make or get a wooden table and put a piece of plywood on top which could be replaced easily (use a few screws to fasten it to the main table) if when it becomes damaged

I have always used plywood topped with a sheet of masonite. (for woodworking etc) It's nice and smooth. Plywood by itself would be a great workable surface because you can screw materials and jigs down into it. You can also paint the table if you want a different color.

I have made a number of benches over the years, and by far the best was a pc. of 3/4" plywood over a 2X4 frame. Then I put oak hardwood flooring over the plywood. You won't need metal for a hammering surface, this is plenty tough.

I do a lot of wire wrapping and beading, and I actually have two workbenches in my studio. One has sheet cork on it, this is my beading area. I can stick pins into it to hold pieces that I am working on,and it is a good place to stick needles that I use for beadweaving. The seed beads and others don't roll as bad on it either.

The other, where I do wirewrapping has a smooth surface, I used a piece of bathroom wall paneling, white. It works very well as I can see all the little bits of wire and is smooth so I can brush them up easily. Both of the work areas have a small lip edging to keep things from rolling onto the floor.

My lapidary set up is in my basement, away from my studio as the cab machines and saws are very dirty. It has a plywood workbench with a metal area for hammering and soldering, and the rest is a piece of formica that I recycled from an old kitchen counter. All the rock is kept in this area also, and I have parts cabinets to hold cut stones.

Each workbench has its own set of tools, and I also have a seperate area for glass beadmaking.