Workbench Size

Brent Dowell

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Reno NV
So, I've got a workbench I made quite a few years ago.

It's big and heavy. It's 3'x6' and I'm starting to think it's too big, because all I use it for primarily is stacking stuff on and under.

I'm toying with the idea of dismantling it and making a smaller one using the same hardware.

I think it would be more efficient for me to have a narrower bench built up along the wall purpose made for storage and bench top tools, and have a smaller workbench with the wood working vices I could use as an outfeed for the tablesaw.

So how big is your workbench?

Thanks in advance for any ideas or suggestions you might have.
 
Mine's 32" wide by 8 feet long, and most of the time it's so cluttered with stuff that I have a hard time finding a two foot wide workspace.

Smaller might be better - but whatever you do, don't include a tool tray (AKA a junk collecting tray) on it!
 
I'm really thinking about something about 30"x48" might be just the ticket. I could have that in the center for an assembly table/workbench/outfeed table if necessary.

The replacement 'bench' along the wall could be used for the clutter and for a sharpening station, etc...

It's just that where it's at it never fulfills it's mission as a real woodworking bench and is too big to put in the middle of the shop, where something like that would belong.
 
That would basically be the idea.

Right now it's shoved up against a wall, and it's tough to store anything under or over it because of it's size.

If I cut it down, I could move it out into the center of the shop, and put a fixed bench with drawers below and perhaps a slatwall system above it.
 
My current workbench is 30" x 96" but that's going to turn into a coutertop for some cabinets in the shop. It has always been up against a wall in the garage. I'm planning something around 24-28" wide by 6-8' depending on what I feel like after I get all my tools in the new shop.

I really want a bench I can walk all the way around. I thought about the outfeed table/bench combination but I'm hoping after I get everything in the new shop I'll have room for a seperate bench. I think an outfeed table/bench would work almost as good as a free standing one though.
 
I find a bench in the middle to be far more useful than against the wall. In the middle it holds pieces bigger than it is. Against the wall that doesn't work. Against the wall I just pile stuff on it. I'd rather have the right end of the table saw against the wall. Fence only goes so far anyway.

But that's just me. When I had the bigger shop, two work benches parallel to one another was really useful. Don't make anything that big any more.

What I am going to make is a roll around tall tote. It will be bench height or nearly so. It will be for keeping the tools I am currently using. You guys may not be able to relate but we girls will. It is like the tote the hairdresser uses as she works from one side to the other. It is place for her tools and supplies and it is within reach.

It needs to be a bit bottom heavy to be stable. Drawers will take care of that. I made a small tray storage cabinet for small hand tools I am always reaching for. Saved tons of steps. It is on a shelf and made up of TV dinner trays.

My 2 centavos.
 
Well that does make sense.

I think I know what I have to do.

I'll break out the ole wormdrive skil saw and see if I can cut my current bench down to size just for kicks. If not, I'll make a new top. The base is already on wheels and I should be able to salvage that at least.

I'll move it away from the wall and put in a row of base cabinets against the wall where it currently is setup.

When I think about it, All I had before in my shop was one little 2'x2' piece of counter by a window, and my bench. If I can get more counter space, I'll be able to keep the bench clear and useable, and gain more storage space...

Thanks everyone for helping me to make up my mind.
 
Hi,

27 x 67 is my bench size. This is much smaller than the previous bench. Both benches were/are "stand alone."

If I were doing it again I might go a bit narrower and shorter. Depends on whether you are going to set large work pieces on it. My original bench was built heavier than a brontosaurus and the new one is also. There is no wiggle or whatever when planing, sawing, etc. Top is 3 1/2 inches thick. Legs are 4 x 4. There is good structure in the base to fight any torsion stresses.

New bench is a bit lower than the old...I'm a little guy. I have a piece of particle board, with attachments, that works as an outfeed from the TS to the bench. Some time ago I posted pics showing how a little guy rips 2 x 12 x 10ft pieces of poplar. The pics show the long lumber going along the "chute." I have a gizmo I set on the bench (which is lower than the TS top) when the bench acts as an outfeed table.

I do not have much room between the bench and the TS. However there is enough for me when I want to go there. I had a wall mounted bench very many years ago. I far prefer free standing.

Enjoy,

Jim

Oh yes, for those of you who don't know...My fast moving wife spun around making a foot contact a swivel chair which made her do a beautiful pirouette (spelling = ?) and come down on the sharp corner of her "Craftsman" desk. Net result has been many hours in doctor offices, x-rays, etc. for her broken (you guessed it RIGHT) arm. Trying to get that woman to slow down and think and not try to use that arm is a task and a half.

Anyway, she is healing well in spite of herself.
 
Oh yes, for those of you who don't know...My fast moving wife spun around making a foot contact a swivel chair which made her do a beautiful pirouette (spelling = ?) and come down on the sharp corner of her "Craftsman" desk. Net result has been many hours in doctor offices, x-rays, etc. for her broken (you guessed it RIGHT) arm. Trying to get that woman to slow down and think and not try to use that arm is a task and a half.

