New Workbench Finishing Question

I am an absolute beginning woodworker and so I chose as my first project a workbench because I needed a place to work and this project (plans found at http://store.yahoo.com/plansnow/hmbench.html) looked like it let me do a little bit of everything to get me started. Anyway.... I am almost done with it and have a question about the best way to protect the work surface. The work surface is made up of three 3/4" layers of MDF. The plans suggest several coats of Watco Oil finish but a woodworking show suggested for this same workbench a few coats of polyeurethane (sp?). Does anyone have any preferences? Thanks in advance for your help.

Brew, if your workbench surface doesn't look like a beat up piece of crap within a few months, you should have built a dinning room table.

Despite the wonderful finishes you see on workbenches when they're new, a working bench will soon be scratched, stained, painted, glued, chipped, and gouged within a short period of time. Can't be avoided if you are actually making something.

So I believe a better solution than applying a finish in the hope of protecting the surface is to finish the top by applying a sheet of tempered Masonite (6mm) as a "sacrificial surface". I did this by trimming my 3 sheets of 19mm MDF with a 19mm thick strip of Tassie Oak boarder. This boarder stands above the surface of the MDF by 6mm making it 63mm wide. This allows me to drop the tempered Masonite sheet onto the bench surface where the boarder retains it. (Its not attached in any other way.)

The thinking is that when this protective sheet becomes totally messed-up, I'll replace it. I must confess, though, I haven't done so yet and the bench is now three years old. Can't bear to part with it as the stains, glue and marks remind me of some of my past woodworking joys (and failures).:D

I'd paint it in white gloss paving paint. Aparently this results in a very hard high gloss surface that is scratch resistant and easy to clean.

Make sure you get the gloss type (ie: NOT the non slip type). The "white" colour makes it easier to find things when you put them down unless you'd like to admire a clear coated glossy bit of MDF.

I was told this buy someone in the industry who uses it (in the clear form) for Hotel bar bench tops and the like.

Cheers
Luke

If you want to keep it raw Diesel can be a cheap way to keep timber preserved. just a light wipe over with a soaked rag now and then.

It's a workbench. Don't bother.