How to cover a wooden bench top with a steel sheet

May need to think about heat & humidity effects and only secure along one edge. If the rear edge then roundtop screws wouldn't get in the way - one in each corner. Or if there is a vice on top only one other corner needs fixing.

I friend of mine has just topped his benches with steel "Zintec" sheet. He had these supplied and folded by a local company at what he describes as very reasonable cost. They are folded over and down at the front by about 20mm for the depth of the worktop and up at the back by 10cm (4" fixing is through the rear upstand into the wall.

A close friend of mine runs a large R&D facility in W London. There, all the workbenches are covered with white formica. It takes a fair amount of bashing, is wipe clean at the end of the day and best of all, things can be seen on it, like when dropping a small part. It is a clean environment suitable for asswembling diesel injectors, etc. Even the Japanese hadn't thought of this and copied the idea!

I would also suggest a lip around the edge of the bench to stop the annoying 'roll away' of small round parts.

My Bench tops are 1" [25mm] Block board with 3mm Aluminium. They are around 20years old now and still in good condition.

The Aluminum tops are only held with countersunk screws no glue [ in case I needed to replace them] They were folded up by a friendly sheet metal firm to give a 2" upstand at the back and folded over the edge of the board at the front. I cut them to fit with a Jig saw and metal cutting blade.

I can honestly say that i never even considered linolium as a bench surface !

I can see its merits though - reasonably cheap , hard wearing and noise dampening . The only downside i see is i doesn't like heat and you will have to glue it down to stop it curling up but it could be glued to some thin ply or masonite which has been pinned to the bench top with a few small screws or some brads.

I have also considered formica sheet but it seems hard to find , i can't go to my local hardware store and buy it here in Sydney Australia and what there is on ebay seems expensive . I also have another issue and that is i tend to plonk heavy odd shaped items up on my bech to work on them  i find that while working on them i have to slide , roll , tip them over and it damages the bench surface and i'm a little worried it will gouge or chip the formica .

I can pick up some lino tiles for a few bucks so i may glue some to a piece of thin ply and sit it up on the bench as a  test piece to see how it goes , i could also do the same for the formica as the drill press bench has a slab of particle board covered with formica that is being replaced with a new bench so i can cut a piece off the top and try that .

I already have a steel top moblie bench i use for welding  so i know what it can handle and what its pros and cons are : pros - Hard wearing heat resistent  easy to repair.

         Cons - Goes rusty if not oiled , noisy to work on ,scratches softer surfaces like alloy  and sucks the heat out of a cup of tea  real quick ! 

My main workbench is only 6ft x 3ft so there is the optoin of having an  interchangeable slide  on bench surface / cover that could be quickly changed over as needed .

Much to think about ! 

Ian .

Edited By XD 351 on 24/08/2017 22:27:02

I guess I like to hedge my bets! I have three work benches - one is a length of laminated kitchen worktop with two double cupboards beneath with a gap between - and a swivel chair for those assembly / electronics jobs. I then have another long bench and this has thermoplastic floor tiles stuck to the top and a length of aluminium angle on the front edge - for general use. My main vice is mounted on a sturdy dexion framed workbench with a steel plate top and a similar plate shelf below ( it weighs a "ton"!) A couple of storage racks also have kitchen worktops and are used for general assembly / ( or , to be honest, places to dump stuff for a while!) I can't understand a need for a large metal topped bench - and I would find it a bit " dodgy" particularly if any electrical projects were to be carried out! Why not leave it as wood or, maybe, try the kitchen worktop solution?

Norman

Edited By NJH on 24/08/2017 23:41:30

I live in the former Kent coalfield, the bench and floor covering of choice round here is old conveyor belting.
I once worked in a coal board house where the guy had used new belt on the kitchen floor, polished up it looked good and would never wear out.
It is self healing when cut but won't take a lot of local heat.
We used it in the glass shop as it is quite forgiving when things are dropped.

I can't see my bench top! Maybe time for a tidy up.

Mike

So that's what underneath all the stuff in the shop! In truth, mine are all steel, ex industry; brick mausoleums and all that.

For workbench tops, my vote would be for metal, preferably steel, on at least 18mm ply. If any machine is to be mounted on a bench, then kitchen worktop, or two layers of 18mm ply, covered in 2 or better 3mm steel would be my choice. Belt and braces perhaps, but in my book, any machine needs a rigid support.

Howard

I used masonite as a sacrificial top on mine, just screwed on. Seems to work well and was pretty cheap.

I got my bench topper from a skip at work. 6ft x 3 ft x 6mm. Weighs about 70kg, and was a bit of a struggle to get out of the skip. The bench is made from pallets, 2off, made from 4x4" cross members, the pallet top timbers are 6" x 2" timbers, cross planked with 22mm planks from Euro pallets, then the steel is screwed to that. Final finish was hammerite brown anti-rust paint. The bench legs are diagonally braced 4x2 timbers salvaged from pallets and held on by M10 studding. Cost about £5 and could support a car. I've mounted my small anvil on it and have been unable to disturb it however hard I hit the work.

Regards

Richard.

If lino be your choice, look under classic boat deck coverings. My old Norfolk Broads sailing cruiser used it. But for me, my bench top is 1.5" solid oak planks biscuit jointed and glued together. When I have a woodwork job that needs a clean bench, I just get the sander out and give it a good clean up. Every now and again I fill the holes up with body filler. I abuse it regularly and have even let in a patch where I had a bad burn due to a brazing "accident'. A solid wooden bench doesn't jump around when you are using a punch, knocking pins and bearings out etc etc.
BobH

Covered mine (2" mdf) around 15 yrs ago and still good used galv sheet, went to local agricultural roofing place who does box profile sheets for roofing as they have the galv sheet on a massive roll, chop it to customers length and then put it in a big press to stamp in the roofing profile. Just got them to cut me a piece to bench length and then they also folded a two inch 90 bend for front edge, pretty much holds its self down just put some counter sunk screws around the edge to stop it flapping about. Vice also bolts through.

I have had a 18mm ply top on my bench for 37 years with no problems,just fit mor bearers before fitting.I find that being able to screw things to the top is a bonus,I fit a screw to below washer height and file to thickness also nicks on the edge hold pieces steady whilst filing.I determined to use steel I would only fit it where the work is mostly done,

Frank