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Just built a Workbench but need a worktop for it…
Just built a nice huge new workbench for myself now the office extension is all finished. 🙂
But I am planning on putting an MDF Top on and use same for the shelves underneath but I need something on the top of that so I can cut etc.
Some people say Glass but I find this blunts blades quickly…
What can I use that wont cost me an arm and a leg….
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39 Replies
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We use a sheet of cheap foam board. Use both sides then bin it.
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I’d get one-o-them thar self healing cutting mats
http://www.signwarehouse.com/blog/?p=843
(or whatever theyre called)
Love….Jill -
I did a search and found a few posts on here craig, we ended up buying polypropolene sheet 2000×1000 for the four that I made, that was a year ago and we have only just turned them over, but to be honest they wern’t too bad anyway. I reckon I will get another 2 years at least.
I got them from directplasticsonline.co.uk and they where £85 each with free delivery…
Another thing I have seen recommended if you want something that you will probably never have to replace is glass……. Anyway I love my poly sheet it’s great and was from a tip in the forum…
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Like idea of glass but the blade blunting thing and also the cost does come into it too!!
Best price for 2450mm x 1400mm (6mm Thick) – £106.02 + VAT
Worst Price – £326.23 inc VAT. (ouch!) -
Decisions decisions…
Polypropylene actually works out roughly the same price if not a little more…
Which to choose Glass or Polypropylene (can’t even say it)
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I’ve seen the back of vinyl flooring recommended on here and want to give that a bash, we use poly sheets also but never really been that happy with them.
G
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I have a dance studio flooring company behind my workshop and originally they gave me about 10 meters of offcuts from the rubber floors they put down for studios, which is basically the same as the back of floor vinyl…….
It split and cut as soon as I showed it my knife……. bitch to get off too as we stuck it down with a special resin…. I love my poly..
Craig, why not but a few small peices of everything (ask for samples its cheaper) about 500×500 and try them out see what u think! I’m still printing jobs on samples given to me by sign media manufacturers…lol
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i have tried polypropylene and it lasted about a year before we had to flip it and the other side is now getting to marked to cut properly,(it was good) Jag supplies also sell it! I have had some linoleum samples sent over and it does self heal and is pretty good! I have been quoted 350€ for 4 meters x 120cm of the stuff! But it thought it was cheaper then that, so i haven’t gone for it yet! but if you get some of that, it looks the best thing i have been recommended, just want to get another price first.
goodluck, if you end up going for polyprop you wont be disappointed!
cheers
Dan
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I’m really unsure of what to get, as just want to order it and that be that.
But now seeing these…
http://www.jagsignsupplies.com/aqshop/c … php?id=121
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we bought one of those from jag and two black ones from someone else! The only thing about the jag one is it slightly textured on the other side and isnt quite as good when you flip it.
cheers
Dan
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Polyprop for us too, don’t know where you guys are getting prices from but amari supplied ours two years ago for £21.
Granted it’s only 3mm thick but you can’t cut through it with the heaviest attempt with a stanley and it would never snap because it’s flat down on the bench mainly.
John
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mmm mines 18mm thick
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18mm 😮 That could explain it mo 😀
Our workbench in question has a table of 18mm ply that the thin polyprop covers (except if we’re using it for trad painting stuff and then we remove the polyprop so it doesn’t get paint on it).
John
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sorry I retract that its 8mm just thought after you said, our bench tops are the same as yours 12mm not the polly.. Doh!
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I love this forum… 🙂
Quote for Polypropylene 6mm 10ft x 5ft – £93.00 + VAT (And they will cut it to custom size)
YAY!!
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this is one of my benches with poly on, I think with the timber, poly top and fixings they cost me about £130 each to make, I gave 2 x 1200 x 2200mm and 2 benches 1200 x 1200, they fit together in all sorts of configurations all with shelves underneath. (the smaller ones worked out at about £70 each)
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Where are you based Mo?
