Top Coat for New Work Bench Top (Picture)

Furnished content.
(from WoodNet.net)

Hello All,

I am putting the finishing touches on my new workbench top. Its made from Southern Yellow Pine from Home Depot. I bought a bunch of 12 x 2 x 10' boards and cut them down to about 3 3/4", laminated them together and then used a shop made router sled to flatten the top. The sled worked great! The top is nice and flat. I highly recommend using the "string method" to get the supports boards in the same plane. I also made sure the support boards were level to each other as a starting point. I used a 2" bit from SPE and I used overlapping 1" cuts to get everything uniform and smooth. It took me about 2 hours to flatten the top as it is about 60" x 33". I am happy to share other tips if anyone is interested. There are lots of youtube videos about the topic. Wood Whisperer had a nice one that explains everything pretty well.

BTW, on the left you will see a spacer area which I created so that the 2" bit could start off without hitting any wood and be pushed into the top from the side. I used a surfacing bit and they do not have any way to cut from plunging (at least that is what I read) so you must approach from the side vs plunging. The ridges you see in the picture come out pretty easily with some light sanding.

So now its time to finish the top with some type of clear coat. What are the suggestions? Tung Oil? I have some water based stuff I bought from Home Depot on sale which is for external use too. Maybe that is a good choice? If its external, presumably its a bit tougher than the internal stuff? I expect my workbench will get beat up a bit over the years but I want to try to avoid stains and glue from adhering to it. At some point, I can just re-flatten it too.

New Workbench.jpg (Size: 274.85 KB / Downloads: 53)

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The Woodshop Shed 21 10 2026

Top Coat for New Work Bench Top (Picture)