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Hi and thanks for looking. I have to contrive a new top for my workbench and it has to be fast and cheap - will MDF (2 inch thick in this case) do the trick?
1st requirement is for it to be flat and stable, as i seldom work directly over the workbench (most of the time i use one of many plywood work-boards) i guess its softness won´t be much of an issue, but still i fear that it could be too soft for work ... anyone around works with a MDF topped workbench and cares to share his opinion? pros / cons?


Thanks in advance.
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I framed my benches, leveled them and put down 3/4" plywood. I then put down 3/4" MDF and trimmed the edge in oak. I love the smooth surface and it's easy to put screws in to hold jigs. When it becomes too rough/riddled with holes, I'll just replace the MDF.

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Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgement.

I had a MDF topped workbench for a number of years. It's fine for Guitar making stuff, which is light work compared to furniture making. Just make sure it's sealed with a water resistant varnish.

MDF with a laminate on top will be hard enough and easy to clean. My main work bench is particle board with a HPL top, and going on 5 years with no problem.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

thanks guys, good to know. good tip on the varnish. the only one i have at hand is danish oil - will it do the trick?

thanks,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

I would use a harder finish like water or oil based polyurethane. I use it on hdwd benchs , jigs and molds more waterproof scratch and solvent resistant than the danish oil which offers imho little protection but looks nice.

His Danish Oil may well be Polyurethane.

I have an MDF bench top left natural. It works fine but does take on dirt and spills easily. I should probably put some finish on it but just never got around to doing it. I imagine if you spill a whole glass of water or something it would swell up and need to be replaced. So yeah, a finish would be good, and I think it would make a superb bench top with finish.

MDF is compressed paper, so I wouldn't use water based poly on it, at least not without a seal coat.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I used to use it for my assembly table but it gets beat up too fast so now I use particle board. Good particle board is plenty flat and way tougher.
L.

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Cut to size.....Beat to fit.....Paint to match.

My bench has an mdf top that I sealed with mdf sealer from http://www.axminster.co.uk. Works great, totally flat and I don't worry about it getting banged about as it is easy/cheap to replace.

Miguel,
I've noticed that MDF does tend to drink in finishes, requiring several re-coats. I glue-sized my last MDF form with yellow glue thinned with water. I painted on a thin coat and gave it time to strike in and dry before applying a second coat. I didn't have any trouble with swelling because I didn't saturate the surface. After a couple of passes with the glue sizing, I varnished my form very easily and successfully. Having said all that, I expect you could get away with an unfinished bench top, too. It really comes down to your working preferences. I have a piece of 1/4" masonite hard board on my main bench and I waxed it. That makes it easy to clean up glue spills, etc., but it also made it pretty slick.
Patrick

I have one MDF table in my shop. It was not sealed and I did spill a small jug of water on it without noticing. Came in the next day and it had swelled up so much it was no good. I let it dry, sanded the spot down and flipped it over. Sealing is something you certainly want to do.

Josh

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Josh House

Canadian Luthier Supply
http://www.canadianluthiersupply.com
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House Guitars - Custom Built Acoustic Instruments.
http://www.houseguitars.com

echoing everyone else, it's a nice flat surface as long as it's sealed. We have always used a melamine top at my shop for our benches which is really nice once you wax it up, slick, gives good contrast and wood glue doesn't stick to it as long as you keep the wax up. Once, we tried using a big sheet of mdf for a bench because it was the right size. Didn't take the time to seal it very well, maybe a quick two coats of lacquer or something, thinking with the wax it would be fine. Not soon after someone left a fairly large soda cup from 7-11 or someplace on that thing at the end of the day. When we came in the next morning it had a perfect crown right in the middle of the thing and was absolutely ruined. Lesson learned!

I use melamine and love it. I don't think it is any more expensive than MDF and already better surfaced than you could do yourself on MDF. Just as easy to replace too.

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

If your going to use MDF why not cover it with Formica or similar product. In the US all the big box lumber/supply stores have the material at a fair price. Melamine tends to be slightly heavier than the equivalent MDF/Fomica and the coating on Melamine is usually thinner with bigger chips used to make the product ( less screw holding as a norm ) .

Blessings,

Kevin

Just posing a question, trying to understand. I read a lot of people recommending wax to seal the bench top. Yet I've read posts over and over cautioning people not to use wax on power tool table tops, planes, chisels, etc, to prevent rust because of fears of contamination. Why is this not an issue with a bench top on which raw wood will be sitting?

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

For me, it would be a major issue. Once wax gets into raw wood or sheet goods, theres no getting it out. If I am putting wax on finished wood, I make sure that it is isolated from my work surfaces with cardboard to avoid contamination.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I agree with Burton. MCP is a much better work surface than MDF. It is easier to clean glue off of , is fairly resistant to liquids, and if white in color provides a brighter work surface.

+1 for melamine. You can get offcuts from homeless depot for little $$ check in the back . Works great for jigs too.

thanks for all the replies, guys. i will try and find melamine locally, but MDF is much easier to source (and cheap).

re: danish oil - mine is rustins, this one:http://www.fine-tools.com/danish-oil.html maybe i´d be better off using something like this: http://www.axminster.co.uk/rustins-mdf- ... prod22684/ , or just using some kind of sanding sealer?

thanks again,
Miguel.

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member of the guild of professional dilettantes

A friend gave me a really nice workbench with a thick, solid beech top. I take care of that. But I have two work tables that I use for additional surfaces. I top these with MDF. When I need to clamp something down, I often screw it into the MDF with drywall screws. I drip stuff on it. I cut on it and into it. I abuse the top daily for my convenience. Every year or so, when it's too ratty for use, I flip it over and use the other side. When that side is too chewed and wretched for a good surface, I replace it. MDF is cheap.

If you have any left over oil based finish that is too old to use otherwise, I would use that. Thin the first coat by 25%, and full coats afterwards.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I've found that applying paste wax, letting it sit for a minute and then buffing it off makes the tooling and benches last longer, work better and does not interfere with anything. Buffing it is a step I never skip though, my boss thinks it is superfluous. I guess it's fine if you're only cutting melamine on your saw, but I think too much wax residue can make a tool difficult and sticky to use until the excess is worn away from use.

MDF will be fine. I would put some kind of finish on it. Don't glue it down. Just screw it. When it gets messed up, just remove the top layer and replace it.