I like it… Think I’ve decided to go for the Poly. 🙂
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I’m in deepest darkest Kent Craig near Tunbridge Wells
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Plasticol metal sheet…
i have been using them on our benches for about 15 yrears.
they are 1mm steel sheets with a pvc top coat. you actually want the metal; side facing up. we have table tops about 8 years old now i think and they are perfect. think they actually get better the older they are.we buy ours from a steel holding company in glasgow, just ask for the oddest colour they have or one with scratches and they give you it cheap because it doesnt matter what colour you get or if marked, you want the metal side anyway and they are all grey on the rear.
49inch by 120 inch costs us about £20
just be careful lifting them as its easy to cause a kink in the metal. once on the table its great to work on, cut, wipe, etc
just my opinion of course. 😀
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despite blunting blades glass all the way, and they don’t blunt them to quick, and this one we have now about 4 years never had to turn it and not a groove in it, and you can keep it really clean, maybe a big out lay in the first place, but you must work for some double glazing firms 😀
Lynn
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As Lynn said, glass, made from an old patio door. I have one of the Jag white cutting mats, it splits after a while, never really got on with it. I still have it, but never used it since getting my glass top, 5 years ago. (Now the glass could do with turning.)
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I used to be in Tunbridge Wells quite often when I live down that neck of the woods.
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I have an old dibond sign on mine. As long as your reasonably careful they last for years. When I have to trim anything I use 12" offcuts of 5mm pvc. I have an 8ft length and a 4ft length. Everyone has these offcuts. When they have passed their best just use another piece. Cheap as chips and uses material that would have been binned anyway.
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Polly prop for me but i could only get 8 x 4 sheets last time so worked out a pane as our bench is 1400 wide Craig 10 x 5 ‘s sound great who stocks them at that size as i need to give my benches a refurb..
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i can see why glass would be good. but legally would need to be at least toughend glass or laminate glass with polished edges. not only would that be heavy and expensive, you still have to treat it well. our guys would have it broken in no time.
even though we have various work benches, the ALL get used for letting signs of various signs and materials. not to mention dropping tools / knifes etc on top of.
as i said, i can see how it would be great to work on and how if only a couple of people using it to weed and tape from would be good. but in a busy work place, various staff bopping about and a huge sheet of glass on a bench is asking for trouble. -
quote Robert Lambie:i can see why glass would be good. but legally would need to be at least toughend glass or laminate glass with polished edges. not only would that be heavy and expensive, you still have to treat it well. our guys would have it broken in no time.
even though we have various work benches, the ALL get used for letting signs of various signs and materials. not to mention dropping tools / knifes etc on top of.
as i said, i can see how it would be great to work on and how if only a couple of people using it to weed and tape from would be good. but in a busy work place, various staff bopping about and a huge sheet of glass on a bench is asking for trouble.good point about the legal bit Rob, what does the rolls roller use for its surface? Our worktop is toughened with beveled edges, it stands up to most workaday abuse, its just the same glass as in a patio door, I think that also has a legal requirement, so worth checking out and using the right stuff,
Peter
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The Bobbi’s roller uses "toughened acrylic" if there is such a thing
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We are talking a general work bench here Peter, not a £20k vinyl applicator/mounter.
however…
The RollsRoller has about a 6mm rubber cutting matt covering the entire surface. so your not working on a bare glass worktop like you will be using.The RollsRoller table top is Glass and will be toughened or laminate or wouldnt imagine it would pass EU regulations.
The glass is also sealed into a recessed metal framed table. so cannot be dunted, cracked or edges chipped like an exposed sheet laid ontop of a table.
Its not something i would allow our staff to work on for day to day sign sign work assembly etc. its for applying large format print, cut vinyl etc.
However, if dedicated to a graphic department it would also make an excellent weeding table, app tape applicator and more due to its illuminated workbench and onboard dispensing fascilities.anyway… as i said, bit of a different thing here… we are talking a low cost general workbench surface here. 😉
also, not all glass needs to be toughened to be in a door. only if the glass panel falls below a certain height. if the doors a full length panel then yes, it will be toughened or laminate.
