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Eric B Craftsman woodworkers top question
February 14th, 2006 10:55 PM
Greetings: I just received my Craftsman Woodworkers Top
Sears item #00965547000. I'm new to wordworking, so pardon me.

The top is quite sturdy. It's on a nice cabinet I saved from the trash and it's locked in and working well.

I'm puzzled why the screws have allen wrench heads and not the standard or phillips type. That's my first question. I gave up on them and used dry wall screws.

The second question: The birch wood top is quite raw. It's smooth. But I really think it needs to be finished--or protected a bit. I had some ideas and would like an opinion:

-Should I just douse it with mineral oil for quick protection?
-Should I put a coat of polyurethane instead?
-Should I sand it after I put the mineral oil or polyurethane and then do another coat?

Third question: What is the best lubricant for the vise? The metal and wood seem to building up lots of friction. I also don't want to put on machine oil if it will just be soaked up by the wood and prevent any finishing I need to do.

The instructions were brief and did not have info.

Thanks.
Adam Woodwork bench top
February 15th, 2006 02:51 AM
February 14, 2006 Woodwork bench top


While the Allen screws are not required, they do offer greater holding, without the twist-out characteristic, than Phillips screws.

Either one will work, providing proper pilot holes are used with the screws.

The wood top is left unfinished for several reasons.

The first reason is to give the owner the opportunity to fine tune the wood top to the user's requirements.

If the top were supplied pre-finished, there's probably only a 20 percent chance of user satisfaction.

Part of the fine tuning of the bench top will probably include "knocking-down" sharp edges of the wood with a block plane.

Holes may need to be drilled in the top for bench dogs and for some hold-down devices.

I did not see any bench dog holes on the main, left-side wood vise.

These are very desirable features for a woodworker's bench to possess.

Be advised the standard diameter of round dogs is 3/4 inch.

The user can finish sand (or scrape) the top to their satisfaction.

Some users may be perfectly happy at a 120 grit finish. While others may go as fine as 320.

Finishes for the bench top very widely.

Staining the workbench top is probably not a great idea. As every little dig or cut will stand out on the workbench‛s surface.

A non-film forming finish, like mineral oil would probably not serve most woodworkers well.

Surface film forming finishes include; lacquer, Tung Oil and Varathane.

Personally, I prefer Tung Oil. Although not a tough as Varathane, it is very easily applied with a rag and if damaged, very easy to touch up.

If you decide to use a rapid oxidizing finish like Watco Oil, beware of the rags spontaneously combusting. They must NOT be left crumpled up inside your shop.

Even some Tung Oil products have driers in them that behave like Watco Oil.

READ any cautions on the finishing product you decide to use.

Whatever finish you use, be sure to coat the underside of the wood also. Or, you will very likely have warping of the wood, due to differential moisture absorption between the coated and uncoated surfaces of the bench top.

End grain will soak up your finish like a sponge. Feed the end grain with extra finish. Let it dry. And, then apply another film-forming coat to the end grain.

The wood vises can have friction reduced by lightly coating the metal slide rods with a furniture paste wax.

Mineral oil would be a good lubricant for the vises' threads.

Since you will no doubt be doing some heavy pushing applications with hand planes, I suggest reinforcing you bench's bottom section with either cross-bracing or a solid panel, attached to the back of your work bench.

If you wish to keep the workbench's surface less scarred, look into making a "bench hook".

And, always have a scrap board to protect the workbench from drilling operations.

All this may sound a bit much.

Much as the table saw is a woodworker's central power tool, the work bench is where all of the hand-tool, portable power-tool, assembly and perhaps finishing work happens.

It's really worth taking some time to prepare your work bench top properly.
PM2790 Workbench Top Finish
February 15th, 2006 10:22 AM
Oil treatments (no driers added) and oil finishes (driers added) offer a broad range of 'protection'. Short oils, referring to the length of their molecular chain, such as vegetable cooking oil, mineral oil, etc. are easy to apply and absorb well into the wood fibers. Down side to these is that the fibers will easily give up the oil when subjected to heat, leaving you with an oily mess. They can also combine with oxygen and other pollutants and turn rancid, giving off an unpleasant odor.

