I have had Work Benches since I was 3 years old - that's right 3! My Dad built me my first one when we moved into our first house and gave me some old real tools to play with. I'd hammer, drill, cut and "fix" scraps my Dad would give me from past projects he'd made. There were a few times I ruined household items "fixing them" and while my Mom was yelling and screaming my Dad had "that smirk" on his face.

Over the years I've had a slew of Work Benches and have use many different items as a surface, including Stainless Steel, Aluminum, Oak, Masonite, Plywood, Paneling, 2 X 4's, etc. While some were better than others for specific purposes, none were great for gun smithing. Any kind of metal while impervious to oils and solvents conduct electricity and will short out electronic components in short order - and electronics is another one of my hobbies. Metal is not great for gun finishes either. The wood and Masonite surfaces are more gun friendly and won't conduct electricity, but will absorb solvents, oils, cleaners and rapidly become soft, saturated and collect debris which tends to scratch fine finishes. Changing them is a major pain in the Butt!

Fast forward to about 10 years ago when I found about as perfect a bench top as one can come up with I believe. It is a product called Sintra. Sintra comes in 4' x 8' sheets and in many thicknesses and colors. I use the 6mm (approx. 1/4") version in black. It can be cut with any Jig saw, Circular saw, Table saw, Hand saw, drilled, nailed, screwed, stapled, etc. It is a semi-soft plastic and is almost self healing when minor cuts are made - just burnish with a rounded screwdriver handle and it will be fine. Sintra will not conduct electricity, it's impervious to oils, solvents, water, cleaners, and everything else I've spilled on it with the exception of Acetone which I seldom use but will etch it. While it will melt if a Soldering iron or Brazing Torch comes in contact, it is also repaired easily by melting in some scraps and sanded.

Sintra has no grain structure and therefore will not warp, not stay bent and will lay perfectly flat all by itself. It can not delaminate as it is one solid piece. All that's needed to hold it to the Work Bench is a few small pin nails that are countersunk so they don't scratch anything. It lasts for years and once the surface is beat up, just reverse it and you are good for another bunch of years! I just recently replaced mine (already flipped it once) and figured I'd pass this on to you. So far Sintra is the absolute best Work Bench surface I've ever seen for guys in the gun hobby! While not perfect, I haven't found a better one yet.

The Sintra product is sold at suppliers that carry Foam Core, Gator Foam, Aluminum, etc. and can be Googled for a local distributor as this is an unwieldy item to ship cost effectively. The cost is about $60 bucks for the 1/4" 4 x 8 foot sheet and don't forget you can use both sides. I use my Work Bench just about every day and use it for every type of work so it takes a real beating - I got 10 years out of one piece! I have no affiliation with this product and so I don't benefit .01 cent - just passing along what I think is a great product for Gun Smithing purposes as it will not scratch your finishes, won't be ruined by gun solvents or oils, and is a fully functional and practical surface for firearms. If you are a Mechanic that regularly bangs, drills and saws things on a Work Bench you can temporarily place a piece of Plywood over it to extend the life if the Sintra.

Here are a few pictures of my Works Bench. The bench is 8 feet long and 32 inches deep. It's held down by a few countersunk 3/4" pin nails from a pneumatic gun but has no glue or adhesives holding it. It can be sanded, drilled, bent (with heat) and shaped unlimitedly. It's a GREAT product!!

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chief38,
That looks and sounds great! I have never seen or heard of this product, but I will be investigating it soon! Thanks for the heads up!!!

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So long ... Ken

My preference over the years was carpet. Many places have free or minimal (.50) carpet samples. The tight plush about a 1/2" thick works well. No, it is not imperious to chemicals etc, but you can lay your guns out and work on them without fear of scratching them, and you can replace them easily as needed. When disassembling guns any parts you drop won't bounce and roll off.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

"Sintra" seems to be a black version of 1/4" Lexan, in it's properties; and less expensive.
Judging from how immaculate and organized your shop is, your Pop also taught you to place great value on your tools and work area.
Impressive shop !

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wanna do right-- not right now

I'd be afraid to start working in that shop. It is beautiful.

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Mike
S&WCA #3065

Thank you! I am a little OCD as you can see . Some people say my Shop looks unused and my Wife laughs....... because I use it almost daily and make plenty of messes in there. I always spend the time to put everything away and clean up right after the job is done. My shooting Bud's love hanging out in there too.

Lexan is a hard plexiglass type of product and is very brittle. The Sintra is not brittle at all and will never crack. It has a consistency more like the hard rubber floor tiles you see in some commercial applications or on steps - just a little lighter in consistency. It really is a great product for this application and is very easy to clean, vacuum and degrease with glass cleaner or all purpose product. After vacuuming, I just use some Spray-way glass cleaner or windex.

Here are a few other shots......... Aside form the gun hobby, I do my own plumbing, electrical, carpentry, maintain the cars and motorcycle, repair electrical stuff for half the neighborhood and fix all the stuff Mrs. Chief38 breaks - LOL I also have a Lionel Train layout that I've been working on for 35 years and am am sort of a junior inventor and come up with new stuff from time to time. It does keep me busy though..........

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Am I gonna hafta be the one to say it:

Sintra, Chairman of the Boards.


