Why finish your shop furniture?

[WaterlooMarc]

Because if you keep sidewalk chalk around to entertain your toddler she will decide to finish it for you. Probably much easier to get off if it's not bare wood. Incidentally she has never, not once, used the chalk on the floor.

That is all. I'll get back to using my manly router table with the hot pink side now.

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

I have pencil notes, gouges and saw kerfs all over my benches and tables from when the kids were younger. They are still young enough to impart character but they're past the point of writing their names on everything. If nothing else, wax or Danish oil keeps the glue drips from sticking. That's the only thing I truly care about. Even though I scolded them back then, I love those marks now.

[Foggy]

I have pencil notes, gouges and saw kerfs all over my benches and tables from when the kids were younger.  They are still young enough to impart character but they're past the point of writing their names on everything.  If nothing else, wax or Danish oil keeps the glue drips from sticking.  That's the only thing I truly care about.  Even though I scolded them back then, I love those marks now.

Precious memories.

[Steve N]

It's in a place that should be filled with sawdust, over spray, and all kinds of gunk. Sooner or later it will look like a truck bed should, if you bought it for a truck, instead of a gas hungry car you think makes you look cool. So the only reason I can think of to finish shop furniture is practice

[Wood'N'Scout]

I used up an old can of polyurethane.  To be more accurate I mixed several different glosses of oil based poly together to get enough to lay on one coat.  I barely had enough of the resulting "witches brew" to complete the cabinets on one wall.  The other wall used up a partial can of water based poly.  The exercise was very cost effective.

[bennybmn]

Not all of mine is, but what I did finish was mainly for the sake of cleaning. Oiled bench tops, or a quick n dirty layer or something on some shelves I built when I had a basement shop and was worried about mold.  I also painted my clamp rack gray just so I could try out my HVLP.

[Bibliophile 13]

I need to take a picture of the front apron of my workbench. It's got all kinds of doodles from various toddlers.

Normally, I finish my shop furniture with a custom, proprietary blend of blood, sweat, and tears, applied regularly over the course of a decade or more. So far I've been happy with the results.

[CLETUS]

My stool must have 15 different colors of spray paint on it...

[DogwoodTales]

I have many such marks (gifts) from my children too.
On the other hand having a well groomed shop and kept clean could do wonders to help keep one's mind clear and organized and focused in the shop too. Even as cluttered as my.shop usually is I've found that I work better when the shop is even only half way clean and the experience is more pleasant as well.
Of course that will vary by the person. One person might consider my half way clean still WAY to cluttered while another may think it's too.clean.

[Bill Holt]

Ray, you have slipped over the line...to preaching!

But I do agree.  The process goes smoother when the clutter has found its place.