Hey, all.

I have a home-built worktable that I built out of 3/4" mdf and some
2x6s.

I use it for a variety of light duty tasks - painting/staining, gluing,
cutting stuff with box cutters.

I haven't been all that worried about marring up the surface; if it
gets really bad I'll just fill the scratches and repaint it. At this
point, it's got the requisite number of glue splotches, paint smear and
cuts on it.

But I'm wondering if there might be some kind of tougher surfacing I
could use, that would be more cut/scratch/gouge - resistant than
painted mdf.

I'm thinking of rolls of lino-type stuff that I'd glue on, or something
like that roll-on pickup truck liner stuff - something that would give
me a really tough surface. I'm not really concerned about aesthetics.

I'm in Western Canada, so stuff that would be tough to get here likely
won't fly.

Any brilliant products out there that someone would care to plug?

Thanks!

BD

BD,
I've found that the best surface for bench tops are the engineered wood
flooring, at Menards for approx. $28 a box (one should do you).
This stuff is great, takes a beating, glue wipes right up and is very
easy to install...chose the floating flooring that snaps together....
Hope that helps.
JP

triumph62 wrote:
BD,
I've found that the best surface for bench tops are the engineered wood
flooring, at Menards for approx. $28 a box (one should do you).
This stuff is great, takes a beating, glue wipes right up and is very
easy to install...chose the floating flooring that snaps together....
Hope that helps.
JP

Interesting. I don't think we have Menard's up here; but I'll see if I
can track down specifically what they have, and ask at Home Depot or
something, which we do have in my city.

I just went to Menard's web site, and I do see a "Boreal Laminate
Flooring", for $1.29/sq.ft. Is that similar to what you have in mind?

Thanks!!

I made my table top out of unfinished 3/4" t&g hardwood flooring -- in my
case, Jatoba, because I had a lot of it lying around -- over a plywood
underlayment. Regards --
"BD" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hey, all.

I have a home-built worktable that I built out of 3/4" mdf and some
2x6s.

I use it for a variety of light duty tasks - painting/staining, gluing,
cutting stuff with box cutters.

I haven't been all that worried about marring up the surface; if it
gets really bad I'll just fill the scratches and repaint it. At this
point, it's got the requisite number of glue splotches, paint smear and
cuts on it.

But I'm wondering if there might be some kind of tougher surfacing I
could use, that would be more cut/scratch/gouge - resistant than
painted mdf.

I'm thinking of rolls of lino-type stuff that I'd glue on, or something
like that roll-on pickup truck liner stuff - something that would give
me a really tough surface. I'm not really concerned about aesthetics.

I'm in Western Canada, so stuff that would be tough to get here likely
won't fly.

Any brilliant products out there that someone would care to plug?

Thanks!

BD

Get yourself a piece of tempered hardboard, put a few coats of poly on it
and tack or spot glue it to the surface of the mdf.

Nearly indestructible and can easily be recoated or replaced when needed.


"BD" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hey, all.

I have a home-built worktable that I built out of 3/4" mdf and some
2x6s.

I use it for a variety of light duty tasks - painting/staining, gluing,
cutting stuff with box cutters.

I haven't been all that worried about marring up the surface; if it
gets really bad I'll just fill the scratches and repaint it. At this
point, it's got the requisite number of glue splotches, paint smear and
cuts on it.

But I'm wondering if there might be some kind of tougher surfacing I
could use, that would be more cut/scratch/gouge - resistant than
painted mdf.

I'm thinking of rolls of lino-type stuff that I'd glue on, or something
like that roll-on pickup truck liner stuff - something that would give
me a really tough surface. I'm not really concerned about aesthetics.

I'm in Western Canada, so stuff that would be tough to get here likely
won't fly.

Any brilliant products out there that someone would care to plug?

Thanks!

BD

On 19 Jun 2006 14:38:55 -0700, "BD" wrote:

Hey, all.

I have a home-built worktable that I built out of 3/4" mdf and some
2x6s.

