This is a similar but more general question to one posted by Morris Dovey. I'm making a workbench with an MDF top. I'm a little concerned about eventually ruining it with drops of glue, oil, paint, etc.. Has anyone ever applied a coat of Polyurethane to the top of MDF? How did it turn out?
My workbench is MDF, covered with 1/4" masonite. When it gets covered with too many globs of glue, I grab a scraper, knock them off, hit it with a sander for a few moments, wipe on a coat of shellac, let that dry, and then apply wax. Now I've got a semi water resistant, SMOOTH work surface again. Total time: around 6-8 minutes. (I just refinish the center section where all the glue mess occurs).
I've done that for several years. With a workbench I want something that dries quickly, and can be easily restored. Have used both shellac and wb poly, with the poly convenient as it's more resistant to alcohol and such. Every so often I run a hand scraper over the top lightly and may sand it down just with a rotary 220. A coat of wb poly is dry enough in a few hours to scuff sand and it's ready for a few more months.
A tempered hardboard cover holds up better, but is harder to fix. With MDF I can easily smooth over any scratches or digs, then recoat it. I've got 1-1/2 MDF with hardwood edg>This is a similar but more general question to one posted by Morris Dovey.
I don't mind colour stains on a workbench, but I don't want raised drops of glue.
MDF is a good workbench top. Coat of hard poly or floor varnish, then definitely well-buffed wax to stop spilled glue from sticking. You could even skip the varnish, but get that wax on there.
Thanks to all of you who eased my fears that a coat of Poly wouldn't make MDF disintegrate. I'll definitely be giving it a try. No, not to keep the benchtop looking pristine but to keep it smooth and give me a safe place to park my cold beer (after the tools are locked up of course).
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