Recently completed a build out in our basement of a hobby/exercise/rod building room and want to keep things neat and tidy. Can anyone recommend a good floor mat to put under my bench (based on an standard 8' counter top)? The floor is Pergo. Also I am looking for some sort of bench covers for the bench work area while building, I prefer something that could be tossed after a couple of rods. From past experience I find that epoxy and rod finish can and will migrate to strange places in the shop!

TOP: Perm. fixture: How about coroplast. Temp fixture: "Banquet paper".....36 or 48" roll. BP is white, and about 4.00 a roll, depending on lineal feet. Coroplast comes in many colours, in 4 x 8 sheets, and is a semi-gloss 'waxy' plastic,, meaning resin puddles will just lift off with a slight pry on the edge. Semi gloss is nice when the light is strong. Hardly any bounce back.

Floor: Roll ends from the carpet store are quite reasonable. Industrial rubber matting's not bad either. It's black, and light absorbing, tho.
Those "hall runners" are not that spendy either.... they are usually 2 feet wide, and up to 12' long, with the edges proteced form unravelling.





Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/10/2007 11:42AM by Ken Driedger.

I've got two wooden work benches in my garage--one is covered with stainless steel sheet and is impervious to chemicals, etc. and is used for some projects where ease of cleaningis important, and the other I typically cover with tempered hardboard 1/8" or 1/4" thick, available at any lumberyard, or home depot. The stuff is great, and is cheap enough that every few months it can be discarded and a new piece tacked in place with finishing brads, or just placed down with double stick tape. I've known some guys who just use a big roll of butcher paper
and mount the roll at the edge of the bench, and peel off what they need.

For mats, I go with anti-fatigue mats. They can be purchased at big stores like Grangers, or if you are in Los Angeles, a place called McMaster-Carr. Otherwise, my knees get sore on my cement floor. The only problem with the mats is that they are typically black, and it can take a while for my eyes to pick out a black part (like a small guide) when I drop it!
Chuck

I have a custom bench with a industrial grade Formica top that is white. The bench has lots of drawers and cabinets. To keep the top nice, I use butch wrap paper. To hold it in place I use masking tape. I lay the paper with the wax side up. I tape all the edges and sides. Once in place I place my power wrapper on top, My table is 4 by 12. It takes me less than 10 minutes to replace the paper and replace my needed tools and power wrapper and drier. I wipe the power wrapper base with a light covering of paraffin wax. So when the epoxy finish drops on wrapper base and sets up. All I have to do, to clean the base is to pick it off the epoxy finish. If I did not use paraffin wax, I would have to heat the base with my torch to get the epoxy off. I use restaurant flooring cushing. They help your feet and legs from getting tired.
Good Wraps Bob

I am a NOTORIOUS dumpster diver....That being said, I often protect my table top and my floor using sheet linoleum recovered from the dump at my local home remodeling specialists. I can often get large pieces of new and unused linoleum and epoxy lust flakes right off the flexible surface....AND ITS FREE.



Derek L. McMaster
Rohnert Park, CA

Born to Fish, FORCED to Work

When I did my shop above the garage, I used pergo on the floor. No cover, mat carpet, etc, just pergo. It vaccuums easily and any spills clean up quickly. Nice slick finish so nothing sticks to it very hard. I have an architects chair that I roll around in so the mats would be in the way.

Work surface is formica. I don't cover it with any paper. I just heat up the big epoxy drips to clean off and it still looks nice. I wanted a workbench from the start that was a dedicated rod bench so this seemed to be the best combination. It's fine with me if it looks like it is used to build rods, cause that's what it does.

Your choices are your own.

Terry