Help on bench height please

[AES]

I'd appreciate help/advice from those with experience of woodwork benches please.

I've (at last) "bitten the bullet" and decided that I MUST build myself a woodworkers bench. Due to space it will be quite small (just over 1 metre long x 50 wide), flat top (no well). I've seen plenty of designs on the web etc and although this will be my first "large" wooden structure I'm pretty confident of being able to bring it off OK. BUT:

1. FOLDING: Due to space reasons, when not in use it needs to be folded up vertically, being fixed to an existing cupboard at one end and free standing (2off 4 x 4 legs) at the other. It will be fitted with a smallish Record wood workers vice, plus, maybe, a few hold downs. I had thought of the bracing being a lower shelf hinged at the fixed end (like the bench itself) and with metal brackets with "cam-shaped holes" (which I'll make myself) to lock onto metal pegs (headless thick gauge screws) at the legs end. The shelf would be fairly substantial (at least half inch birch ply) and the top will be 2 laminations of about three quarter MDF (I think). The bench itself will be positioned on the existing cupboard so that the big forces (planing, etc) will be mainly against the cupboard which in turn is fixed hard both to the concrete floor and against a concrete wall.
QUESTIONS: Will the above idea work? Any special points to consider? What about containing "across the bench" rather than "along the bench forces (e.g. sawing)?

2. Height: I'm in my mid 60s and had a back operation 10+ years ago. The op worked quite well but I still get quite a lot of back discomfort (sometimes pain), especially when bending, even for quite a short period. My existing mechanics bench which I made has a big mechanics vice on it with the top of the jaws set at elbow height (as per the general advice) and in general I find this quite comfortable when hacksawing, filing, etc, although for longer work periods I am considering raising the vice by a further inch or so by mounting it on an extra wooden (ply) plate. I am approx 6 foot 2 and the vice jaws are presently just under 45 inches above the floor.
But all the plans for woodworkers benches I've found are all MUCH lower than this (average seems to be about 32 to 36 inches, though I did find one at 38, and another at 29). Just like my Workmate, that seems to be far too low for me and I can imagine severe back pain working at heights like that (which happens to me now when I plane something on my Workmate). As I see it, I'd like to ignore that part of all the existing plans and set the top of the new woodworkers bench at about the same height as the the top of the jaws of my mechanics vice, i.e. about 45 inches. But I've never seen plans for a woodworkers bench with a height anything like that:
QUESTIONS: Am I missing something here? Why are all the woodworkers benches I've seen (plans and those in DIY stores) so "low"? Can anyone with more experience than me (i.e. just about everyone!) see anything wrong with, for example, planing a piece of timber with my back bent only slightly?

All comments and advice gratefully received - please remember I'm a real newbie in this woody world.

Thanks in anticipation.

AES

 

[Glynne]

Hi,

Not sure if you saw the general thread on work benches but the link is here: -

https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/new-work-bench-t69805.html

As with all aspects of a bench, the height is simply another variable that you can customise to your own needs.
There isn't an absolute right or wrong, its what suits you.

You may find that you prefer different heights for different tasks and so provided your basic bench is sturdy enough (or can be fixed to something solid), you might be able to use blocks to raise or lower the work surface.

Glynne

 

[carlb40]

Agree with Glynne. I too have a bad back i am about 5' 11'' and at the moment my existing bench is 900mm high. Even when using power tools it is too low for me. So my next bench will be higher still.

I can emphasize with the bending issue. I was paring some joints last week and after 3 cuts i had to stand up straight.

What you might like to try if you can? Is to set up a flat surface at xxx height, use it for a few days or more and see if it needs to be higher / lower. Adjust it and do the same until you find a comfortable height.

 

[Steve Maskery]

Hi AES, nice to hear from you.

