Metal workbench

All benches I have worked on had a covering of 3mm thick oil tempered hardboard. It does two things, it protects the job you are working on especialy if you slide it and it protects the bench from damage as well as damping sound a little if you need to apply force to a job. It is easily replaced from time to time when needed. Perhaps you should put some reinforcing to the frame where the vice will be bolted.

How would you suggest attaching that to the surface of the bench, David?

Phosphoric acid solution produce an uneven effect. In some parts it is indeed black but in others it creates a white crust that can be easily removed. I'll try to see how does it look after I apply some oil or vax.

Here I can't find tempered plates this size. But this shop from where I bought everything has also cold rolled plates. They are treated with an acid. I'm not sure how to translate their name, maybe pickled plates. Unfortunately the plates are up to 2mm thickness. But it could be an option to glue one on top of the 5mm plate. I'll go to the shop to see them again. It should be resistant to rust.

Meanwhile I painted one more layer of yellow paint. It looks better now.

Edited By Sonic Escape on 02/04/2023 18:58:36

Edited By Sonic Escape on 02/04/2023 18:59:44

Hi Bill we used to stick around the edge with double sided tape and drilled through for the vice holes to fasten on the hardboard top.

David

That sounds easy enough to remove when the top is worn out and needs replacing.

Sonic Escape, just in case you've misunderstood the term, oil tempered hardboard is a wood fibre board, not a metal.

Very nice, well done you

Don't forget you can support the table in the middle with a wooden post if you have a very heavy job on the go, like a pit prop, I use 2x4 and 4x4 wood

The top depends on the jobs you do, metal for fabrication work, wood for general work

Edited By Ady1 on 04/04/2023 10:03:29

I have a bench made with unequal angle Dexion with thick planks for a surface that supports a Fobco Star bench drill near one end and a Dore-Westbury mill on the other end. Seems OK. The Sharp mill and MLS-7 and Warco bandsaw all on their makers stands. Bench 2 is also Dexion unequal angle, but no great weight upon it, just a hand-working bench with a hefty swivelling vice and a hand powered shaper. Both benches rammed hard against the corners of the shed on 3 fixed legs and fourth one is adjustable for rigid setting down on slightly uneven concrete floor. Hopefully, above will give a few ideas.

John

Aha, so hardboard is wood not metal! Now David's comment makes more sense
Here there are available some wood plates used for concrete pouring molds. They are very hard and relatively cheap. There are also oil resistant thick rubber sheets with textile inserts but they have a very strong smell. But they feel nice, especially if you work with heavy metal parts. Or this nice red vinyl sheet for workbenches.

Meanwhile the rust conversion treatment is already put to test. I let the metal plate outside and in the last two days here it snowed more than in the whole winter!

The workbench is ready! I replaced the phosphoric acid rust converter with a polymeric type. This one creates a much better black coating for the top plate. Without any white dust. The workbench is very solid and heavy. It could easily hold any heavy object that two man could lift on it. Finally I have a place where to work without being worry about objects weight.

Hi Sonic Escape, Looks good, but I would have rounded off those corners of your top plate by about a 6mm or so radius. They will hurt an awful amount if you happened to catch them, as well as tearing any clothing as they are.

Regards Nick.