best material for workbench top

My work bench is a sheet of plywood. When it gets cruddy, I flip it over, then new sheet. This is more of an assembly table. If you plan on doing more hand work, something more substantial would be better.

It depends on what you are using it for. Formica is Too slippery for hand tool work, but does a good job releasing glue if this is more of an assembly bench.

My work bench top is two sheets of 5'X5' baltic birch.
Just as CW says, when it gets to messed up I can just flip it, or buy a sheet.
I have a friend who makes his living as a woodworker. has a nice roubio style bench, and he keeps a sheet of 3/4" mdf screwed to it top. $30 sheet of mdf, replaces it as needed.

Tungoil is right. The laminate tops are to slick, and they chip easy. You will get more millage out of regular ply or mdf.

Shipright has a blog on making plywood workbench.

Rick that is an awesome bench! That landscape must be nice to have. I bet it weighs a ton too.

Thanks Bill….I appreciate the nice comment on the bench….Yes sir…..it's heavy, especially after I built the cabinet underneath. I can't move it. It must weigh about 500 pounds…. It has plenty of storage and drawers…..I have plenty of room in my shop for doing projects…..It's a 40×50 shop.

Mine is similar to Bill's but I used 1 1/8" subfloor plywood topped with 3/4" MDF which I seal with varathane. The MDF is fastened down with recessed screws. As mentioned above when the top looks ugly I flip it over and when both sides are shot I just get a new sheet of MDF.

"best"
depends of your needs/ the way you work, the money you want to spend, how long it must last, if you want a posh workbench, etc.
My bench-top is made of recycled laminated construction grade 47 X 75 mm rough saw boards planed with a hand plane.

My workbench/assembly bench is brown hardboard. It's the stuff they use for pegboard but without the holes. Shiny on one side. It's 1/4" thick but i hard stuff. I put it down with pin nails and pry it off if it needs replacing. You can sand the glue/paint off it too and it's still flat and hard. You need to good base for it though.

Ditto on the hardboard. Cheap, smooth, hard face, and can be flipped over to use the other side if the shape is right. If you want an all white surface for any reason, use white melamene coated hardboard. It is often used for a cheap washable bathroom wall covering. Also is resistant to most paints and thinners.

For a general purpose/assembly table, I also use a hardboard top. but I wax it with paste wax. Keep it waxed and wood glue doesn't stick much at all or is easily scrapped off.

Thanks, everyone.

From the several replies, it appears that the cheapest and easiest route for me will be to belt sand the high spots of the old 2×10 boards and attach a sheet of tempered hardboard (Masonite?) which when waxed will resist glue and paint sticking but still not be so slick that work pieces slide around too easily.

Would it matter whether 1/4" or 1/8" hardboard?

Thanks, everyone.

From the several replies, it appears that the cheapest and easiest route for me will be to belt sand the high spots of the old 2×10 boards and attach a sheet of tempered hardboard (Masonite?) which when waxed will resist glue and paint sticking but still not be so slick that work pieces slide around too easily.

Would it matter whether 1/4" or 1/8" hardboard?

- brucet999

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I'd go with 1/4" as long as it is good and flat. The heavier it is, the flatter it will lay under it's own weight.

While I recommend waxing if you're going to use it for assembly and gluing, the slicker surface will work against you for holding stuff down. Though if clamping down, I don't see a problem.

I find the wax does wear off pretty quick if you scrap off a lot of glue. So if you stop waxing, it will take care of itself over time anyway.

FYI, another good thing about waxing is if you spill water or something you have a chance to clean it up. Thinking about it now, I'm pretty sure I also put a coat or two of poly on mine before waxing.

But the whole point of the hardboard is to be removable and cheaply replaced. So I wouldn't sweat it either way.

Some great advice here. I'm leaning toward a 2×4 flat or stacked on end, glued and screwed or dowels. Then bringing it to my friend who sands floors and having him sand it smooth. The 42" is far too wide for a planer and Way to much work hand sanding the edges.

Ideas welcome.

Some great advice here. I'm leaning toward a 2×4 flat or stacked on end, glued and screwed or dowels. Then bringing it to my friend who sands floors and having him sand it smooth. The 42" is far too wide for a planer and Way to much work hand sanding the edges.

Ideas welcome.

- Remodlz

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So how big of a planer do you have access too?
I'm lucky enough to have access to a 24".
So 2 glue ups, and plane the 2 halves and dowel or domino them together.
Even a 13" planer and 4 glue ups. You can get very close.
Once its all glued up you can build a router sled to get it dead flat.
Also the wider the 2X, like a 2X8. the clean the boards tend to be. Less knots.

I've been in Rick's workshop and seen his workbenches. The man damn sure knows what he's talking about. He's got his shop so darn organized any of us should be in awe of him.

original post dated
03-09-2019