What do you use to cover your worksurface?

[AVTrout]

I've been to one teacher who used some kind of sheet metal which seemed to work great but neither me nor hubby want to wrangle a piece of sheet metal. I've been to another studio where I was able to rent time and they used some kind of fiber/paper to cover the table. "What's burning?" was a common question when I was working on the torch . I'm opting for flame proof covering! So what does everyone use? Thank you!
Alexis

[Chuckie]

I use a piece of Durock cement board. You can get it at Lowes or Home Depot. Some people are using large industrial sized stainless cookie sheets, too. You can find those at a restaurant supply company.

[squid]

You can buy a 2' x 4' piece of sheet metal at Home Depot. It is big enough to cover a work surface and small enough not to require wrestling.

[nouvellecoeur]

My dad installed some cheap(i think, it was a gift) marble. it seems to work nicely for me. plus, it's pretty! when it's not filthy... i use the cement stuff to protect the wall behind the torch, too.

[Renee]

I got a work surface from Wale - http://www.waleapparatus.com/details/16_1625.asp

[Peach Blossom Beads]

I actually bought a roll of sheet metal CHEAPER at Home Depot than I could get a 2x3 piece of sheet metal there. I think I may have found it in the roofing deapartment. It may have been flashing, I can't remember. What I do know is that it was definately thick enough and fire proof and I covered my 6x 4 table with it and had enough left over for other things. Dh rolled out on top of glue (liquid nails, I think), no wrestling, & clamped it down and put some heavy stuff on it til it dried. Then, I bought the heat proof black spray paint that you paint wood stoves and such with and painted the sheet metal on the table top. This way I can see the flame against the black. It was less than $25 to cover that big area and it's awesome.

You can also look for discounted tiles or marble. Sometimes they have them hanging around in the flooring dept.

[Emily]

I got a cheap piece of sheet metal at Home Depot, too. It might have been flashing. I think I have two pieces overlapped on my table. I had the edges duct taped, but I discovered it was a bad idea to have duct tape close to the torch after I put a hot graphite paddle down on it. (Graphite does get pretty warm, and the plastic on duct tape melts. Yuck.) After that, I peeled the tape away from the areas near my torch.

I have a dark-surfaced cookie sheet right under my torch because I discovered it's easier to see the flame against something dark. The bonus of the cookie sheet is that it has a slightly raised edge. That's important if you try to teach yourself to make marbles. Even when they're not very round, those little bleepers can ROLL. Putting something with an edge on your worktable reduces the chances that you'll be chasing a glowing hot marble across your floor.

[Cosmo]

I use cement board. Cheap, easy to cut to shape, and fireproof.

[Judi_B]

I used aluminum flashing from the roofing department at Lowes. My work area is small (2' x 2') so I just taped the edges and seam with aluminum tape. I've dropped molten glass on it a couple of times and it held up fine.

[Trey Cornette]

I got lucky and scored a 36" x 79" sheet of stainless steel at the scrap yard.

[nagibeads]

I bought a stainless steel work surface from Sundance Art Glass
(before DH started metalworking )

[FosterFire]

Rejected composite honeycomb. It was originally supposed to go to a NASA project but was off 3/1000s of an inch from the specs so it was rejected. The top and bottom are metal and fireproof. An elephant could stand on it and not crush it.

[NLC Beads]

Marble floor tile here, we made tables and I love them. I still use a cookie sheet as an immediate work surface since it catches stringers and everything else, but I don't need to worry about burning the table...

[Starrr]

I wanted my table to look nice, so I purchased some inexpensive marble tile and glued it down with silicone. It's fireproof, easy to clean and the entire tabletop is like a large marver.

[Jody Lee]

I got a nice stainless steel table from IKEA - it's actually part of the free-standing kitchen system, UDDEN, and it's great. You can even upgrade and put in shelves and stuff for storage underneath. I'm kinda short, so the height is perfect for me. It was $119.00 Cdn. Here's the link:
http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/store...umber=80059652

[wendbill]

I use a sheet of what of I think is aluminim, a cut off from something hubby used for a different project. Lots of people usingvarioius sorts of baking trays...