Anyway, she is healing well in spite of herself.
:eek::eek: Ouch. I hope she heals quickly and completely!
 
Middle of the shop, and not too big :wave:

I think 24" x 60" will be my next bench.

No storage under it either, just an open frame, well maybe one shelf on the bottom. :thumb:
 
48"x96" and drawers underneath it.. but i have alittle more room avaible now than u do brent.. i had in th eold shop which was smaller than yurs now a out feed table bench combo that worked very well for me and i stil have it in the new shop.. the majority of the work get done on the assebly bench now but i do use the outfeed alot as well.. look at a out feed combo first in my opinion with drawers to hold some of your stuff and then another for assembly in a moveable construction.
 
Growing up we had a 4' x 4' table on casters that was tall enough to go against the wall over some shorter cabinets, but could be pulled out for assembly work. It had a steel frame, so didn't take much room around the cabinets to put it away. I'd like to do something similar with a torsion type top when I get that far along. For now I've got a couple of folding tables if I need to use them.

Oh yes, for those of you who don't know...My fast moving wife spun around making a foot contact a swivel chair which made her do a beautiful pirouette (spelling = ?) and come down on the sharp corner of her "Craftsman" desk. Net result has been many hours in doctor offices, x-rays, etc. for her broken (you guessed it RIGHT) arm. Trying to get that woman to slow down and think and not try to use that arm is a task and a half.

Anyway, she is healing well in spite of herself.

Jim, Hope she heels up quickly. :wave:
 
Jim, I pray Myrna gets well soon. Pamper her!

@Others: FWIW my bench size is 30"x60" - both of them. One is against the wall and buried. The other is on an hydraulically elevated table from HF. It rolls to wherever I need it. The top is a bench top from Grizzly. It was less money than buying lumber to make one. I added a quick release WW vise, also from Grizzly, and some dog holes. It has been very useful. The ultimate test is, would I do the same thing again? The answer - in a heartbeat.
 
carol brings up one point that i havnt done yet but will someday and thats the hydraulic lift idea.. once yu get organized and start actually making stuff yur gonna find that one height is good for most but the final work when its going together needs another height to be comfortable..and when finishing the project begins if your sprayun then yu want adjust ability as well...
 
I have 2. About 40" x 8' Both are against a wall.
If my shop was bigger I would have a 4x8 table in the center of the shop. For assembly I just use a few sawhorses with a 3/4 " piece of plywood. I need more room.
 
Brent I would like to support Carols point about a bench being away from the wall if possible.

I think the most profound thing that clicked to me when i was in the process of making my bench, was that its a tool in its own right. Its a third hand. And a big part was being able to clamp things to it while working on them. Whether this is in the vice attached to the bench of using some sort of clamp to hold it down to the slab.

For that reason being able to get to both sides and work a piece from both sides especially if the bench is going to double as an assembly table in the interim is essential to me.

For that reason i came to realize the merits of the top being a slab and heavy.

One is it has its own heft that way to keep everything steady and absorb a vibration if one has to pound away with a mallet or hammer.

Second its thickness allows for benchdogs or hold downs to be added

Third and most important to me is that its edges serve as a stable edge to support an edge clamp.

When you compare that to having an edge with is not accessible and i mean here either ending on the top of cabinets or back against the wall, well you stip that opportunity. Again with a slab of wood from laminated planks such as a 2x4 when they laminated together and placed in an on edge direction they form a pretty solid clamping surface that is not going to give in a longitudinal direction. So no curling up,

In this situation the bench becomes a reference surface if you ensure to get it flat in the beginning.

I plan on making sure mine finds its way over to near the window and I will add another to the outfeed of my saw once i settle my canoe build and begin to dedicate the layout of my machines.

That plan i sent you is very similar to the sizes being mooted here for a small bench but a workable one.:thumb:

Good luck in your choice.:thumb:
 
Rob, I think you nailed it. I think there are two different kinds of benches.

1) There is the classic woodworking type with a front and and end vise. That kind is meant to be used for a multitude of assembly/working chores. But It really isn't suited to being smacked up against the wall and stacked full of car batteries and cutoffs... It should be in the middle of the shop and used for what it is good for.

2) There should be a number of benches in the shop that are meant to hold 'stuff', and for stationary tools like grinders, sharpening stations etc...

My problem is that I have 1 of the former and 0 of the latter. This situation will be fixed...
 
Back when my mentor John and I had our shop majal, we each had a 'stuff' bench, and then we had one super sized outfeet-come-assembly table in the middle (it was about 4' wide by 60" long). My shop I have two benches... one is 38" deep by about 52" wide, the other is the Newfangled bench which is about 30" by 60" iirc. I have a third bench, however, I took it down and it won't go back up before the move to VA.
 
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