What's a good surface for a workshop?

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
I'm looking for something that won't melt or stain. Has to be pretty tough but doesn't need to be rock hard.


What do I want
 

lozina

Lifer
Sep 10, 2001
11,711
8
81
Oh thought you meant flooring... but they do make concrete counter tops

My dream workshop would have diamond plate counters
 

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
71,367
30,961
136
Woodwork mostly or metal?

Painted steel is pretty nice.

Used to have one that was a hardwood core in a dense fiberboard sandwich. It worked pretty well. The surface was rough so stuff didn't roll around. The hardwood core kept it from warping.
 
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Tiamat

Lifer
Nov 25, 2003
14,068
5
71
I made a torsion table top from mdf and have 1/4" hardboard as a replaceable skin on top of the torsion table. The edge facing of my torsion table top (1x poplar strips) is 1/4" oversized so that the hardboard sits flush.
 

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
Woodwork mostly or metal?

Painted steel is pretty nice.

Used to have one that was a hardwood core in a dense fiberboard sandwich. It worked pretty well. The surface was rough so stuff didn't roll around. The hardwood core kept it from warping.


Electronics repair. My current bench is MDF and I hate it. Everything stains it. Spilled a little coffee and it warped.
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
69,311
13,047
126
www.anyf.ca
If this is for soldering and stuff, wood will be fine, the nice thing with wood is that it's cheap, so when it gets too worn you replace it. MDF works well too, the surfacing they put on it will resists most burns.

Of course there are better things like metal but wood/mdf is cheap.
 

phucheneh

Diamond Member
Jun 30, 2012
7,306
5
0
Nothing that conducts electricity for a work bench! NO!

Be more careful. I've done plenty of electronics work on stainless...a good stainless top with some rubber mats or something when needed seems preferable to something made of wood or another non-conductive material.

I would generally consider a good stainless top (meaning, basically, stainless formed over a hardwood or dense composite) as the best for general use. For 'heavy duty' use, I would say just straight steel with lots of reinforcement- that's if you're going to mount a benchvise to it and generally use it as an area for hammering the fuck out of shit.
 

disappoint

Lifer
Dec 7, 2009
10,132
382
126
Whatever they make those school lab tables out of. I have forgotten the name of that stuff.
 

disappoint

Lifer
Dec 7, 2009
10,132
382
126
[fake Wolverine]

MMEEETT-TAAALLLL

[/fake Wolverine]

Good news is you won't get any static buildup with MMMMEEETTT TTTAAALL

bad news is if you work with high enough voltage and you power it up on that bench it could arc right through your rubber mat into the bench. Sniff sniff.... do I smell something burning?