what is masonite? door company

 

I use 1/8" tempered masonite on the counters surfaces that I use for carpentry and light duty, non oily repairs or assembly of different objects that would normally mar the surface of the object that I am working on or the surface of the counter. I use 1 x 1 x 1/8 inch angle iron with countersunk screw holes and I miter the corners for a nice hard edge that I use to bend metals over. The edge also keeps screws, nuts and bolts rolling off the counter top too. In my last shop this lasted for about 24 years and still did not require replacement.

For paint mixing, oily disassembly and grinding areas I use 2 x 6 tops covered with 14 gauge sheet metal with the same angle iron edging.

If I required a non slip surface, I used a gray rubberized mat that I found at a surplus center that was something like battleship linoleum. It was a great surface if you needed to bang something on it. I had a 24 x 36 inch piece that I moved from bench to bench as required. Paint or oil wouldn't sink in the the material and I could take a putty knife to slip paint drip off, or thinners and a rag to clean the surface followed by a coat of auto wax to shine up the surface. The closest I can find now if rubber matting with the corrigated lines on it, great for holding screws from rolling around.

My new benches are 2 inch high density wood fibre covered with commercial arborite and the drawers are plastic modules mounted in 1 x 1 square tube with a h.d. roller bases. I found that the cost of plywood too high as compared to today's high density wood fibre. My next bench will be a 3 x 7 foot solid core 1 3/4" factory second commercial door that can be had for $45 - 60 which I will cover with 14 gauge sheet metal and have 1 1/2 " tubing legs and frame bolted to the concrete floor.

For backing boards, peg board is blaise and slat wall is the in thing to hang things from. I like the H.D. wire shelving and the adjustable steel tracks from Home Depot. The wire shelving allows you to see through the shelf at what is on the one above, and the dust just falls through too, as well as the overhead light shine through and lights up what's on the shelves, no shadows.

Make sure each bench has a 5 or 6 outlet receptical strip mounted to each one, eliminates changing cords from one tool to another.

I'm no expert on benches, I just thought about it for a long time!

 

me and my bro in law are in the prosses of redoing his garage and we are building new 24 inch deep by 8 ft benches down the walls and we are going to look into a plexiglas tops over the wood surface 24inch why when his 15 passenger van is in there you have 4 ft to the wall so we want a shallower bench so we can move around it and he has short arms too

 

Masonite or tempered hardboard is a wood product, paper, glue board that is formed under high pressure. One side is smooth, the other side is usually rough. Its available in 1/8 and 1/4 thickness. Be sure to get the tempered, regular hardboard is kind of soft on the surface for a work surface.

 

OK...all this talk got me motivated. I thought about all the options, including:
<ul><li>formica<li>masonite<li>paint<li>prefabcoun tertop<li>sheet metal</ul>
And I decided to go with...[drumroll] linoleum tiles. The advantages of it were:<ul><li>cheap: at less than a buck a square, it was quite affordable.<li>super easy to install: I scraped my old work surface (a masonite-lined solid-core door) to get rid of the various dingle-boogers of nearly 20 years of use, wiped with naptha, dried with compressed air, and did the peel-and-stick routine. I used a router with a flush bit to finish off the edges, but a utility knife would have been OK.<li>accessible: I just went into Home Despot and got it; no need to order.<li>attractive: I've always wanted a black and white garage floor; this is a nice first step.<li>liquid-resistant: for those pesky spills.</ul>
I finished the front edge with some aluminum angle iron (as suggested by an earlier poster). The whole thing took less than two hours, including re-drilling the bolt holes for my vise and drill press.

The best part about this is its reversibility. If I somehow damage a square, I pry it up and stick down a new one. If the linoleum proves to be a bad choice, I pry them all up and am out $21. Only time will tell how wise a choice this is, but for now...I'm quite satisfied. The only drawback is that it makes everything else around it look dirty and dingy by comparison!

Here are a few pics:

<a href=http://home.pacbell.net/mzimmers/workbench1.jpg><img src=http://home.pacbell.net/mzimmers/workbench1.jpg width=512 height=384></href><br>
<a href=http://home.pacbell.net/mzimmers/workbench2.jpg><img src=http://home.pacbell.net/mzimmers/workbench2.jpg width=512 height=384></href><br>
<a href=http://home.pacbell.net/mzimmers/workbench3.jpg><img src=http://home.pacbell.net/mzimmers/workbench3.jpg width=512 height=384></href>

Lemme know whatcha all think...

mz

 

Nice looking bench mz. I went to a sheet metal shop with my dimensions and got them to bend a piece of galvanized (used for furnace ducting) to the size and shape I wanted. Right now it's just sitting on my bench and screwed at the ends but eventially I want to glue it down so it's perfectly flat. Works well, easy to clean and light colored. Stands up pretty well to some abuse. The advantage is it has a backsplash as part of it so any spills don't find there way into cracks etc..

 

I like to use aluminum sheet to cover it an old road sign works best just cut to size and screw it down....

 

If you use the tile get the primer to prime the wood first (special tile primer for wood)
Glenn

 

Nice!

Let us know how it holds up.

 

wow good look'n top. on my one bench i have a piece of 1/4" plate steel 3" deep and like 7 foot long and the other bench is an old solid core door that has laminet on it out of an old hospital. and it has held up well. might want to find a 1" thick by like 18" square block of steel to throw up there to beat on.

 

I use a discarded rubber lithographic blanket. These are about 1/8' thick rubber with a fabric back. In a lithographic printing press these carry the ink to the lithoplate. They are indistructable, except to a utility knife, and stand up to any chemical. If you know someone in the printing business ask them about getting one.

 

Looking good. makes my bench look really bad.

 

If you want something that can be replaced easily as the years go on I like the idea of tempered masonite. Shops that I have worked in have used it and its not too expensive (unless it has gone up because of the war). I think the tiles are great looking looking and will work well. They probably clean up easily. However if your going to do mostly metal working someone suggested stainless steel. If you got the money go with that.

 

No, masonite is still cheap...it's about $7.50 for a 4x8 sheet at Home Despot. The solid-core door that I made my bench from had a masonite finish to it; the only drawback is that liquid will stain it pretty quick. I liked the idea of being able to paper towel off the tiles and leave it looking clean.

 

That looks great, nice job!! I would cover it all with a sheet of plexi-glass from one of the home stores. Just a thought!