favorite bench top materials

[lost sailor]

just wondering what everyone prefers to use as there bench surface?

[Mr. Whale dick]

i like hardi backer , and steel


tile is pretty cool too

[$$$$$$$]

plastic

[jusbag]

graphite

[bc]

That cement board thing stuff, werks great, doesn't burn. Werkin' on steel gives me the creeps like scratching a chalkboard, could be just me.

bc

[timinny420]

i have a slate top - sell em' at home depot with the tiles

[Julian]

Ceramic tiles are nice, at 12x12 for $1.00 or so.
I like graphite. I got these giant 12x12x1 blocks all cheap on Ebay from this guy that has since disappeared.

Really, what covers my table is a special pile of blowtubes, color chunks, broken bits and frit. This is what keeps pieces safe. When I drop something, it is cushioned by all the piles of broken glass, and thus it stays put, not not rolling onto the floor and getting scruff stuck to it.

[The Bigles]

hardibacker. It's smooth, unlike Durock.

[harpentuan]

Reverse side of a gigantic STOP sign, over OSB for surface. above fume vortex; formed tin sheet, fitted to OSB frame.

[SteppingRazor]

I use ceramic backboard. Marble would be really cool and classy looking.
`joe

[somewhere]

1/4" aluminum in 4'X10' sheets. This covers the stand up benches and we have a huge octagon covered table with lab counters from the local high school. The lab counters are made of some type of high temp material. We cooked a piece with the torch and after the red glow went away it was still as good as new. I started with hardibacker but soon tired of the dust then moved to metal roofing but it rusts quickly from the heat. I highly recommend the aluminum. Look around for a metal salvage place or have your local welding shop direct you to some new material. I also like the idea of street signs. When I was younger we covered a good size half pipe with street signs. The flat bottom was the highway exit sign close to our house. LOL

[chayes]

durock

[somberbear]

i got cheap lab tables at 3 bucks a pop.... and its nice to see the heat base with it.... i miss it every time work over aluminum....

and a 3 bucks what little burns i make cant be worse then the high school kids did to them.

[Loïc]

im building my need bench table..
i decided for a 3layer - first a ¼plywood, then a cement board (½~inch) then a 1/8 aluminium 4x8 feet

Loïc

[pitbullglass]

FiberRock works great, and not to expensive..

[IrieGuy05]

I got tile on my bench right now. The only drawback is sometimes stringers and other little shit falls between the crevices. If I have to setup again someday I'll probobly use sheet aluminum, or maybe plastic like adam suggested...

[homer]

I have 1/2 inch stainless steel over my bench....works great....

Homer

[CliffsideGlassworks]

has anyone tried concrete benchtop?

http://www.concretenetwork.com/concrete/countertops/

http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/author/dcn/conccounter-a.shtm

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_droc/episode/0,2499,DIY_21539_37348,00.html

[eegee]

I got 20 ga Stainless Steel over a 1" particleboard core. I havent yet pulled up the steel to see if the heat burns the board. However, when my graphite gets real hot, the steel under it expands enough to make the graphite wobble over it - which I dont like. I think I'm going to switch to tile sometime soon.

[diglassworks]

I have my bench covered with Aluminum with marble tiles on top of that. Really, most of my bench (like someone else mentioned) is covered with random color rods, broken glass, and lots of 9.5 wall tube (so I can grab a handle fast without searching for days)

I should clean my bench, but I'm moving soon...

I'd like to set my bench up at the new place with some type of hydraulic lift system, so I can raise it when I want to stand and work... Anyone have a setup like that?

[somberbear]

i built a work station like that for my grandmother for sewing...

we used a track and electric moto set up and mounted it on the wall... you can get them pritty heavy duty, hydrolics fluid is hazardous, some quite flamible, as well as they leak at some point.

[Greymatter Glass]

human flesh...

no, hardibacker.

yeah.....hardiback.

i have a black marble tile under my flame, helps to see the flame.

-Doug

[darv]

I I'd like to set my bench up at the new place with some type of hydraulic lift system, so I can raise it when I want to stand and work... Anyone have a setup like that?

Instead of building a lift for your whole table, just build a lift for the torch. When I built my shop I wanted to be able to sit or stand and after researching many different ways to raise the table I descided just raising and lowering the torch was more economical.

derek

[bc]

no way bro, raising the bench seems much easier.

That's good think' an advice.

bc

[Harry Paratesteez]

Polished marble hoverbench

[CosmicGlassInc]

I have a tiled bench with a sweet pattern of color and a bunch of concrete bricks with graphite plates and molds on them, good to raise up your work area and really cheap

[broken glass]

my shit is on air bags, found them at the junkyard....6" at the push of a button.

[gotglass?]

i started to put down a marble top someday i have to clear off all the bits and scraps and buy some more tiles and have that snazzy surface....do you know why they tile the floors in a mall ? because people tend to spend more when walking on a marble floor.... so maybe i can get more for my stuff once the benchtop is complete....