[evilglass]

I scored a scrap piece of granite. My table is metal, though. I plan to cover the whole thing at some point because it's a drafting table of some sort and has several large cutouts in the surface. My water bucket covers one of them mostly, but stuff still falls through sometimes.

[AVTrout]

Wow, thanks for the great ideas! I'm leaning towards black marble flooring tiles, but I like the cookie sheet idea. My marbles, so far, have been sad little dumplings but hopefully, they'll progress to the roll-able stage.

[sarsigirl]

costco also sells an inexpensive stainless steel table for about $80. It's a restauranrt thing, so it's possible restaurant supply places might have something

[DarleenMB]

Backer board. I think it's also the cement board referenced in earlier posts. That's what they have the teaching center at Glasscraft. It's wonderful. Light color so you can see what you're doing, easy to clean (I keep a small brush and dustpan and just sweep stuff up) and heat proof.

Hubby cut it to fit my table top and we just laid it on top. It's heavy enough to stay put.

It's was relatively cheap as well. I'd rather spend money on tools and glass.

[AVTrout]

Darleen, where'd you get the backer board at?

[Jenfire]

marble tiles from MR Seconds they were 50 cents apiece and the whole work surface can be cleaned, is a marver and works like a dream. they cover a regular kitchen type coutertop.
Jen

[comaki]

I picked up my backer board at our local home improvement store, like Home Depot or Lowe's...

For my shop, the backer board is on my walls, and covers my workbench. I have recently added stainless flashing onto my workbench, only because I like the super smooth surface stainless offers... and only on the sides of my actual torch area, this way I can still see my flame easily.

The walls were painted with a white primer, to allow the light some reflectiveness, and on my work bench the backer board was painted with black bbq paint.. high heat stuff. It works well for me.

[DarleenMB]

Got mine at the local lumber yard. Amazing given that no one ever has ANYthing here in Sheridan. But yeah, Home Depot or Lowe's should carry it.

I have a chipped chunk of porcelain tile I used before I got the backer board. It is flame proof and very pretty. It's also very heavy. So you have lots of options open to you. I'd say depends on budget (broken tiles about at flooring stores and can be had cheap) and your sense of aesthetics.

[bead crazy]

I use a very large metal shelve that my DH put wood on the back for it to be more sturdy. Does anyone elses table get really hot though I was thinking it was because mine was a metal shelf?

[topher wren]

My work space is actually my old 3 door kitchen cabnets flipped upsidedown to use the nice underneath area as the table top, and 4 roller wheels on the bottom for easy movability. I covered the work area with a sheet of stainless steel that i had bent in a way that forms a back splash to stop flying glass over the back side and a turned down lip on the front. I used rubber trim to cover the edges of the metal.Works great. cost was about 100.00 total

[Ro]

i use a piece of sheetrock, had it almost 2 years now, havent had to turn it yet. i used to have metal flashing, i prefer the sheetrock.
ro

[jesgen]

I am getting ready to put ceramic bathroom tile on the top of my work bench. I have them laid on my bench now but, I hope to have them glued down in the next week or two. I have a metal hot pad on the wall behind the torch. The tile was picked up at a garage sale. You also might be able to find it at Good Will or store like Good Will.
I am now looking at garage sales for pipe parts to make a frit maker.
Cheap is my motto!
Jerry

[one hot beader]

I went to my local tile shop and got some free ex-sample floor tiles. they are very large 2' x 1' it takes just 4 of them to cover my whole workspace! They're so large and heavy that I don't even need to glue them down.

[nouvellecoeur]

Originally Posted by jesgen

I am getting ready to put ceramic bathroom tile on the top of my work bench. I have them laid on my bench now but, I hope to have them glued down in the next week or two. I have a metal hot pad on the wall behind the torch. The tile was picked up at a garage sale. You also might be able to find it at Good Will or store like Good Will.
I am now looking at garage sales for pipe parts to make a frit maker.
Cheap is my motto!
Jerry

is that purple thing a NOODLE?! one of those swimming floatey things(if you wanna get technical)? great idea!