Steel plate for covering workbench question

[peterbye]

Hi, I need to get a piece of steel plate cut to cover part of my workbench for welding on, about 3ft x 2ft. Question is, what thickness should I get? The workbench is solid wood so the steel will be completely supported, so what is the minimum thickness I can use that won't distort from the heat? I was thinking 3mm would be ok, but would 2mm be thick enough? Thanks for any ideas.

 

[Douglas]

All depends on the level of heat input, what are the parameters of heat input onto the steel sheet? The more heat the more it'll tend to distort.
hope this helps.

 

[peterbye]

Yeah, I suppose I should have said what I'll be doing - mostly Tig welding 1mm steel plate, but some bigger jobs as well.

 

[pedrobedro]

I use aluminium on my bench when I'm tig welding steel.