Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Butcher block bench top

Yes indeed, he can do as he likes.

I used a self leveling epoxy made for bar tops - one fairly heavy coat, easy to apply and it's held up great over the last 15 years.

Ask far as butcher blocks or workbench tops that are tough as iron, the floors out of semi trailers make great work surfaces.

If your reloading,... epoxy like a glossy bar top would make powder policing a breeze.

Hobby shops sell epoxy and hardener kits in various sizes...
I imagine west systems would do nicely too the plunger pump is nice for metering..

Not a loading bench, gonna go with the linseed oil.

That sounds like a plan to me, good luck with it.

Don’t forget the steel wool!

can you clean wood, preserved with linseed oil, with bleach?

You always have to be careful what you clean your wood with!

I don’t know of anything quicker than epoxy resin.

If for food, use Tung oil.

https://www.realmilkpaint.com/blog/tutorials-videos/beginners-guide-pure-tung-oil/

link to Lee Valley bench plans

In 1983 I paid $20 for Lee Valley Modern workbench plans and found about 10 mistakes in the plans.
I bought rock hard maple for $2/ board foot.
The bench weighs about 350 pounds.

Now they only want $15 for the plans 37 years later, and probably without the mistakes.

I used SeaFin, which is Tung oils with a few extra polymers added.

After 37 years I have quit using the surface, and instead tape down 3 to 6 feet of 24" wide butcher paper.
At the end of each project I change the paper. All notes written on the paper are then gone.
Half my projects are metalworking and half are woodworking.

This is the same system your doctor uses after he gets your germ laden bottom off his exam bench.


I clamp a modified CTK rifle vise in the work bench shoulder vise.

Laughing! Still laughing actually!
BLO is worse than useless for a benchtop.

I agree, though I would skip the shellac on clean wood. It will fill faster with shellac but woods good for benchtops are likely quick to fill.

Oil finishes would be way down my list. They are great appearance finishes and easy to repair. But they mark easily, waterstain readily, and are far from solvent-proof.

I would say mineral oil if it were for a kitchen but a couple of nice products that could work for the shop is Sikkens and WATCO.

"Preserved" is outside linseed oil's vocabulary.

Short answer, no. Use a mild solvent like mineral oil and move to mineral spirits if needed.

I used about 6-7 coats of satin poly. I lightly sanded after each coat. I did my kitchen counters with butcher block, too, and after 3 years they still look new.

To achieve the satin finish silica is added to the finish. It disrupts the flat top to keep it from being shiny. Problem is the silica weakens the finish and allows water to get into the finish where it does bad things.

It is far better to use high gloss and buff the finish to achieve the desired level of gloss. As a short cut use gloss all the way to the final coat and top with satin.

Stainless steel.