Economical workbench covering

[iampoor]

Hello

I am moving into a new workspace, and one of the perks of the space is a room with approximately 20ft of 2ft wide countertops installed as workbenches. I will be doing various prototyping, repair, and production on these countertops, and would like to cover them with a durable mat, to avoid damaging them (they are in great shape, as the space previously only had computers and coffee on the countertops). I was thinking of using some ESD mat, but I am not sure if this is thick and/or durable enough.

https://www.amazon.com/ESDProduct-Vinyl-General-Purpose-Length/dp/B009WUBQFM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1514449410&sr=8-8&keywords=2+ft+mat+roll

I was thinking, instead of laying ESD mat on all the benches, maybe I could put down a general purpose rubber mat, and then use these for individual sections where I will be soldering.

https://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Soldering-Resistant-Maintenance-Platform/dp/B06XR1TTVS/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1514449777&sr=8-8&keywords=solder+mat

I would appreciate some real world input or product recommendations, as I have no experience doing this. This is the first time where I actually care about workbenches staying in decent shape, because I dont own them! 

[R005T3r]

What about a copper 1 or 1,5 mm sheet used as an esd mat?

[iampoor]

What about a copper 1 or 1,5 mm sheet used as an esd mat?

Interesting idea, I will have to get prices on copper. I have a feeling that 40ft of 24in wide copper is going to be very very expensive.

[HalFET]

Well, you can actually get stainless steel sheets cut to size fairly cheaply if you want a metal cover. What's also remarkably cheap per square meter is polyimide flex, the adhesive based Chinese one can be had at 12-14 bucks per square meter. If you want cheap silicone - simply as protection - and are less worried about ESD you can also go to the crafting and cooking supplies aisle.

[bd139]

I wouldn't bother in covering it in anything. The surface gets ruined double-time if it's covered and then you've got glued down disappointment until you can resurface it. I watched my father make this mistake by covering the bench in his (professional) lab in blue ESD matting in the late 1980s. It lasted a month before it was ruined. Also I got the "shit" workbench in my short spell in industry which someone had clearly had a small fire on and the surface was terribly burned and pitted.

Raw wood is probably the best solution I have found, followed by the typical coated lab workbench/furniture material which I assume is melamine. Chuck some cardboard packaging down underneath anything sharp and use an A3 sized ESD mat if you need it (most of the time you don't so don't plan ahead too much). My table still looks like new after 10 years, apart from where the kids got at it. This recommendation came from Bob Pease. He suggested using a ground plane on top of the bench but I didn't find that necessary. Also it's easier to accidentally put you between ground and what you're working on so I didn't fancy that.

If you gash some wood or melamine badly you can just run some epoxy in the gash and then sand it down when it has dried. No such luck with a matted surface.

[tooki]

What about a copper 1 or 1,5 mm sheet used as an esd mat?

There was just a discussion somewhere else on the forum about this, that apparently you do NOT want a low-resistance path for ESD protection, because the fast discharge can itself cause damage. This is apparently why ESD mats are “static dissipative”, with a resistance high enough to slow the discharge down to currents that won’t cause damage. (And low enough to not be useless.)

I’d go with the vinyl ESD mat.

[R005T3r]

There must be some ESD safe packaging material of some kind... Might be well giving a look to it for assembling components. Definitely not useful if you are soldering.