That too! Forget NASCAR, that's a NASA level workplace right there. I have a brother that was a head wrench for a school district fleet for many years, I thought his garage was squared away; I want to wipe my feet before going into this one.

Love the old fan, too. When does that date to, 1940's maybe?

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TEAM DNF

Now I have to comment.

Your shop is nice! My Granddad always put cleaning up into any project. He was an airframe mechanic for Pan Am. I later did the same for Uncle Sam and learned to inventory metal shavings.

I really like the fan.

I'm gonna fix up my garage after I remodel the kitchen.

Oh, Thanks for the cool tip.

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Dum vivo cano

The fan is between 1937 and 1941 - you were pretty much right on! I collect and restore them too - have many versions of them around the house. We have Central Air but love the fans on as well - like the breeze. They get used quite a bit and never die.

That's it, first thing tomorrow morning I'm setting fire to my loading/work bench and shed!! That is beautiful, man am I impressed!!

chief38, OMG ! That can't be a real work shop.

WAY to clean ,, neat , & nice. My work shop looks more like Dresden after the B-17's got done with it.. If I threw half my stuff away , & burned the other half it wouldn't be that neat.

You sir are an inspiration !!

Thanks - it's just in my Family Genes and my whole family is like that - "a little OCD". Believe me there are many times you can'y see the workbench top when I am in the middle of a project (should have seen it last week when doing a wood working project), but as soon as it's done I do a thorough job cleaning up. Some of my friends say my Garage and my Work Shop are cleaner than their Kitchens - and for a few that statement is sadly true.

I don't work well in a messy Shop. It's so much easier when I can actually have room to spread out and find things. Maybe one day I'll find the couple of gun springs and small screws I've lost over the years - they must be hiding real well - I've never found one them

And if they do ever fail a part, they're repairable.

I gotta admit that my day-to-day living stuffs can be a mess, but I keep my work gear organized better than most. I always tell people it's because I'm lazy: If I need something, I want to go straight to it and put my hand on it, not go looking and um & ah-ing for 5 minutes.

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TEAM DNF

I have al all steel workbench which at the present has two layers of 1" plywood all bolted down with carriage bolts. Had it for about ten years and it does show its age. Can sintra be cut with ordinary hand or power tools and do you have to affix it to the top of the bench with glue, nails or screws?. Thanks Frank

That's a wonderful work shop, mine is not that neat. Too many activities going on in mine, (wood working, reloading, repairing etc) I had not thought about Sintra in a while and never as a work surface. A very good idea, not as hard as lexan or plexi but very workable (comes in colors too.)

Sintra can be cut with any Saw - power or hand. It is a semi soft plastic - perfect for Firearms and Gun Smithing. If your steel work bench is often used for heavy duty work, then you can simply use the Sintra as a removable top when working on guns. Sintra does dent fairly easy and won't stand up to daily heavy banging on with hammers. You could also mount the Sintra and just cover with plywood when HD work will be done.

Thanks for the heads up, not only do I need a new work surface but in the near future I need to build a large work station for my wife and her crafting needs, this stuff is interesting looking and will likely work for both of us.
However I will confess that neither of us will likely have such a neat and tidy shop unless we do a cleanup for a photo shoot LOL

Thanks again Chief..
Karl

Thanks for the info. The two 1" plywood sheets were glued together then cut to fit the steel work bench. Then used carriage bolts to fasten them down. Bought one of the Sears crafts centers which is a 5 drawer roll around tool box. Didn't like the top it came with so again 2-1" pieces of plywood glues and screwed to the top with 2x4" on the edges to keep stuff from rolling off. I keep it by the lathe and don't have to worry about expensive measuring tools, parts being worked on doing the death dive on the concrete floor. Again thanks for the info. Frank

Awesome looking shop. I planned to look into Sintra; appreciate the lead...

Sintra seems to be basically PVC sheeting:

Nice that it can be made somewhat flexible by heating.

I couldn't have a shop that neat, I'd be too afraid to mess it up.....

My workbenches have always been made with two layer of 3/4" plywood glued and screwed and then stained with an exterior marine-grade oil-based stain. They sit atop the frames from Gorilla racks and can hold over 1200 pounds

oneounceload:

Sintra is not for everyone or every application. It is a semi-soft plastic that isn't at all brittle and can be dented easily with when banged on. If you use a workbench for heavy duty repair work and regularly have heavy objects on it - it might be too soft for your application. I have a hard time describing it over the forum but it's not like any other surface I can relate it to. Certainly nothing like plexiglass.

When I do heavy duty repair work I'll throw a sheet of Plywood over the Sintra temporarily - at least when it's new. After a few years, a few scars and marks I don't bother anymore - gives it character . Gun Smithing, electrical and electronic work was made for Sintra! Any kind of fine - detail work it's perfect for.

The best part is that Sintra is impervious to solvents, oils, water, greases, etc. The only thing I've found so far that will slightly etch it is Acetone - which I do not use often. After it's got all the gun cleaning and lubes on it, I simply spray a little Glass Cleaner on it and wipe it off - GTG. Any hole, burn mark, or dent ca be repaired with a little heat and a hammer. Sintra will never harm a guns finish which is great for me.

For me - - - I can't do work on my bench without having it clean and having everything in its place - OCD!!

That is a very nice shop that you have Chief38. Thank you for sharing.

Awesome, thanks for the ideas

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Rick
SWCA #2396