Woodworker types, maple workbench finish

newmann
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4/1/2020 9:33am Edited Date/Time 5/3/2020 12:57am
I had a maple butcher block countertop laid up at a local cabinet shop a while back and going to use it for a workbench in the shop. I want to soak it well with a finish of some sort that will help keep other dirty stuff from soaking in and staining it too bad. Any suggestions? Maybe something that will darken it up a bit. Should I just stain it first? Also would a urethane finish over that help? It will see use but not wanting it to end up looking totally trashed in short order.

2 1/8” thick, 24” wide and 114” long. $640.00 seemed like a pretty decent price to me. Here’s the kicker, it was on the floor when the house flooded. Got wet and warped/ separated a little. The cabinet shop cut a few pieces off, reglued, resurfaced and routered the top edge for me for $81.00. It’s perfect again.


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NvHermit
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4/1/2020 10:05am
Why not mineral oil and bees wax like a regular butcher block ?
2
scott_nz
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4/1/2020 10:10am Edited Date/Time 4/1/2020 10:12am
I own a solid timber joinery company and have just made myself up a American white oak bench top for our new kitchen , I’m using a product called osmo oil on it , not sure if it’s sold around your ways but it’s the preferred product down here


edit - USA site on it. https://osmocolorusa.com/
Dirtydeeds
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4/1/2020 10:22am
Ive used this on quite a few projects. Works well and smells good. They also make an orange oil spray that works too. Helps keep the good moisture in and the bad moisture out.

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hillbilly
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Afton, TN US
4/1/2020 11:33am
Salad bowl finish

Don't stain it,it will darken just right.

Make wood stuff all the time and just not a fan of stain

The salad bowl finish I like better than just straight urethane,plus it safe fer food.

Buff with steel wool between coats ,tack cloth it off

Keep lid closed on finish,pour out a bit in a container and shut the lid,the drying agent that gets you buzzed needs to stay in the can, for sniffing in a few weeks when the zombie apocalypse empty the likker store

The Shop

Dirtydeeds
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4/1/2020 11:52am
Heres a lil before and after on some raw walnut. I have some maple pics somewhere too.




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scott_nz
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4/2/2020 4:23pm
I first coat with ozmo tobacco stain today


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borg
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Long Beach, CA US
4/2/2020 5:04pm
newmann wrote:
I had a maple butcher block countertop laid up at a local cabinet shop a while back and going to use it for a workbench in...
I had a maple butcher block countertop laid up at a local cabinet shop a while back and going to use it for a workbench in the shop. I want to soak it well with a finish of some sort that will help keep other dirty stuff from soaking in and staining it too bad. Any suggestions? Maybe something that will darken it up a bit. Should I just stain it first? Also would a urethane finish over that help? It will see use but not wanting it to end up looking totally trashed in short order.

2 1/8” thick, 24” wide and 114” long. $640.00 seemed like a pretty decent price to me. Here’s the kicker, it was on the floor when the house flooded. Got wet and warped/ separated a little. The cabinet shop cut a few pieces off, reglued, resurfaced and routered the top edge for me for $81.00. It’s perfect again.


For a workbench top I would not use any kind of hard finish like urethane. It will scratch and chip and look like shit. I would leave it plain. That way if it gets effed up you can get out the RO with some 150 and make it nice again. Is it hard or soft maple? Hard maple isn't going to take stain or oil very well.It doesn't really soak in much. Soft maple will. I will rattle Foghorns cage. He will have some good input. I'm surprised he hasn't seen this.
1
SEEMEFIRST
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Arlington, TX US
4/2/2020 5:25pm
I second Borg's urethane opinion.
I have a similar piece on a workbench. It's got some kind of UV cure finish over unstained.