I use it for a variety of light duty tasks - painting/staining, gluing,
cutting stuff with box cutters.

I haven't been all that worried about marring up the surface; if it
gets really bad I'll just fill the scratches and repaint it. At this
point, it's got the requisite number of glue splotches, paint smear and
cuts on it.

But I'm wondering if there might be some kind of tougher surfacing I
could use, that would be more cut/scratch/gouge - resistant than
painted mdf.

I'm thinking of rolls of lino-type stuff that I'd glue on, or something
like that roll-on pickup truck liner stuff - something that would give
me a really tough surface. I'm not really concerned about aesthetics.

I'm in Western Canada, so stuff that would be tough to get here likely
won't fly.

Any brilliant products out there that someone would care to plug?

Melamine is good for gluing, as the glue will just pop right off.
It's not very good as far as cutting/gouging goes though.
Hardboard/Masonite is another way to go. Whatever you do make it
easily removable and when it gets too beat up either flip it over to
the other side if possible or toss it and slap on a new one.


-Leuf

BD wrote:
Hey, all.

I have a home-built worktable that I built out of 3/4" mdf and some
2x6s.

I use it for a variety of light duty tasks - painting/staining,
gluing, cutting stuff with box cutters.

I haven't been all that worried about marring up the surface; if it
gets really bad I'll just fill the scratches and repaint it. At this
point, it's got the requisite number of glue splotches, paint smear
and cuts on it.

But I'm wondering if there might be some kind of tougher surfacing I
could use, that would be more cut/scratch/gouge - resistant than
painted mdf.

Almost anything. But anything is going to get bunged up. Which gives you
two possibilities...

1. Something replaceable such as hardboard, melamine, laminate, etc. over a
permanent sub-strate. The melamine and laminate are pretty good as far as
getting off glue - especially if waxed - and hold up quite a while to casual
cutting.

2. Something with a renewable surface such as solid wood...when it gets too
messed up for your taste just scrape or sand.

Any surface will hold up better for gluing/painting if you first cover it
with a cheap plastic tarp. I also cover mine with low loop commercial
carpet when I am sanding...prevents surface dents from bits and pieces of
stray wood.


--

dadiOH
____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.06...
....a help file of info about MP3s, recording from
LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that.
Get it at http://mysite.verizon.net/xico

I did a full work table in HPL(high pressure laminate) and
while it looked wonderful when I did it, it now looks pretty
shabby with all that glue,stains,poly,shellac and WD-40 from
cleaning saw blades. It's true that the glue pops right up
but the finishing DOES NOT.

I think I'll rip that off and use tempered hardboard next
time. It will come off much easier for the next resurfacing.

I also have started using rolls of brown construction paper
on my work tables to cut down on the clean up process.



BD wrote:

Hey, all.

I have a home-built worktable that I built out of 3/4" mdf and some
2x6s.

I use it for a variety of light duty tasks - painting/staining, gluing,
cutting stuff with box cutters.

I haven't been all that worried about marring up the surface; if it
gets really bad I'll just fill the scratches and repaint it. At this
point, it's got the requisite number of glue splotches, paint smear and
cuts on it.

But I'm wondering if there might be some kind of tougher surfacing I
could use, that would be more cut/scratch/gouge - resistant than
painted mdf.

I'm thinking of rolls of lino-type stuff that I'd glue on, or something
like that roll-on pickup truck liner stuff - something that would give
me a really tough surface. I'm not really concerned about aesthetics.

I'm in Western Canada, so stuff that would be tough to get here likely
won't fly.

Any brilliant products out there that someone would care to plug?

Thanks!

BD

2. Something with a renewable surface such as solid wood...when it gets too
messed up for your taste just scrape or sand.

Yeah, the more I think about it the more I think that just painted MDF
might be good enough for the long haul. I do have gouges and nicks and
glue spots and all that other mess; but really - a quick
sand/fill/paint, and I'm pretty much back to nominal in half a day. ;-)