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Nearing completion of my gunsmithing (actually just cleaning and other very amateur stuff) and reloading benches. The tops are cabinet grade oak veneer plywood. I plan to stain them and then seal them with what? Urethane? Polyurethane? Spar varnish? What? Please advise. Thanks. No Plea | ||
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My primary bench top is made from a laminated 2X4 beam and is 3.750 inches thick. To this I attached a piece of 1/8" Masonite. In 26 years of beating the crap out of it, it still looks great. If at some point I need to refinish it, I will just replace it. | |||
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Thanks, Malm. I hadn't thought of Masonite as a top layer, before now. I know what Masonite is but I've never worked with it. I presume it cuts like wood/plywood and is fairly oil/solvent resistent, yes? | |||
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I just covered my reloading bench and workbench and checkering work area in formica.....maybe I'll regret it but for now it's the way it is. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// "Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." Winston Churchill | |||
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I painted the top of mine with white epoxy paint. 2 sheets of 3/4" plywood over a 2x6 frame. Shiney, tough, reflects light and can be touched up every couple of years if needed. I had considered pouring a resin top but figure I can always try that later. placed 1/2" quarter round at the back to keep "stuff" from rolling off and a piece of aluminum angle across the front to do the same and protect the edge. Thaine "Begging hands and bleeding hearts will always cry out for more..." Ayn Rand "Life may not be the party we hoped for, but while we are here, we might as well dance" Jeanne C. Stein | |||
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Depends on what you use your bench top for...and what kind of ppearance you want. Mine are used both for all-around gun work and cleaning, and as "furniture". Because I like the look of nice wood, I made the bench tops of two layers of 1-1/2" oak plywood, and finished the entire benches with moisture-setting polyurethane. That stuff is self-levelling, fairly quick setting, and very sturdy. A common use of it is finishing wooden gym floors....parrticularly basketball courts. My country gal's just a moonshiner's daughter, but I love her still. | |||
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I finished my work bench top with mostly used auto transmission oil, plus some 90wt gear oil rubbed in, tad of moly grease, several spilled beers, some cola, squirt, laguer thinner, mineral spirits, enamal reducer, Paint, blood, etc, Looks great! | |||
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Yes it cuts like plywood and works great. FWIW, it ain't a gunsmithing bench unless there are oil stains, blood stains, a few wild hammer marks, some dried acraglass and one or two bullet holes! Uh, you might want to put the bullet holes in it before you tote it indoors.  | |||
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Oh yea,,, Bacon grease, barbaque sauce, fish scales and guts, etc is a must add to the finish. | |||
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My 12ft X 9ft "L' shaped bench has 2 x 12's for the top with 1/8 in electrical grade sheet fiberglass for a top.. Impervious to anything. | |||
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After building the clinic I had some formica left over. Easy to work with, and cheap. It helps if you have a router to put an angle on the top edge, but you can do it with a formica file ($5.00) and a few minutes of time:  LD  | |||
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Is the auto transmission fluid - gear oil -moly grease - beer - cola - lacquer thinner - paint -blood - bacon grease - BBQ sauce - fish scales and guts mixture best applied with brush, rag or sponge? And does it come in five gallon buckets? Other than the local French Culinary Arts store, who else carries it? -- No Plea | |||
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the use of a white surface gets my vote. my work area is ALL white, reflecting light evenly- compensates for my questionable vision  I use "white luan", 1/4 mahogany plywood with a "pre-primed" white side. I staple it to the bench top, and replace it when necessary. since it's white and replacable, I can draw on it, too. another addition to consider is a cloth drape with a dowel attached to the bottom edge- this can be drawn across your lap while sitting or standing at the bench to catch small screws, pins, etc if they fall. jewelers benches have this cloth on them for the obvious reasons. it is basically a cloth trough at the edge of the bench. | |||
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No Plea, I used a formulation somewhat like that employed by GSP7. In fact, in our younger years I do believe that he and I well may have gone to different schools together. Mine also included acraglass, BennMatte, Seafin Teak, 1,1,1 Trichloroethane, Diet root beer, olive oil and ketchup and mayonaise. It is not brushed, rubbed or wiped on, it has to be spilled onto the surface. It is imperative that the material not be spread around so that it is even and uniform, it would destroy the amibence. And each and every coat must have a slightly different forumulation. You never ever sand between coats, rather knock the glaze of with the claw end of a claw hammer. This is covered under fine gunsmithing by Atilla the Hun. | |||
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I tacked down carpet on mine. no scratches on my nice guns. | |||