It's pretty good, but if it didn't come to me free that way, I would have just oiled/waxed it.
Foghorn
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4/2/2020 7:38pm Edited Date/Time 4/2/2020 7:41pm
borg wrote:
For a workbench top I would not use any kind of hard finish like urethane. It will scratch and chip and look like shit. I would...
For a workbench top I would not use any kind of hard finish like urethane. It will scratch and chip and look like shit. I would leave it plain. That way if it gets effed up you can get out the RO with some 150 and make it nice again. Is it hard or soft maple? Hard maple isn't going to take stain or oil very well.It doesn't really soak in much. Soft maple will. I will rattle Foghorns cage. He will have some good input. I'm surprised he hasn't seen this.
Urethane is too slippery for me and like Borg says, will chip and scratch. Boiled linseed oil would be a good choice. Tung oil would be fine as well. I generally prefer tung oil over BLO because it smells nicer and doesn’t darken as much as BLO over time. Tung oil is way more expensive than BLO, and if you want it to darken, BLO is a good choice. Really, any curing penetrating oil or oil blend (such as Watco, Maloof oil, etc.) would be fine. The key here is to get something “in” the wood and not “on” the wood. In other words, I would encourage you to avoid any build-up finish such as poly, lacquer, etc. as this will scratch over time and be a pain to refresh. Just my thoughts.
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peltier626
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LA US
4/3/2020 8:10am Edited Date/Time 4/3/2020 8:13am
Boiled linseed oil and wax. No urethane it'll scratch. I dabble in a little woodwork and have sinker cypress counter tops that are over Ten years in use and still look fine. Boiled linseed oil and wax is my go to. It penetrates instead of creating a surface.
newmann
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US
4/3/2020 8:23am
borg wrote:
For a workbench top I would not use any kind of hard finish like urethane. It will scratch and chip and look like shit. I would...
For a workbench top I would not use any kind of hard finish like urethane. It will scratch and chip and look like shit. I would leave it plain. That way if it gets effed up you can get out the RO with some 150 and make it nice again. Is it hard or soft maple? Hard maple isn't going to take stain or oil very well.It doesn't really soak in much. Soft maple will. I will rattle Foghorns cage. He will have some good input. I'm surprised he hasn't seen this.
Foghorn wrote:
Urethane is too slippery for me and like Borg says, will chip and scratch. Boiled linseed oil would be a good choice. Tung oil would be...
Urethane is too slippery for me and like Borg says, will chip and scratch. Boiled linseed oil would be a good choice. Tung oil would be fine as well. I generally prefer tung oil over BLO because it smells nicer and doesn’t darken as much as BLO over time. Tung oil is way more expensive than BLO, and if you want it to darken, BLO is a good choice. Really, any curing penetrating oil or oil blend (such as Watco, Maloof oil, etc.) would be fine. The key here is to get something “in” the wood and not “on” the wood. In other words, I would encourage you to avoid any build-up finish such as poly, lacquer, etc. as this will scratch over time and be a pain to refresh. Just my thoughts.
We've recently done some tung oil on wood and was impressed with the finish. One of my sons made a live edge cherry countertop for his garage/apartment/workshop area. He did end up putting a urethane on it since it was going to be somewhat of a wet area. What this will be used for will be engine building, gun cleaning, suspension work and will probably get beat on a bit so I was not leaning heavily on a urethane finish unless there was one that could take a good beating.

He did the cherry counter and is making a hall table and some end tables with some walnut planks as well as a walnut mantle.










Foghorn
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4/3/2020 8:58am
Some real nice live edge stuff there!
hillbilly
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4/3/2020 9:08am
newmann wrote:
I had a maple butcher block countertop laid up at a local cabinet shop a while back and going to use it for a workbench in...
I had a maple butcher block countertop laid up at a local cabinet shop a while back and going to use it for a workbench in the shop. I want to soak it well with a finish of some sort that will help keep other dirty stuff from soaking in and staining it too bad. Any suggestions? Maybe something that will darken it up a bit. Should I just stain it first? Also would a urethane finish over that help? It will see use but not wanting it to end up looking totally trashed in short order.

2 1/8” thick, 24” wide and 114” long. $640.00 seemed like a pretty decent price to me. Here’s the kicker, it was on the floor when the house flooded. Got wet and warped/ separated a little. The cabinet shop cut a few pieces off, reglued, resurfaced and routered the top edge for me for $81.00. It’s perfect again.


borg wrote:
For a workbench top I would not use any kind of hard finish like urethane. It will scratch and chip and look like shit. I would...
For a workbench top I would not use any kind of hard finish like urethane. It will scratch and chip and look like shit. I would leave it plain. That way if it gets effed up you can get out the RO with some 150 and make it nice again. Is it hard or soft maple? Hard maple isn't going to take stain or oil very well.It doesn't really soak in much. Soft maple will. I will rattle Foghorns cage. He will have some good input. I'm surprised he hasn't seen this.
I use urethane because it will chip and scratch and seal out the oil from that crf with a window in the case.

Wipe off with carb cleaner and reseal,

It's a work bench not a art piece the way I use a work bench is for work

Plus,cleans out the sinus cavity
scott_nz
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5/3/2020 12:56am
The finished product

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