Bench top surface covering?

I wrapped mine with some left over laminate flooring.I then found some L shaped trim at Menards. Helps keep stuff from rolling away on my bench.

I use rubber gym mat that links together like a puzzle piece. Not the foamy type though. The stuff made from recycled tires that has been revulcanized back together.

Here is the best picture I have of it. It is about 1/2” thick but I also have some that is 3/8”. I salvaged this from an indoor pool at a fitness center that was being renovated.

Down in the floor in the pic you can see a cutoff of the same material.

kmw1954 said:

Today I bought the 1/8" hardboard Masonite and a oc. of 1/4" MDF along with a nice pc of decorative molding to finish the front edge. I'm thinking of just spot gluing the Masonite so if it ever needs to be replaced I should be able to pull it up easily.

Have been under the weather fighting a cold this past week so not a lot has gotten finished.

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Just lay it on the bench and secure it with the molding. If you glue it, even spot glue, it will break and split when you pull it up. If you think it needs more attachment, use finish nails and a nail set. You'll hardly see them and they are easy to pull if you ever pull the hardboard off.

My current bench top is stained with a few coats of poly. Its held up well but I'm thinking about covering it with formica.

I have a solid core door for the table top, and it is covered with cheep, glued on laminate flooring. It's easy to clean and oil won't soak into it. Works for me.

Have a blessed day,

Leon

Just tack it down with #3 finish nails it doesn't take too many and it will stay down. Easier removal than any amount of glue will be. If you are like me a few spots of glue becomes many spots of glue and the whole thing is glued before you are done. The glue could also make the surface slightly lumpy with high spots where the glue is thicker.

I have two layers of 3/4" plywood and 1' from one end a couple of squares of 1/4" flat steel recessed. The plywood has a few coats of clear varnish. I have found I have less trouble with lost little parts if I have an 18" x 24" piece of thin carpet on the bench top and things bounce off a hard surface,
A couple more things I have found very useful,
1. A strip of wood a couple of inches high nailed to the back of the benchtop to prevent things from rolling off.
2. A carpeted area where I stand to catch any loose parts that I inevitably drop.
3. A foam pool tube about 4" around stuck between the legs on the floor just to keep my dropped parts from going under the bench into never find land.
4. A low-cost rolling magnet from Harbor Freight has saved me many times.

My reloading bench has a leather top that I tacked down on it over 20 years ago.


My other two benches just have wood tops that have poly coatings. I use rubber mats on top of them, made from treadmill mats.

My daughter one Xmas who is Cosmetologist got me a thick floor mat to stand on. It helps for when you are standing on your feet a long time.
The top of my bench has also two layers of plywood. The top piece can be taken off if I ever need to take the bench out of the basement. It also has 4 drawers that be taken out so it’s not so heavy..

Ttrl

Hard to beat laminate countertop material. Smooth and very durable.

I capped mine with the dry erase board also.

My benches are big solid core, undrilled door panels, on a fabricated steel frame and covered in countertop laminate, with backsplash. Nothing moves around when you're sizing big stuff or pulling bullets with a kinetic..

I always wondered if the thick black horse mats at tractor supply would work as a work bench cover?

For a workbench, I generally don’t like to have anything 1) too temporary such I have to replace it every year due to damage or stains, OR 2) so permanent it takes excessive work or cost to replace in the event of a single “whoops” which damages or tarnished the work top.

So generally, I have mdf particle board tops floating on my benches. Flip it over to get another life span from it, and replace the whole sheet every 10yrs or so when both sides look so ratty they can no longer be tolerated.

A “gentler use” benchtop like a reloading bench should last far longer than a workbench.

I also don’t like to work on Metal and wood on the same bench, whenever I can avoid it, and I do have a “dirty box” I like to place on my work bench for certain messier/dustier tasks, which seems to help keep the work area a lot cleaner.

I topped my bench with 1/8" hardboard sealed with Varathane.

rfwobbly said:

While completely understanding your desire for a nicer bench top, I've gone back to simple A/C plywood with an oil finish. The reason is simple. My last bench was a professional piece of furniture with a beautiful Formica top, which sounded like the best idea ever. It was the exact opposite. Anything spilled on that hard, glassy surface went skittering off to Never Never Land.