The height depends a bit on what sort of work you intend to do. Hand planing, for example requires you to be on top of the work - you wouldn't want to be planing at chest height, for example.
Using a router can be more comfortable at a higher position.
Many plans for WW benches are simply hand-me-downs from years, sometime generations ago and mankind generally was shorter then. My grandad was shorter than my dad, who was shorter than I am, and I'm only 1.78m myself. So a bench that wold suit my grandad would not suit me at all, let alone you.
One rule of thumb is that, with a bench plane on your bench, your elbow should just touch it as you stand next to it. But as I say, it rather depends on how you plan to use it.
I do one day a week volunteering at a Community Workshop. It is ex-school and all the benches are designed for kids. Its a pain, even blocked up a few inches.
Why not visit every woodworker you know, try out their benches and take a tape measure with you? It should give you a better idea of what feels good.
S

 

[Dangermouse]

I know your short of space, but on the height front this is one solution. I don't know if you could make it fit your space. Hope it might give you a few ideas anyway.
Two variations on the theme

http://www.jack-bench.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... j0C0OkFgYQ

 

[G S Haydon]

As long as it does not cause you a problem during the build make it 950mm and give it a try. I don't think you should need it much higher. Trial it and see how you go, if it feels too high after a week or so of use trim off 25mm and trial it. Ours are about 875mm.

 

[OLD]

I also have back problems and read a tip that the height should be at watch level .Stand by the bench arm by your side height of watch from floor is level of bench top .I had to lift my bench 4 inches but it works fine for me and remember you can make a low platform to stand on if you need to do a lot of hand planing.

 

[AndyT]

Height - as others have said, it depends a lot on what you are doing. Lower for hand planing and sawing joints on the bench than anything else. There are plenty of clever ideas to give you a range of heights - a 'bench on bench' can be as simple as a box, or some sort of 'Moxon' add-on. See this thread: https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/moxon-add-on-vices-t61367.html for more info. Here is mine, showing how it can give you a convenient, stoop-free height for close work: (thanks again Douglas!)

I know I've said this before, but changing the height of a bench does not mean that you have to jack it up on blocks or saw chunks off the legs. It's far easier to acquire one or two thickish planks (old kitchen worktop is ideal) and either put them on top of the bench (to make it higher) or else on the floor in front of it (to make it lower).

Folding - it always sounds like a good idea, but it will only work if you are a really tidy person. I remember that my father bought a natty folding bench and fixed it on the end wall of the garage. He folded it up and down again on the first day, and then it stayed down for the next 40 years!

 

[AES]

Good evening and very many thanks to every one of you for all the helpful advice, comments, links, etc (one really can rely on the many good people here).

I've looked at all the links provided, some I had seen, some not. I really do like the idea of an adjustable height bench, so covering all the bases, but without a lot of "re-engineering" nothing I've seen would fit into the only space I've got - it's great having a basement/cellar - with windows, especially in Winter, but when you have to share the space with SWMBO and all her gear, plus the central heating, the oil tank, the washing machine and drier, plus all the gardening tools & bits and pieces, what starts out looking pretty big ends up being quite cramped.

But to me the saving grace in all the bits of advice given is the "obvious" (now someone has said it!) fact that using planks you can quite easily practice different types of jobs at differing heights to see what really works for me personally. So thanks for those pointers, and as I shall in future be doing a bit of everything (apart from wood carving and turning) I'll be spending the next few weeks using my Workmate "chocked up" and while standing on planks to see what really works for me.

Re folding, thanks for the comment Andy T, I understand exactly what you're saying and believe me I'd rather not have to bother fiddling around with a "design/mechanism" which will carry all the loads while at the same time being able to fold up when not in use. But as above, folding it must be as I've only got SWMBO's rather grudging permission to take over "even more space down there" with "another" bench if it does indeed fold. But as above, while I'm playing around with various jobs on the "jacked up/lowered down" Workmate it'll at least give me some time to think out the folding in more detail - again, thanks Andy T, that idea you've shown looks worth a lot more thinking about by me.

Thanks again to each and every one of you for all the comments and advice. When it's finally finished (like my MG pedal car do NOT hold your breath) I'll post a few pix at the end and also try to do some WIPs during the build.

I've given each of the replies above an "electronic thank you".

Krgds
AES

 

[carlb40]

Look forward to the end result