Finish my workbench

[Meatwad]

First off a big thanks to everyone for helping me through my issues so far. I have finally finished my workbench (with the exception of adding a tail vise later). I got my issues planing the red oak for my top solved. But now that I have it pretty flat and in good shape I am concerned about spilling liquids on it and just generally protecting it from splintering near the places where I've glued it. What do you all recommend for protecting the top of this bench? Poly? Oil?

 

[Chestnut]

I just apply the dregs of what ever finish I'm using for my current furniture project, so typically shellac or wipe on poly. When something spills on it or stains it the fix is easy. There are a lot of varying opinions on this and I'm not sure that any one of them is wrong or right.

Some people don't like film finishes as the get damaged and require fixing. I don't mind this As i typically fix issues while I have the finish out for a project I'm working on.

Some people don't like finishes at all as it makes the bench slick. I never understood this as I always use a stop, clamp, hook, or hold down. Being slick is nice for removing glue and adhesive residue though. I can also use my hand to brush off dust with out worry of getting a splinter.

[drzaius]

I prefer an oil finish for a bench. Sand to 80 grit & apply one coat of Danish oil, tung oil, BLO, whatever is handy. That's enough to keep glue from sticking too badly, but still offers good grip for the work piece. Another coat of oil can be added every year or few as needed to keep the glue from sticking.

I notice from your photos the potential for cross grain movement issues. How is the top layer of oak secured?

[Meatwad]

9 minutes ago, drzaius said:

I prefer an oil finish for a bench. Sand to 80 grit & apply one coat of Danish oil, tung oil, BLO, whatever is handy. That's enough to keep glue from sticking too badly, but still offers good grip for the work piece. Another coat of oil can be added every year or few as needed to keep the glue from sticking.

I notice from your photos the potential for cross grain movement issues. How is the top layer of oak secured?

It's glued to the pine underneath.

[wtnhighlander]

I use no finish on the top of my bench, as it gets planed smooth fairly often (its soft wood). The underside is pretty well coated with Titebond that I wiped off my fingers...

[drzaius]

1 hour ago, Meatwad said:

It's glued to the pine underneath.

Well... Wood moves, first law of woodworking. With humidity changes, it expands & contracts across the grain, but very little change along the grain. When the moisture content of the wood changes, those 2 layers are going to fight each other & wood movement will win. The result will be cupping of the top, or cracking. If the wood is at equilibrium with the environment & humidity never changes, no problem. But you would have to have some pretty sophisticated environmental controls for that to happen. I think your best bet at this point is to apply several coats of poly to the top, bottom & sides of that pine/oak sandwich to slow the entry/exit of moisture from the wood.

If the top fails, build it again. If it doesn't, that's great, but make sure to build future projects with wood movement in mind. Good luck.

[Meatwad]

36 minutes ago, drzaius said:

Well... Wood moves, first law of woodworking. With humidity changes, it expands & contracts across the grain, but very little change along the grain. When the moisture content of the wood changes, those 2 layers are going to fight each other & wood movement will win. The result will be cupping of the top, or cracking. If the wood is at equilibrium with the environment & humidity never changes, no problem. But you would have to have some pretty sophisticated environmental controls for that to happen. I think your best bet at this point is to apply several coats of poly to the top, bottom & sides of that pine/oak sandwich to slow the entry/exit of moisture from the wood.

If the top fails, build it again. If it doesn't, that's great, but make sure to build future projects with wood movement in mind. Good luck.

I am not completely sure what it specifically I did that I should do differently. Can you elaborate more?

[wtnhighlander]

The oak boards are laid in a cross-grain orientation to the pine boards beneath. Glued together, the two layers will expand in opposite directions, and something will break. The two layers play best together when the grain is oriented the same. The common solution is to fasten the layers with screws in slots, or sliding dovetails, such that expansion can occur without forcing the layers to fight each other.

[Meatwad]

I see now. But even with something other than wood glue I'm guessing it's best to orient the grains in the same direction?

[RichardA]

7 hours ago, Meatwad said:

First off a big thanks to everyone for helping me through my issues so far. I have finally finished my workbench (with the exception of adding a tail vise later). I got my issues planing the red oak for my top solved. But now that I have it pretty flat and in good shape I am concerned about spilling liquids on it and just generally protecting it from splintering near the places where I've glued it. What do you all recommend for protecting the top of this bench? Poly? Oil?

 

A work bench is a tool. Tools get used and abused. Expect that. and don't worry much about it. Like the others, there is a problem with grain orientation. That's going to be your biggest problem, unless you can keep the temp and humidity exactly the same 24/7/365 including leap years.

[drzaius]

2 hours ago, Meatwad said:

I see now. But even with something other than wood glue I'm guessing it's best to orient the grains in the same direction?

If you do need to have cross grain situation, and almost every piece of furniture does, you just need to make sure to allow for wood movement. Rather than me going into a long & poorly written explanation here, you should just use the Google & do a search. There are tons of free articles & YouTubes that will explain it very nicely.