[somberbear]

watch it ... i have gotten tiles with a coating...

for tile and counter tops its ideal becouse even soda can etch marble...

What ya really need to do is go to a stone cutters (even grave stones) and see what they got...

I put in an un coated counter top for some one in there pool house...

Also go there and check out there scrap its cheap and they will surface most of it for a nominal fee.. even put "drainage" slits that would be cool for something..

[Fire on the mountain]

cemfile ceramic board from wale apparatus. Works great, i like it much better than the cold hard feel of sheet metal.

[gypsea]

hey di, somber, derek, all you have to do is build or elevate the bench to a standing height. then you can stand to work....and if you want to sit, get a drafting chair, and you can hop off and on the chair to sit or stand. neither the bench nor the torch have to be adjusted.

[somberbear]

yea gypsea... i am going to convert an old drafting table to a system like that with a tall drafting chair when i get the money

a tip my teacher taught me the hard way.... never get one of those chairs with locking casters... unless the locks are really good... (rarely ever are) youll never scoot the casters as fast as you need if ya do.

[J McGhee]

all graphite. then u can roll huge vessels on it :smokin: with backerboard under that

[FredLight]

Diglassworks,
Make your bench tall to begin with like you would if you worked standing at all times, then get a taller barstool or piano stool. My torch is at eye-level, and I have a tall chair that I kick away when I need to dance. Thanks to RAM!

My bench top is some terrible form of formica that stinks like elephant urine when it burns. In the burnt spots, it bubbles up and makes welts.When I get tired of the welts, or they get big enough to worry about, I screw them down with my handy Ryobi and a drywall screw. I'm going to cover it with Galvanized flashing, I swear.

[natehussey]

i manage a building supply salvage co and i ended up with 8 5' x 5' pieces of 1" ply with a 1/4" stainless steel overlay for commercial kitchens and stuff. thats what i use.

[Anakin's Glass Eye]

There used to be a granite/marble countertop manuf. here in town that threw away a lot of cool shit. One night I backed up the SUV, did some dumpster diving, and loaded about 400 LBS of marble and granite slabs into the back. The pieces were quite large, some I could almost not even lift. All of the pieces were highly polished on one side. To keep a long story short, I now have a dark blue granite work surface which is awesome. It's about 30" wide, 30" deep and 1.24" thick. Heavy as hell and totally fire proof. I use it as a marver sometimes if I need to.

I love free shit! :devil1:

When I get my real studio, I'd like to have concrete workbench tops made. There's a place in town that can do colored concrete counter tops that are smooth. Very cool.

[Natedizzle]

I use hardwood flooring. It has never flared up on me even with glowing pieces set on it.. but it does char. also pieces don't usually break if they fall on it which is what irritated me about marble and slate and tiles... metal always ended up warping on me, but cement interests me...

Nathan

[Paxton]

I have hardi-backer right now, but am thinking about using one of the pieces of marble I have. Does anybody know if it cracks when you smoosh hot glass into it? My friend has a standing set-up with a tall stool, though a drafting chair sounds nice. I am about to be moving, and when I do I am going to go that route. Right now I am sitting down, and I hit my head or back on my hood vent sometimes when I get up to stretch or get stuff which is kindof lame.

Paxton

[slacker23]

Lots of good ideas here, I'm useing hardi-baker now and I was thinking of swiching to aluminum for the new setup.

[glassheathen]

I use a stainless steel comercial kitchen prep table. the best I ever had!!!!!!!!!

[jazz]

marble sounds nice and i wonder how you could cost efectively do the raze/lower thing
that would be nice!!!

--jazz

[flamebob]

I do home rehabbing for a guy and we get pretty good deals on granite from china. Has anyone ever used granite? I wonder how that would work out?

[gotglass?]

Paxton if you marver on the marble it will burn it and enough times in the same spot, it may start to chip and crack a little bit. And concrete sounds cool but it does retain moisure until it's totally cured... but that might not be too big of an issue my graphite paddle sweats sometimes with no ill effects.
I like the fireproof aspect of marble but you do break alot of stuff if it drops on it.... why just the other day i was holding a figure in my heat defense laden hand polishing the final punty mark on the head, when i rotated it it dropped and popped both hands , feet and the head. So i want to make a transbestos saftey net for in front of my torch just for these situations.

[Meerkat]

I have a bench made of 2 inch thick clear plexi glass wiht a video projector underneath so I project porn onto the bench and watch it while I blow, yea boi !!!

[Ro's Glass World]

i have it height for standing with an architect chair from staples (adjustable height) table top is frame of wood with a 4x8 sheet of sheetrock, works great, soft if i drop work, turn it over when burned beyond belief, cheap too! makes nice steam pushes on jar bottoms too.
ro