Moving to longer molecular chain oils such as raw linseed oil and raw tung oil- again easy to apply, a little better 'stick' to the wood fibers but will still move on you with heat. They don't turn rancid as easily, either.

Boiled linseed oil, tung oil 'finishes', etc. have driers added to make longer chains. Still easy application and when dry they are difficult to get to leave the wood. Turning rancid is usually not a problem. Easy upkeep with an annual reapplication. Downside is that the 'protection' they offer is at and below the surface. Minor impacts directly contact and damage the surface wood fibers.

Varnishes, lacquers, polyurethanes, etc.- These are combinations of resins and carriers that keep the resins suspended until applied to your surface. Once applied, the carrier evaporates and the resin molecules link up to form an (ideally) impenetrable barrier that repels water and is resistant to impacts. These require more involved appliction methods. Repairs vary in ease of application. Usually the 'protection' sits on top of the surface.

My pick for a benchtop would be a combination of some of the above. I like the protection of polyurethane. The 'poly' means that the oils have been polymerized making longer molecule chains, for longer lasting protection. The resins build on the surface for impact protection. To get good penetration with poly, cut the first coat 50% with the appropriate thinner (read the label), and apply a good wet coat. Keep the surface wet, especially end grain, for 15 minutes to ensure good penetration. Wipe off the excess and allow to dry for at least 24 hours. I usually follow this with 1 or 2 coats of full strength gloss poly. Gloss finishes contain more solids (resins) than semi or satin sheen products, therefore they 'build' quicker. If the gloss sheen is too much, I will knock the surface down with 320 or 400 grit and wipe off with a rag wetted with the poly to slighty fill the scratches and then buff off with a clean soft cloth. The above finish will take some pretty good abuse in the shop and still give a good long life.
Eric B Bench top finishing costs
February 15th, 2006 10:30 AM
Wow! That's some great information. Could both of you give me a rough price range for the various solutions?
Adam Tung Cost
February 15th, 2006 11:01 AM
February 15, 2006 Tung Cost


A quart of Tung Oil costs less than ten dollars at the hardware store.

The Varathane is the top of the finish food chain.

Did you notice what is involved to build up the finish.

I'm working from the view point that a workbench top is going to wear (and ding) with age.

There's nothing wrong here. It's being used to do WORK.

I have to caution you that most new woodworkers will start out very wary of "not-damaging" the finish of their new workbench.

The workbenches exist to do work, and like a pickup truck, if you get too involved with preserving the "prettiness" of your tool, you probably won't use it to its full potential.

Varathane is excellent stuff though. I have a butcher block type Oak table I made way back in college that still has a nice Varathane finish on it.

The "cutting-down" or thinning in PM's post is excellent advice.

They sell "Sealer-coat" Tung Oil or you can prepare a small quantity of your own out of that one quart of full strength Tung Oil (in a separate container of course).

You are embarking on a truly wonderful vocation.

You can either go Professional or do full tilt art work using wood.

It is a wonderful material, that with so many species and man-made products, that you will probably never get bored with.

Don't leave out hand tools.

They can often perform a job faster than a power tool can be SET UP!

Always wear eye protection and start with hearing protection from your first day.

You'll be rewarded with better hearing 20 years down the road.

And... a little dust CAN hurt.

Area and point dust protection will reward you many times over, as you age.

It is a fantastic hobby/vocation.

Have fun!
Eric B Best for indoor/outdoor application and dry time
February 15th, 2006 06:04 PM
Thanks for the info.

Now, of the finishes mentioned, are any of them safe enough to apply indoors? I've use a little plain polyurethane for a small item I made. But the bench is a little large.

What about the water-based polyurethane?
Adam Indoor finish
February 16th, 2006 01:09 AM
February 15, 2006 Indoors


I think a lacquer finish is the only big no-no to apply in an inadequately ventilated space.

Tung oil is not very odoriferous (big word for the day).

I believe the oil-based Varathane dries far harder than the water-based version.

The main reason for a water-based version is faster drying time, for wooden floors.

If you apply any finish in the morning, with windows open.

Let it dry until evening, when you can close the windows.
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