Workbench Top Paint

I found a great local steel processing center that is doing a few small jobs for me. One of them is cutting a 1/4" thick metal top for my 8' x 2' workbench. I am having them swirl the top, so I will need to seal it with something. Can anyone recommend something I should spray it with? Rustoleum makes more than a few clearcoat type finishs, but I don't know whether to use an Enamel, Polyurethan, Water Based, Oil Based, etc. I would something that will stand up to spilled gas and oil and household chemicals. Any ideas?

 

stainless steel, like restaurant kitchens

 

Will you be using this top for welding?

 

Possibly. I wanted something I could beat the shit out of and not dent. Most stainless tops can be dented. This 1/4" is NOT going to dent. It will be swirl polished and the guy that did it said I should just spray paint it with some clear coat....I just don't know what type of clear coat to use.

 

I'd recommend blueing it... there is an old "cold rust" technique that produces a very tough finish. Degrease it, apply bluing, let it rust, steel wool it, and repeat. After a while, it stops rusting, and it's ready for a thin bit of light oil or paste wax.

 

Interesting idea....

 

you have a pic of how you covered your bench? Did you just lay the carpet on top or have you attached it some how?

 

light oil, or wd40 from time to time. make sit very easy to clean, and to work on stuff. paint may chip if you are hammering ect.

its a work bench, use it as one

 

my bench in my shop sees quite a bit of extensive abuse... i am constantly welding, using the plasma cutter, grinding, and just beating the crap out of it in general. i choose to use 3/4" MDF as the base, then covered that with a thin sheet of diamond plate. thus far it has held up great, the diamond plate does show some abuse but nothing other than cosmetic damage...

 

Yeah, I topped mine with some "sacrificial" plywood. I figure it's gonna get abused pretty badly (eventually), and resurfacing it even as often as once a year is cheap. I'm going to mount a vice with a strike plate on the front right corner if I really need to bang on something.