Tools, primers, powder... any handling errors made over that bench top disappeared forever !

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Skittering? Never had that problem......try raising the face of your bench 1/8" Then nothing rolls off.....and caulk the back against the wall. For me the Formica is perfect.....impervious to most everything except a drilled hole.

kmw1954 said:

BC17A now I just have to ask, what is that you have your presses mounted to? Looks very interesting.

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That's my 5 drawer space saving loading bench. It's lagged to the wall and as sturdy as a Tank. The small Lee press, which I use for de-priming only, slips into the top with pins and is clamped down so it can easily be removed when I'm in full reload mode and need the extra space. Drawers use 100# full extension glides but I try to limit the weight in them to 70-80#. The Hornady AP is mounted to the bench with a stand I made from a piece of 5" square and some 1-1/2" angle.

kmw1954 asked:
What would be your choice?

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The first reloading bench I built - at age 17 - used a 5/8 thick piece of plywood as a structural component of the bench. The second reloading bench I built - at age 27, after I had collected a sheaf of engineering degrees - used a 7/16 thick piece of waferboard. And this was only because I couldn't get anything thinner (cheaper). Once I had been trained in how to resist and transmit forces, the top of the bench became an irrelevancy. As far as I am concerned, the structure of a properly designed and built reloading bench should harness and transmit all the forces to the ground; the bench top should exist for no other reason than to keep reloading components off the floor.

hdwhit said:

The first reloading bench I built - at age 17 - used a 5/8 thick piece of plywood as a structural component of the bench. The second reloading bench I built - at age 27, after I had collected a sheaf of engineering degrees - used a 7/16 thick piece of waferboard. And this was only because I couldn't get anything thinner (cheaper). Once I had been trained in how to resist and transmit forces, the top of the bench became an irrelevancy. As far as I am concerned, the structure of a properly designed and built reloading bench should harness and transmit all the forces to the ground; the bench top should exist for no other reason than to keep reloading components off the floor.

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Can't fault your logic.....yet you don't want the top to flex a lot if for no other reason than to prevent things from bouncing off when you pound on it out of frustration. In fact the plans I donated to "resources" here have only a 3/4" top screwed over a bolted 2x4 wall plate and a front Torsion beam. I came up with that design to help people build a sturdy non flexing bench with the least material and money. Why a torsion (twist resistant) beam? Because when you stroke a press you are applying a lot of twisting force on the front of the bench that needs resisting.

If anyone's interested, the Torsion beam design/plans are downloadable in Resources:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?resources/inexpensive-no-flex-bench-how-to.6/

If you buy one of the risers that lift your press off the bench, that transfers forces from the edge to the top.......in that case another layer of plywood glued and screwed would make sense.............also in that case a 5/8 thick top would not be a happy solution.

hdwhit said:

The first reloading bench I built - at age 17 - used a 5/8 thick piece of plywood as a structural component of the bench. The second reloading bench I built - at age 27, after I had collected a sheaf of engineering degrees - used a 7/16 thick piece of waferboard. And this was only because I couldn't get anything thinner (cheaper). Once I had been trained in how to resist and transmit forces, the top of the bench became an irrelevancy. As far as I am concerned, the structure of a properly designed and built reloading bench should harness and transmit all the forces to the ground; the bench top should exist for no other reason than to keep reloading components off the floor.

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Yes
Most DIY projects are often over-built and bulky, a poor substitute for proper engineering.
Some over building is due to the fact that 2x4 (and bigger) framing materials are cheap, readily available, and often on hand scrap/left-overs.
Common reasoning that bigger is better is what drives this, and DIY'ers will defend that position, without regard to an engineered alternative.
I've seen this carry over into all types of DIY projects, whether it be a shed, trailer, target, shooting bench, a remodel; in any medium, wood/steel/concrete, etc.
I have learned to not challenge a design unless it appears dangerous, and just suggest alternatives.
jmo

edit: Just search youtube for any press reloading vids and you'll see "rocking" presses bolted to poorly engineered/over built benches.