If your glass is toughend you should be able to see a small certified kite logo etched into the corner of the glass. -
might sound like a silly question, but does glass not make a horrid squeaky sound when you cut on it???? Couldent cope if it did!
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I’ve decided I’m going to go for Polyprop.
Seems like the best for the job. 🙂
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We’ve got a bit of toughened, beveled 8mm glass 3m x 1.2m never looked back, excellent for cutting onto, used to find anything else we’d used previous ended up with tram lines that your knife would pick up on and wreck whatever you were cutting! And no Dan it doesn’t squeak to death when used 😀
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I think it is a 50/50 call between polyprop and toughened glass
Downside of polyprop for sure it only lasts a year or so each side but the tram lines have never got deep enough to affect cutting for me, upside is blades last a lot longer and I don’t like snap off blades, even weed with a stanley knife, just feels right.
Downside of glass, you’ve got to change blades often but upside no cut lines on the table and plus you can run up a light box direct on your cutting table
Still prefer polyprop just on the knife blunting annoyance of cutting on glass.
John
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quote John Parfit:I don’t like snap off blades, even weed with a stanley knife, just feels right.
😀 same here mate, everyone of our guys use stanley knives for nearly everything. we do have scalpels for vehicle work or anything intricate but the general usage around the work place is stanley knifes.
The plasticol metal i spoke of doesnt get tram lines in it either. you can see the scores but thats it. at £20 for a 10foot x 49inch ide much rather go this route than glass. toughend glass with polished edges at that size will cost in the hunrdeds of pounds, and as i said, its not something ide feel comfortable with our guys chucking stuff up onto. even lobbing a measure tape or stanley knife… ive no doubt like any surface that stays perfectly flat and easy wiped its a dream to weed and trim up on, just not the best all rounder for me. just personal opinion of course. 😀
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£20!! I can’t find a company near us. 🙁
What sort of company would stock it?
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£180.00 couple of years ago Rob
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Admitedly I did find a company who would supply me with toughend glass 6mm thick at the large size I wanted for £106 plus VAT, which was quite cheap. It all works out to be around the same figure but I like the idea of the Polyprob.
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just gave a quick call to our local glaziers
Toughened Glass, Polished edges:-
6mm thick – 8’x4′ – £193.71 + vat – £232.45 inc vat
8mm thick – 8’x4′ – £389.50 + vat – £467.40 inc vatat the end of the day we will all use what best suits our needs and budget.
i am sure glass is ideal in most cases, i just find it expensive and rather vulnerable.Craig we buy ours from a steel stockist that supply corrugated cladding to their trade.
plastocol is basically the corrugated metal they make factories from. but "prior" to them folding it into corrugated sheets.
it actually comes off huge coils of the stuff so you can get it any length by 49inches if you order it. as i said, we ask for any odd colour, even scratched face sheets because your not using the coloured face, but the rear. -
I use toughened glass too, have two x 850mm x 1.85m panes end to end. as long as you protect the edges from being chipped then you’ll have no bother.
i’ve sat on mine (i’m 100K!), dropped heavy tools on it, allsorts, I did break on with the end of a ruler slid along and caught a corner end on, i ducked as it sounded like a shotgun going off in my ear!
Mine are also covered with white vinyl on the underside and lights underneath, brilliant for registering pre-layered work or tracing by hand!
had i not broken one pane, i would have had them since oct 05 now, 6yrs, they cost me about £110 + vat for the pair at the time, the replacement was about £65 three years ago.
it does blunt the tips of blades but hey, my carpenter mates love me… get a free handful of stanley bladed with every 10 site boards!
I weed with a siser weeding tool though, using a knife feels so clumsy after using one of these!
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Fair enough Rob.
I actually just received some samples form JAG Supplies of their cutting mats and they seem quite good really… I’m impressed.
So I’m undecided again now… Its hard work choosing a worktop for a workbench, lol.
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