Ideal Work Bench Height

[tylerferris1213]

What is your ideal height of a standing work bench? I just got a bunch of lumber to build my own, and I'm thinking somewhere in the 44" range. I'm over 6 feet tall, so it'll be nice to not have to stoop over all day when I'm working.

[bloke]

start with a crappy table (even a card table) and a piece of OSB or plywood on top of it.

Continue to elevate the OSB/plywood (and "do things" on the plywood) - elevating the plywood until the height feels right for YOU...

...but you might (??) just want to watch your local craigslist for a while, just in case there's something perfect that's cheap or "perfect"/better-than-you-can-make.

https://cleveland.craigslist.org/search ... h&sort=rel

Lumber can be returned (if bought) and saved back (if donated).

This particular one looks sorta cool (fairly obviously: "vice not included"), and surely could be easily made taller (or shorter).

https://cleveland.craigslist.org/tls/d/ ... 67284.html

I understand the pleasure of making something...Mrs. bloke and I (with no help from anyone) are on the downhill side of building a barn (and we're liking what we see)...but if we could have somehow BOUGHT it (ready-built, HERE, and built as well as I built it) for little more than our cost of materials, that would have been a no-brainer.

[tylerferris1213]

Bloke, I spent about two weeks perusing Facebook marketplace and craigslist, but nothing seemed quite right. Besides, 2X4s are pretty cheap! All in all, building my own work bench is costing me less than finding a good one online. As an added bonus, it's easier to bring in the pieces and assemble them than to try loading a work bench into my Ford Escape. I have a friend with a truck, but I try not to call in that favor TOO often.

[Ace]

What is your ideal height of a standing work bench? I just got a bunch of lumber to build my own, and I'm thinking somewhere in the 44" range. I'm over 6 feet tall, so it'll be nice to not have to stoop over all day when I'm working.

I'm 6' 2". I built my work bench in 1967, and the height is 42" which is perfect for me. No leaning during the work project.

Ace

[tylerferris1213]

Thanks for the link! I'll do some reading on it.

[bloke]

It’s fun to build things. I built a big pine workbench (2x4’s & particleboard 4x8 top, with a full particleboard shelf underneath) when I was about 22 years old - after we bought a small house with a big metal building behind it that was on concrete. Pine benches are probably fine, if no drawers, and as long as the top doesn’t need to be very stress-resistant. That was also my first-ever wiring job…fluorescent lights and outlets.
Decades ago, someone was throwing away an industrial steel bench with a heavy oak top. I could/can barely move it. That’s my main bench to this day.

[Doc]

Having the right bench is like having the right tool for the job - it can make all the difference. Sure, something else might work, but it won't work nearly as well, won't be as efficient, and it can make the job steal your joy and be a real pain.

I could use a workbench, but not on a daily basis. I guess it would be cheap enough to build one, but I'm not sure where I would put it. While height is important, my main concern would be length and width to accomodate working on large tubas, bass guitars, and upright bass. There is no room in the house, and the old detached garage is not a place I care to work nine months out of the year (a sauna would be an improvement). The garage should probably be replaced with a metal garage/shop with A/C, but I digress... I can testify that when working on tubas and basses (and anything else needing maintenance and repairs) the dining room table SUCKS. It is too short when standing, too tall when sitting, and the round shape doesn't help. Tall tubas barely fit, and upright bass is out of the question. No place for mounting a vice either. No grinding wheel. No drill press.

Please post your progress (pics, too). Your ideas, plus the input of others, might help some of us improve our own designs. And it might inspire us to actually build the darned thing.

[tylerferris1213]

I have all the lumber cut to size already, so hopefully later today I can share a finished photo. The dimensions are going to be 7 feet wide by 3 feet deep by 44 inches tall. 42 inches was recommended as the height, but I went slightly taller because I'm over 6 feet tall. If it ends up being uncomfortably tall, I can always trim the legs down a bit haha.

