Rolling Shop Cabinets - Height?

[yvan]

I am slowly setting up my "small" workshop - 4m x 3m - and it seems that rolling cabinets for various purposes is the answer to maximize the use of the space available.

It would make sense to have "all of them" at the same height.

Is there a standard height with reference to, say, the height a "fixed" table saw?

yvan

[Wrongwayfirst]

Standard height for kitchen benches is 900mm. I am a bit on the tall side so I have my kitchen benches at 950mm and the island bench where I do most prep work is 1000mm. SWMBO is a bit shorter and she uses the benches for prep work. (Useless information time: short people using tall benches cut themselves more often. Due to awkward cutting style elbows too high or some such.) Using that as a guide the workshop bench I made is 1000mm. The rolling SCMS station is 1000mm at the saw table. The other bench which I have had for many a year, ex school office desk, is lower but I have placed a couple of dog holes and stick rollers in these as a feed to the SCMS. Router table is a triton so I just use that at standard height.
cheers

[Master Splinter]

There's not much of a real standard...at least not an exact height they are all trying for. The only commonality I've seen is that it's always a height ideally suited to creating significant pain when you bash into it!

I'd suggest work out the bench height that feels comfortable to you and see how you can work around it. If you are tall, this means that you can use a base to elevate your table saw/other junk to be at the same height as your bench tops.

Just remember if you are putting everything on wheels, that's yet another non-standard height addition.

[chambezio]

The above advice is good but I would just like to add....make all of your horizontal heights the same. If you are manoeuvring large flat sheets it is beneficial to have everything in line.
I am 6' tall and have my vice bench at 900. I also have a retired hydraulic hospital bed the I use for knock ups and it regularly gets dropped down to maybe 650mm when I am assembling white board carcasses.
When my panel saw arrived I had a dilemma for a while because between it, the router table and my Jet Contractors Saw there was 35 mm difference. I wanted to have the all the same because at times I need to push a 24 X 12 flat sheets through the panel saw and have to rest them on the other tools.
"Be consistent" would be in the forefront of my thinking.

[bsrlee]

You can get heavy duty roller bases for table saws, so it is not necessarily 'fixed' - however they do add a few centimetres/inches to the overall height, so decide if you are going to put everything on wheels then measure the maximum height and make the cabinets at that height or a smidge less.

All is not lost if you later want to make things higher as you can always add either riser blocks underneath or an adjustable riser bolted to one side of the chest with some rollers on top - if you are doing a lot of sheet goods and don't want to break the sheets down with a track saw the riser with rollers may be a good initial fit out as you can then move the sheet flat in any direction, spin it around etc.

As for 'mobilizing' your workbench, put the wheels on hinged platforms that you can kick into place one at a time as you lift the end of the bench - there is an old article on the Popular Woodworking blogs about Chris Schwarz doing this on one of their shop benches. That way you gain the advantage of the weight and friction of the bench to floor interface & you don't get a hernia trying to lift or drag the whole bench when you want to move it.

[ivanavitch]

Hi Yvan
Your shed is basically the same size as mine. I have 4 x 3.2. I have placed my work bench on the long wall with cupboards down the full length of the short walls. On one cupboard I have a radial arm saw, small drill press, small bench top bandsaw on a bash vice. The other cupboard is my electronics bench, sharpening bench etc. All cupboards are 950 high. The other long wall has a small lathe. The lathe bench is lower such that the centres line up with my elbow. I have an old Durden junior joiner on a roll away stand that I park next to the lathe bench. I find that I don't need any other roll aways.

Things are always fluid. I started with a tool board and it just looked messy. Replaced it with a cupboard that contains planes, chisels and layout tools. General tools thrown in a tool box. Drill bits etc in drawers on the work bench.

The beauty of a small shed is it promotes tidiness.

John

[yvan]

Thank you very much for all your suggestions. I originally thought that there would be some sort of golden measurements but, obviously, not. On one hand, the ability of moving things around is quite attractive. On the other, fixed benches and cabinets also seem to make sense!

Decisions, decisions...I will build two cabinets on castors at slightly different heights and see how "it feels".

yvan

[Scally]

Hi Yvan

I agree with the earlier comments especially about having all the benches the same height.
It makes moving things around much easier.

My benches are all 860mm which I like.

Looking though woodworking magazines you often see reference to setting the benches at wrist height. That is what I did.

If you uses lots of hand tools like planes and chisels they recommend a lower bench so you can use your body weight better.

I have a box that I made for using my Leigh dovetail jig so I could get it up where I could see what I was doing. It clamps on top of the workbench. When I'm finished, I put the jig in the box and the box back in the cupboard.

One suggestion with your "test" benches. Why not make them with solid legs without castors while you are testing them. Maybe stand on boards until you find a comfortable height. When You are satisfied with the height you want, just cut the legs to height and fix the castors to them.

[yvan]

Hi Yvan

I agree with the earlier comments especially about having all the benches the same height.
It makes moving things around much easier.

My benches are all 860mm which I like.

Looking though woodworking magazines you often see reference to setting the benches at wrist height. That is what I did.

If you uses lots of hand tools like planes and chisels they recommend a lower bench so you can use your body weight better.

I have a box that I made for using my Leigh dovetail jig so I could get it up where I could see what I was doing. It clamps on top of the workbench. When I'm finished, I put the jig in the box and the box back in the cupboard.

One suggestion with your "test" benches. Why not make them with solid legs without castors while you are testing them. Maybe stand on boards until you find a comfortable height. When You are satisfied with the height you want, just cut the legs to height and fix the castors to them.

Hi Scally,
"...just cut the legs to height and fix the castors to them." Yep! This will be the way to do it!! Much appreciated Yvan

[Robson Valley]

My deep freezer, regular work bench and island bench are all the same height, nice for long spans of wood.
You would laugh to see some recent wood carving benches in my shop.
I decided that I wanted the wood carvings at working height.
The shorty is a work in progress to be 50cm to the top surface.
The other 3-legged bench is 60cm with an adjustable shelf so I can raise/lower the carvings.

Why not build the rolling cabinet as upper and lower modules which key together?

[Chris Parks]

Join Fine Woodworking site for free and have a look at the video on the rolling cabinet workshop.

[dazzler]

I think it also depends on what machines (or no machines) you are going to use.

I am in a similar situation and have been throwing around a lot of ideas in my mind. I have a 10" table saw, a sliding compound mitre saw and an induction motor compound mitre saw, a pedestal drill press and other bits and pieces.

For me the most efficient use seems to be to have the table saw on the right hand side almost to the wall. Then a long bench down the right wall with cupboards above it. The compound miter saw is mounted on the bench along with the drill press and a mitre saw fence the whole length with stop blocks.

The bench can be used as an outfeed table.

The only rollaround will be the router table and that can be used as an outfeed table.

Its fun designing a new shop