By: Rob Petrie There are plenty of options for workbench toppers — anything that protects your bench from your current shenanigans could count — but there are four kinds I’ll showcase here. Workbenches take a beating — that’s what they’re made to do. As you may have noticed in some of our photos, ours certainly go through the wringer. Every now and again we take the time to clean them up and flatten them. However, as Benjamin Franklin said in regards to fires in Philadelphia, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” To protect our benches, we use a variety of materials, or “toppers.” The ones I’ll discuss here are my go-tos. However, protecting my bench isn’t the only goal: many of these surfaces are also preferable to a benchtop, depending on the work being done. TOPPER TYPES There are plenty of options for workbench toppers — anything that protects your bench from your current shenanigans could count — but there are four kinds I’ll showcase here.…