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What color? | |||
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I used laminate flooring like pergo, reason why was the guy who installed it in my house did a pi$$ poor job Co. had to reinstall with new so I had all the extra. I then put sheet metal over the edges looks great cleans easy nothing soaks in. | |||
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I made a 2.5' x 7' reloading/gun work bench from 3/4" plywood topped with laminated 3' -5' strips on 3/4" Walnut, Purpleheart, Maple. Oak, Mahogany, and a couple of other oddball hardwoods glued to the top of the plywood. I edged the table top with 2"x2" pieces for Purpleheart. I routed a groove an inch in all around the sides & front to stop brass from rolling off. Finished it off with about 10 coats on Tung oil Polyurathane finish. Still looks good aftere 1 1/2 years, but if the finish starts to get beat up I may try Marine Epoxy.  If you couldn't tell, I love working with wood. I just couldn't put a nice walnut stocked rifle on an ugly plywood work bench. Life's too short to shoot ugly guns AND to work on them on an ugly bench!  Lance Lance Larson Studio lancelarsonstudio.com | |||
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We are talking about a “work†bench...right? | |||
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Nobody said a "work" bench has to be Ugly. It definitely gets worked on. True "Hardwood" can take a beating and still look good. Made with all scrap wood from other projects. Lance Lance Larson Studio lancelarsonstudio.com | |||
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I’m just “funning†with ya! I have nicer cabnets and benches in my garage/shop that allot of people have in their kitchens. | |||
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Rick03311 , Have you scronged lumber and crap off movie sets? Those movie basturds sure do waste alot of good materials. They were filmin a movie with nicoles gage up at the lookout restruant up hwy 18 toward arrowhead and built a big storefront or something next to the restraunt. I drove by it last weekend and they just bulldozed at least $10-20 thou in new lumber and materials into a a big pile of waste. Unbelievable! | |||
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Nope, I just stole their money! | |||
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I think my top is some sort of black marbalized epoxy paint, but since I can't remember the last time I actuallly saw it, I don't really know. It started life fine oak laboratory desk, and was still in good shape when I got it at auction. The structure is still very strong, but I'll be dammed if I can see the top. Roger | |||
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Here is what your bench should look like after 30 years; & I just cleaned it up too!  In all seriousness though the BEST top for a work bench is old rail road box car flooring.  Doug Humbarger NRA Life member Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club 72'73. Yankee Station Try to look unimportant. Your enemy might be low on ammo. | |||
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My bench top is 3X8 truck decking. I let in steel plates with various hole patterns tapped for 3/8 bolts. I then covered this with 3/4 plywood with pullout sections over the steel plates. Fastened with sunk and filled finish nails. Finished with Varathane. All of my reloading tools are mounted on steel plates that clip into brackets in a closed cabinet. To use the tools, I remove the plywood cover from the bench and fasten the tool with a couple of bolts. Takes about a minute or so to set up. I built this bench 23 years ago and wouldn't change a thing. Dave | |||
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This sounds alot like my last stock finishing job.......... "Bitte, trinks du nicht das Wasser. Dahin haben die Kuhen gesheissen." | |||
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D Humbarger - I really appreciate that picture. It soothes my inner man to know that mine isn't the only work bench that looks like that. "I ask, sir, what is the Militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effective way to enslave them" - George Mason, co-author of the Second Amendment during the Virginia convention to ratify the Constitution | |||
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 I went the epoxy resin route But like the Formica or Masonite ideas better.  rogerOld age is a high price to pay for maturity!!! Some never pay and some pay and never reap the reward. Wisdom comes with age! Sometimes age comes alone.. | |||
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Picked up a mail sorting table and shelves from a sale at the Post Office. Covered half of the bench top with 1/2" steel plate, then filled in the other half with plywood, over all that put down tempered masonite. I can change out the covering when/if I beat it up too bad to be servicable, (about an hour after they throw dirt on my box I would imagine). "It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress." Mark Twain | |||
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I wauld just give the bench a good sanding,you don't want things too slip and slide away. Liberty is worth whatever the country is worth. It is by liberty that man has a country; it is by liberty he has rights." -- Henry Giles Rifleman. | |||
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Got some maple work bench tops from Grizzly, they are great. They came with a finish on them, but they have some stuff called 'Good Stuff' Tops & Good Stuff I'd try it--the tops are really great, got 5 of em now! | |||
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