New homemade reloading/gunsmithing workbench. stain or leave in the white?

[Bringtherain]

The wood came from an old mantle above the fireplace in the house I recently bought. They were two 12 foot 6x4s. My wife took one look at the mantle and said shit has to go. It was stained dark brown and was just way too 80's. I had been wanting an old school built, no nails or screws, bench to mount my reloading stuff to and use as a general gun smithing/cleaning spot. So all tenon and mortise and pinned with a one inch dowel. So do I stain it or leave it in the white and let it develop character over time? Guns are for size visual. Its 4 foot by 22 inches.

 

[Papamo]

Tung oil it and let it gain character

 

[Alphatreedog]

Noice table . Sorry and I'm not the guy for wood advice . I personally would see if sealing it is an option to preserve that natural look .

 

[2aBaC̶a̶]

I would flame it and stain/clear coat it only to make it solvent and stain resistant. Otherwise like Papamo sait it will get character.

 

[1500varmint]

stain/clear coat it only to make it solvent and stain resistant.

This sounds reasonable...

 

[theLBC]

i'd prolly go with polyurethane

 

[96coal449]

My vote is to coat it with tung oil too. The natural color will assist with not loosing small parts.
After letting the tung oil dry and "set in," heat up some bees wax and rub that in for a protective layer.
With these methods upkeep will be required on the finish from time to time. Less if you lay a protective mat down where using solvents.

Great looking bench! Nice craftsmanship with the skills you have.

Question on the AR laying on its side. What make is the forward grip on the forearm. I'm liking that one.

 

[Hairball]

If you leave it untreated, you will eventually get fluids and oils on it anyway. You can have small stains everywhere or coat it with something and have it looking nice a bit longer. The top of my bench is not coated but I have a rubber mat over the working surface which helps.

 

[Bringtherain]

My vote is to coat it with tung oil too. The natural color will assist with not loosing small parts.
After letting the tung oil dry and "set in," heat up some bees wax and rub that in for a protective layer.
With these methods upkeep will be required on the finish from time to time. Less if you lay a protective mat down where using solvents.

Great looking bench! Nice craftsmanship with the skills you have.

Question on the AR laying on its side. What make is the forward grip on the forearm. I'm liking that one.

Thats a magpul XTM modular hand stop. Not a fan of magpul usually but that handstop is nice. The grip on that gun is magpul as well. It came with the lower FCG kit. I was actually impressed with that as well.

 

[n2ishun]

Another vote for Tung oil or Danish oil.
Maybe even Linseed oil.
A solid type finish (poly/shellac/whatever) would look like ass after a bit of work was done on the table and probably wouldn't hold up to bore cleaner or gun oil.
You'll definitely need 6-8 coats though, that old wood will be thirsty especially after hanging out over a fireplace for however many years.

 

[96coal449]

Some of Magpul's products are indeed pretty good.
Always affordable, makes some of their product even more attractive.
I'll be getting the XTM modular.

 

[Mr.BR]

Tung oil , no stain

 

[96coal449]

Another vote for Tung oil or Danish oil.
Maybe even Linseed oil.
A solid type finish (poly/shellac/whatever) would look like ass after a bit of work was done on the table and probably wouldn't hold up to bore cleaner or gun oil.
You'll definitely need 6-8 coats though, that old wood will be thirsty especially after hanging out over a fireplace for however many years.

Linseed oil may be a better choice. It hardens and seals in one step.

 

[KZP]

Water cleanup, can do a few coats in the same day.

 

[Bullfrog08]

Not sure on finish, but youre going to need two or three of them. Better buy a couple more homes with big mantles.

 

[Holliday]

View attachment 7791628View attachment 7791629View attachment 7791630
The wood came from an old mantle above the fireplace in the house I recently bought. They were two 12 foot 6x4s. My wife took one look at the mantle and said shit has to go. It was stained dark brown and was just way too 80's. I had been wanting an old school built, no nails or screws, bench to mount my reloading stuff to and use as a general gun smithing/cleaning spot. So all tenon and mortise and pinned with a one inch dowel. So do I stain it or leave it in the white and let it develop character over time? Guns are for size visual. Its 4 foot by 22 inches.

Hand rubbed boiled linsead oil topped with Butcher bowling alley wax. It will give it a nice patina and is a durable, completely serviceable finish.

I like to cut the first couple coats of linseed oil 50/50 with turpentine. I usually do 3-4 coats then wax.

 

[ColinW]

Since it's for shooting purposes, me personally, I vote leave it as is! Since it's a WORK bench, who cares if it get's scraped up with scratches, right? Besides, our scars and imperfections give us character. Let your work bench get the same character with time & use.