[tylerferris1213]

Well, it's almost done! I just have to install a shelf or two under the table for storage and put a cover over the plywood top! I love the height for working, but it may be a little too tall to comfortably work with a vice. I'm sure I can find a way to mount it on the side! Here are some pictures of the mostly finished bench with my assistant.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tkkv3ezx57yb ... fNL3a?dl=0

[Doc]

Looks good. And you have a great helper, too!

[bloke]

Well, it's almost done! I just have to install a shelf or two under the table for storage and put a cover over the plywood top! I love the height for working, but it may be a little too tall to comfortably work with a vice. I'm sure I can find a way to mount it on the side! Here are some pictures of the mostly finished bench with my assistant.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/tkkv3ezx57yb ... fNL3a?dl=0

very

The last time I bought OSB, it was $5/sheet (and not that long ago).
I pick up viable pieces - sure, and plywood, and whatever (whether full or cut) off the side of the road, and store them in the barn until I need them for a project (such as a barn I'm building now). I just glanced at the CURRENT price of that stuff when in big-orange buying something else...$25 - $30/sheet. (It then occurred to me that a bunch of people who have "pretty good" jobs are only paid "one sheet of OSB an hour".)

[scottw]

Which is why, as a contractor, I avoid that place [as well as Lowes] like the plague. The inferior quality coupled with the ridiculous prices just do not help me at all. The problem for most people, though, is that while I have a real lumber yard for my needs, so many of them have been forced out of business by the encroachment of the big box stores, just like real hardware stores. You may not have an alternative in your location, but see if you can find an old line lumber yard somewhere in your area--it will almost certainly be worth looking for it!
Scottw

[sdloveless]

What is your ideal height of a standing work bench? I just got a bunch of lumber to build my own, and I'm thinking somewhere in the 44" range. I'm over 6 feet tall, so it'll be nice to not have to stoop over all day when I'm working.

It looks like you're well under way, but I thought I'd chime in. I built my workbench in 1996 or 97 using the plans in Norm Abram's New Yankee Workshop book. (I was broke and built it with no vise, adding a cheap one to the bench several years later.) The going wisdom at the time was to stand up straight, let your arms hang by your side, and then make a fist. Have someone measure from the floor to your knuckles. I followed that advice and have never thought my bench was too tall or too short. It's been pressed into service for woodworking, guitar maintenance, bicycle repair, and often as yet another horizontal surface for the storage of crap.

[tylerferris1213]

Which is why, as a contractor, I avoid that place [as well as Lowes] like the plague. The inferior quality coupled with the ridiculous prices just do not help me at all. The problem for most people, though, is that while I have a real lumber yard for my needs, so many of them have been forced out of business by the encroachment of the big box stores, just like real hardware stores. You may not have an alternative in your location, but see if you can find an old line lumber yard somewhere in your area--it will almost certainly be worth looking for it!
Scottw

I already purchased (and cut) all my lumber from Home Depot, unfortunately. I will look into a local lumber yard for any future projects, though! I'm sure there's one somewhere in the greater Cleveland area.

What is your ideal height of a standing work bench? I just got a bunch of lumber to build my own, and I'm thinking somewhere in the 44" range. I'm over 6 feet tall, so it'll be nice to not have to stoop over all day when I'm working.

It looks like you're well under way, but I thought I'd chime in. I built my workbench in 1996 or 97 using the plans in Norm Abram's New Yankee Workshop book. (I was broke and built it with no vise, adding a cheap one to the bench several years later.) The going wisdom at the time was to stand up straight, let your arms hang by your side, and then make a fist. Have someone measure from the floor to your knuckles. I followed that advice and have never thought my bench was too tall or too short. It's been pressed into service for woodworking, guitar maintenance, bicycle repair, and often as yet another horizontal surface for the storage of crap.

I built mine at a height roughly at my elbows. This may prove too tall, but I thought I'd start ambitious and saw it down if it was too tall. I'd hate to make it too short from the get-go and have to pull out the board stretcher.