Thread: Work bench surface prep

I acquired a 1350x1600 work bench which came out of a boilermakers workshop which was doing the industrial pipework on a local project. It was going to go to scrap, so saved it from the heap.





I ended up lopping it in half, to make two sizable 800x1350 benches, complete with angle gutter, and a makeshift home-brew pipe vise. The other bench will sport a lump of plate and a dawn No.3 vise I also got for nothing. That's a win in my book.




The benches sat outside for a while, and got a bit of light surface rust. I have given them a buff with a wire cup brush and a scotch pad on the grinder. I plan the use the benches for assembly of my various car parts / projects, and some light fab.

They are now in their rightful spot in my modest 3x6 metal shed-dungeon which is an agreeable 50degrees C between October and March. You can't win all the time, huh?!

I want to help prevent rust, and make a bit more of an agreeable surface for my needs. So I've conducted a little experiment with some surface treatments to see what works and what doesn't:
1) Penetrene coating- rubbed on with a rag.
2) Inox MX3 lanolin spray- sprayed on and wiped on with a rag.

Other options include:
3) Flood's 'penetrol' (I've used this with a schutz gun to coat the insides of the 4wd chassis rails -I hate rust).
4) I've heard of people using a mix of ATF and fish oil to coat metal, apparejntly it tends to creep and penetrate into metal surfaces, but I imagine it stinks.

I'm looking for a coating that will prevent rust and be suitable for welding on.
I'm not after a poser's bench, but would rather not have to grind and buff it every 6 months either.

What do you chaps use to keep the work benches free of rust and somewhat respectable? Keep in mind my intended uses- welding and parts assembly. So ideally something that protects the surface, while not being overly oily to attract grinding dust and anything else that lands on it.

That's not a boilermakers workbench, looks a bit on the light side for that

As for protecting it from rust, i'd just be using the cheapest new engine oil you could get hold of and give it a light coating maybe even diesel as it is easy to get hold of but you might not like the smell.

I'd be putting some angled braces on that table.

Most anti rust coatings may interfere with welder connectivity.
I painted my welding table frame with several coats of cold galv but left the top naked as I don't care if it rusts

For steel that does not need electrical connectivity my anti-rust coating preference is tannic acid to convert any surface rust and then several coats of BLO.
FinalBSvice.jpg

Originally Posted by Com_VC

That's not a boilermakers workbench, looks a bit on the light side for that

As for protecting it from rust, i'd just be using the cheapest new engine oil you could get hold of and give it a light coating maybe even diesel as it is easy to get hold of but you might not like the smell.

You got me on a technicality-
Legend had it the table was whipped up out of scrap in a lunch break by some Korean pressure welders.
The particular project involved a heap of stainless pipe welding for a food processing plant, a 60-something million dollar rebuild project where the contractors had their deadlines to meet, and no real longevity over the 2 year project duration. So things were made to make do. Fortunately for me, they had to return their work space to its previous state before they signed the job off, so that's where I came in. It's still a far cry better than what I had before.

As for diesel, good idea... for me it's man perfume. Right up there with WD-40, and winnie reds. Don't leave home without it.

Originally Posted by Commander_Keen

As for diesel, good idea... for me it's man perfume. Right up there with WD-40, and winnie reds. Don't leave home without it.

Real Men smoke Champion Ruby !!!!

I've used Penetrol to seal some steel box section legs on our patio table. Works well to protect the steel but definitely leaves a surface coating - no good for a welding table.

I'd probably just wipe them over with WD40 and see how that goes. Depends on how aggressive the environment in your shed is as to how serious you need to get about rust protection.

Real men smoke Bridgestone Eagers

Originally Posted by Commander_Keen

As for diesel, good idea... for me it's man perfume. Right up there with WD-40, and winnie reds. Don't leave home without it.

I stopped using WD-40 since I got hold of some inox to try out. I much prefer the smell of it and I think it works better as well.

Originally Posted by Com_VC

I stopped using WD-40 since I got hold of some inox to try out. I much prefer the smell of it and I think it works better as well.

Inox contains butane, propane and a Ketone and 50% of something called "Secret non-hazardous ingredients. Inox has excellent penetration and although highly flammable it's less toxic than WD40. WD40 consists mainly of Naphtha (petroleum), hydrodesulfurized heavy; 1,2,4-Trimethyl benzene; 1,3,5- plus some Trimethyl benzene; Xylene, Mixed Isomers; and Surfactant. None of these are good for you but there's not a big deal made about it because its usually used in small quantities.

A couple of years ago a near full can of WD40 on a shelf about 3ft above the lathe rattled its way off and fell onto the spinning chuck and the punctured the can so that it managed to spray almost its entire contents onto me. Luckily I was wearing a full face shield (I don't usually when turning) so it didn't get directly into my eyes but it got into my hair and clothes mostly my shorts) ie not pleasant.

Following up on this 12 months later.
Penetrene was no good.
WD40 section was ok.

The Lanox MX4 I've found to be the ducks nuts. Smells like a wet sheep (I've found numerous kiwis slinking around the shed over the last 12mths), but it does leave a light surface oil layer which doesn't attract dirt and grit like some of the others. Longevity is good too. I think I'll graduate from the aerosol cans to the 5L non aerosol bulk pack.

I've also started using this on other things around the shed like wiping down tools, power cords for tools, plastics etc. works well as a general purpose cleaner.