 

[akmike47]

I put polyurethane on mine, cleans real easy still looks new 3-4yrs later. I also have tool drawer liner mats on my bench though and usually keep it pretty clean and organized

 

[davsco]

i used melamine board for the top of my reloading bench. you could glue on a sheet of laminate.

 

[Rockdoc173]

I dig what you're after. My brother is a wood wizard, unfortunately those genes were not passed to me. I can foresee lots of oil stains and such that will look kind of bad so you might do what I did with my bench top...put a clear coat over the top to help fight that stuff off. Mine has held up really well and still has that natural look

 

[Major Wader]

 

[Bigfatcock]

Boiled linseed oil first. If in a non temperature controlled environment, use spar varnish on top instead of regular polyurethane . However, the BLO will darken it, and the varnish will amber with time.

Looks like pine. Make sure you grain raise at least twice.

Thin the spar varnish 2:1 varnish/mineral spirits for the first 2-3 coats.

 

[BadDogPSD]

Tung oil

 

[RUTGERS95]

I left mine in the white and put a rubber mat across the top

 

[Bigfatcock]

If you choose tung oil, I would recommend Waterlox.

 

[Aftermath]

If you choose tung oil, I would recommend Waterlox.

Waterlox makes very high quality stuff.
Since you did all of the work "old school", I'd put an old school finish. Waterlox makes a spar varnish that is second to none. It ages to a nice amber color and is extremely durable.

 

[KZP]

The tung oil waterlox does have some specific conditions to work that can be a pain. Temperature and humidity need to be in a range, needs good airflow for a long period, fumes are terrible, dust nibs attract like a magnet. Did a few projects and found it difficult. One table I need to redo, still gummy after 7 years. Another table the tung oil waterlox hardened pretty well, except it started to dissolve wherever my arms touched it after a year of consistent contact.

If you want a really tough surface, I found a 2 part flooring polycoat that is fairly easy to work with. Put it on all kinds of stuff. Stair treads, stair railings, balusters, tables, benches etc. Water based, low fumes, dries for light use in 3 hours, cures fully in a few days.

 

[lariat]

Linseed oil. I did my bench about a decade ago. Could not be happier. Patina is amazing. When I can actually see the table top.

 

[accurate obsession]

Wash coat of shellac, either blond or dark and then clear coat to the bring out the character and keep work grime out of the porous surface.

 

[Average guy]

Boiled linseed oil first. If in a non temperature controlled environment, use spar varnish on top instead of regular polyurethane . However, the BLO will darken it, and the varnish will amber with time.

Looks like pine. Make sure you grain raise at least twice.

Thin the spar varnish 2:1 varnish/mineral spirits for the first 2-3 coats.

Sound advice

 

[MDof2]

Spray it down with WD-40, RemOil, BrakeKleen, a few cans of Coke, ha;f quart of Mobile 1, and grind up a few sharpies on it and she'll be gtg.

srs tho, it's a nice sturdy bench. I'd probably hit it with some BLO or tung oil. Maybe even a low sheen rub on polly. Let it naturally age with use, spills, etc.

 

[308pirate]

Spray it down with WD-40, RemOil, BrakeKleen, a few cans of Coke, ha;f quart of Mobile 1, and grind up a few sharpies on it and she'll be gtg.

Yup

Don't forget a few spills of dirty gun solvent

My work/reloading bench looks like shit because I do work on it.

 

[96coal449]

Linseed oil. I did my bench about a decade ago. Could not be happier. Patina is amazing. When I can actually see the table top.

Pic?


Last winter was my first here in this ole farmhouse. Never had much time to prepare for winter up here in the hills of NY. We spent our first night here by the very end of Oct. I was always on the lookout for firewood. Heating 4500sqft solely with wood, I took what I could find along with one log truck delivery. Found some hardwood pallets, 3x4''s. They were already chopped upfor an easy pick up load. About 2' wide sections, of red and white oak, black cherry, populars, hard maples, and something else that I think may be beech. I couldn't burn em. After dissambling them and pulling the nails, I had a nice pile to make a butcher block table. My friend has an ''industrial'' sized wood shop to get them all true. A nice finish of linseed for me. Its always kept wooden extension ladders solid too.

Edit: Sorry for the babbling post. I figured I'd let you guys get to know me a bit.

 

[Greg Langelius *]

I would build it in the white, then seal the wood with a repairable finish, like Tung Oil, Linseed Oil, BLO, Tru-Oil, Lin-Speed.

This way the object can be modified, repaired, or extended without leaving obvious modification tracks.

Test the finish material against cutoff ends to determine the woods and finishes which show the least color variation.

Always buy considerable excess wood stock for later use.

My wood is Southern Clear Pine and finish is BLO. Linseed Oil darkens with age.

Greg