 40 feet of bench to cover this time, about 3 feet deep.

Any suggestions? My wife thought some kind of vinyl flooring might work. They won't receive much abuse or heavy work. Of my previous solutions the treadmill tread was nice. Want something that lays down nice (flexible), doesn't require adhesive and is reasonably immune to oil etc.
Thanks

Find a belting supply company close by.
So many options and you might be able to find a drop that will cover in on piece.

You can spend some time on here looking at a variety of materials and see if anything suits your needs. McMaster Carr is my go to for research. I don't always buy from them, but love the catalog. https://www.mcmaster.com/products/ru...heets/rubber~/

Your wife is correct. Lowe's has the 12' long rolls of flooring, that is quite affordable, durable, and real nice to work on.

Easy to cut to shape, easy to replace after a few years.

Perhaps she can pick the pattern. :)

check for stainless countertops from restaurants, etc. Most of the stuff gets scrapped, you can find a smokin deal if you're patient. I was just offered another one last week, free.

One of my rolling workbenches has a white Formica(?) kitchen countertop on it. Its great for detail work since the parts are harder to lose! Its my own personal official Cliff Ruggles Memorial Qjet Repair Facility. Well, except for the part where he's still alive. Maybe it needs a different name.

I use to stainless tops at local junk yard.never thought to get them. Ugh! A friend gave me a small piece of stainless works well. I'd ck restaurant supply sheet metal shops for left overs stainless they want rid of.

I'll take another look at McMaster .... cause they do call me Mr. McMaster around here :)

I'm hesitant about using metal again, I do a lot of electrical work and tend to pick whatever free bench space I can find ..I've had some unwelcome surprises when I forget the bench is a conductor.

Going to give the flooring another look, at about $1 a square foot it's pretty affordable, just hope it lays down without adhesive and doesn't curl on the edges, and so many faux patterns to choose from :)

I fold up a piece of 22ga galvanized in the duct shop, put a 4" lip down and one 4" in the back. I'm on my second one. First one last 16 years. Resistant to all chemicals.

A piece of trim at the leading of edge of the
bench (angle iron?) will keep it in place. Kinda
sounds like you could use a couple of different
covers. Have one in SS for oily stuff, bare wood
for the stuff that's gonna get smacked with a
hammer/drilled, laminate for the pretty things,
and so on.

i made a top from a bowling ally. Sure was pretty but that was 30 yrs. ago. Could always sand and refinish.

for the size and the price and the rear lip, this approach is hard to beat:

Yes, actually I could use a couple of different surface types.

Bear in mind my benches are made from pallet racks, so the 3/4" ply is dropped between the horizontal beams. The front and back edge of all the benches is the steel pallet beam itself.

Another PY users metioned tempered hardboard, something I hadn't thought about, but have used in the past. Extremely affordable at pennies a square foot, was thinking with a couple coats of poly that might make a nice surface.

Most heavy work will be done on the welding table, 4 x 8 foot, 1/2" steel plate.

Here are some photos of the working end of the shop. Still a terrible mess, most things just put wherever I could find room for them at the moment. Just barely started sorting things out into the areas where they need to go.

https://i.imgur.com/tFAcA4J.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/npqnWFv.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/lwabBYH.jpg

Everything is on wheels. I really like that!

My vote would be for the tempered hardboard with a white finish. Its bright, nice and smooth and easy to wipe clean. Durable as well. After a few years if its starting to look bad just get new. My shop is mainly woodworking which is my day job. My main bench top is a recycled Plam (formica) flush door. It has been there for over 30 yrs now. Almost indestructible, every once in a while I take a scraper over it to clean then its good as new again. I also have a 4 x 8 work table that gets the most use. It is a piece of 3/4 a/c plywood. I put a piece of 'ram board' which is a floor protector on top when I was doing some painting 3 or 4 years ago. Same piece is still there but could be replaced as is starting to get shabby.

Formica might be a good option too. I know things don't like to stick to it, oil and such is no problem, and usually pretty cheap.

I'm getting nervous, every time I put something on one of the "raw" benches I realize I'm going to have to move it off to put on a surface.

PS. Just checked on formica sheet, about $1.50 a square foot, so not bad. Guessing I'd have to glue it down, at least enough to hold it in place.

I'm guessing the decision will be made as I walk through Lowes, touching and fondling the various materials.

That is impressive progress since you moved in!

Must be both exciting and daunting.

You have so much space it makes sense to me for multiple surface materials to match the jobs. I can see the value of a metal top for a lot of what you do. I like the idea of the galvanized sheet used for HVAC. I'm ignorant but sounds a good option over plywood.

We also moved and I finally have enough room for a small workbench in my garage so I'm building one. I like wood, even though it might get destroyed, so I have a plywood top for the structure. When I thought about the top, I was thinking hardwood.

I found a flooring chain going out of business and they were almost giving away small lots... too small for a floor, but more than enough for a work-top. I ended up buying some 4" wide 3/4" red oak flooring at about 20% of normal and plan to glue it on top of the plywood, finishing with urethane.

I like the idea of the masonite (thanks TAKerry!).. if it comes pre-finished in white, that would be a winner. I will look into this as a cover when I have a messy project! Hardyboard is surprisingly durable but kind of pricy IMO. I will probably have a roll of masking paper if I'm staining, painting, stripping, whatever, and want a disposable option - like the medical offices that roll on a new cover after every exam.

Hope you are enjoying your new place!

In a perfect world the whole shop would be wood. That's what I had for years and so handy when you need a new place to put something you just screwed in a 3" screw with enough sticking out to hang it.

I'm still trying to get used to the metal and bright lights, so far not the kind of place that's comfortable to just hang out and mess around, always feel like I have to be working on something.

I've seen 100 year old hardwood bench tops still going strong, red oak will wear like iron. I've cut and split a ton of them over the years, incredibly tough wood.

The electrical work was a pain, and is still a pain as it's not finished. Wire isn't cheap these days, and running it all through conduit makes it worse.

Picked up four sheets of the white finished, tempered hardboard today, going to give it a shot. Plan on 3d printing a bunch of plastic bottom corners for any metal parts bins to keep them from scoring the surface.

Also picked up the 4' x 8' x 1/2" steel plate for the welding table. Wrestled that 650 lb piece into place on the rolling stand. Now I'll have to figure out how to ensure it stays as level and flat as possible.

Yikes, that's an awkward hunk of steel to be moving around !!!

What kind of lights did you install?