What is the ideal bench surface?

I use a piece of glass about 18 in. by 18 in. Helps to keep things level and its handy for decaling to. DO NOT USE GLASS FOR HARDCORE CUTTING!!!!  For that I use a piece of scrap 2by4. wood

I have an office desk with an A4 cutting matt and a piece of newspaper on it. The newspaper stop spills on the matt and the matt saves me cutting into the table. Works for me.

I have an L shaped desk with a glass top. The glass is scratched up pretty good (not from me cutting on it, honest) i use a craft mat for cutting. The desk is about 10 years old. Any how, I went to WalMart and found one of those big bath towels, the kind that are real thick. I think I paid $3.00 for it in the reduced section. I lay that down. It keeps paint jobs from getting scratched up. I'm starting to think about getting a new one, as this one is just starting to fray and it has super glue spots on it. It's about 2 yrs old.

HI ,

I have been using a piece of TEMPERED glass over CORIAN for my work surface for over twenty years now ,with no ill effects . Now , the glass is a reject from an old stack type stereo .It works great .I have a steel plate on which I cut P.E. Because it's as hard as I could find and non-slip too ! The CORIAN is off white and if it needs cleaning , I just take it out and wet sand it to get off all the gunk and scratches modeling generates . After wet sanding I clean it off with some rubbing compound and a buffer . VIOLA ! ! Good as new .          Tanker-builder    P.S. The nice thing is I can put instructions or plans under the glass and they don't come to harm .

been using it for years......Glass

Thad

I just use a piece of particle board as a bench top.  Then, I cover it with Contact paper (a self-adhesive plastic shelf lining material).  When it gets too dirty with glue gobs and paint drips I pull it up and replace with a new strip.  The brand I use comes in a plain white which makes a nice surface.

Mine is 1/2" melamine supported with a sturdy 2x4 framework in a large L-shape. A 12"x18" cutting mat sits on top of it, protected by a piece of matte glass. The matte glass eliminates the glare from the bench lights produced by conventional glass.

My benchtops are MDF. On my "build" side, they're topped with a cutting mat and a sheet of 11x17 frame glass (for cutting tape strips and the like). On the airbrushing side, I've got some posterboard scrap that I technically use for quick pictures while at the bench, but that really just accumulates the usual build clutter. My "paint shop" is a lazy susan with a piece of scrap wood on top of it.

My preference is for glass - preferably automotive safety glass cut to size  - the current one is 19.5 x 24 - replace them every 5 to 6 years

I have a 1950's oak drafting table from the Forrest Service (4'x8') with a specialized drawing mat over the top.  On top of that, I use a 18" cutting mat.  I paint out in the garage.

A cutting board with a piece of posterboard over it is what I usually use.

I now use tempered glass about 18x18 and it has saved me from all kinds of accidents and I am glad since in my younger days I got yelled at a lot for my famous spills and drops of glue every where. Now I just let my spill mistake dry and scrape it off with a razor blade type scrapper and go on. I put painters tape down when I am cutting photo-etch since glass is clear and makes the photo-etch hard to see sometimes and it keeps the glass from getting scratched to bad.