Work bench height

[kiwioutdoors]

I just managed to buy a workbench of a local college with two Woden brand vices for NZD $80. The bench height seems a little low (the average school kid must be a little shorter than me). And I would love to know if there is a way to work out what height is ideal for an individual ie do you measure to a cetain part of the body and thats the ideal height. Or is it a matter of personal preference.

Thanks

Andrew

[echnidna]

The ideal general woodworking bench height is level with your palms when standing with your arms straight down and your palms flat as if resting on the workbench.
Hope you understand the mouthful, I'm not an English teacher

[Hobbyhorse]

Andrew,
Personal preference really is the guideline. For myself I like it to be at about 900mm. Lower than that and you have to bend down too much. I guess it also depends on what you want to build on it.

Rhys H.

[ernknot]

Agree with hobbyhorse, 900 mm. If you have to bend at the waist to do your work then the bench is too low.

[JDarvall]

Depends on what your doing on it alright.

If your throwing a hammer around. Like say a blacksmith. One guide was - when standing upright, with arm down straight, the top of where your hitting, in this case the anvil, is lined up with your knuckles.

If your pushing a handplane. What I've read is the table top should be a couple of inches below elbow height. Stops strain on back they say. In my opinion, shore, for finishing work. But if your really hogging it, I mean, making heavy shavings, then a lower bench is better.

(shrug) personal preference. If you decide to get a new bench, to work out what hieght that should be, I'd muck around with your old one, by shimming its hieght with bricks or whatever, to find out what you like.

Whats ideal I reakon, is to have one low one and one high. Have two. :D

[savage]

The ideal general woodworking bench height is level with your palms when standing with your arms straight down and your palms flat as if resting on the workbench.
Hope you understand the mouthful, I'm not an English teacher

Yeah! the resting measure is the way to go, I do a lot of that on my bench.:D Mainly thinking of how to rectify the most recent mistake without writing it off and starting again!....:o
savage(Eric):) .

[kiwigeo]

900mm the height of my benches....calculated on my height plus depth of an average acoustic guitar with the sides on. I tend to work standing up most of the time.....unless Ive had a few too many reds.


Cheers Martin

[Waldo]

G'day,

I found the best working height for me is at waist level, which on my bench is about 1.3m

[Ashore]

Kiwioutdoors G'dayThere have been a couple of threads on this before and the general opinion was , as has already been said whatevers comfortable for you taking into account what ure are using it for. My only advice is pick a height and keep it the same for all your work surfaces unless you have one that is used for a specific task. Possibly the same as a table saw or ban saw if possible


The trouble with life is there's no background music.



Ashore

[Harry72]

1.3m at waist level Waldo... that makes you about 2.2~2.4m high!

I like my bench level around 950mm Im 5'11

[Waldo]

G'day Harry72,

I'm 6' 4", my bench is working height for me so I don't have to stoop down. Needless to say not too may find my bench to their own height - even my in-law, which is all the better.

[echnidna]

So we really should call you Shorty instead of Waldo :D :D :D :D ;) ;)

[Waldo]

G'day Echidna,

An I'm not fat like my avitar either. :D

[scooter]

No, he's not :D


Cheers..............Sean

[aabb]

New one I have just started to make will be same height as triton saw table .. thats 890mm i think - will let me use bench like extension table ..

Albert

[junkboy999]

Kiwi.

I have a tall bench. it is 38" inch to the top.. But I sit at the bence to do a lot of small fine work. It is great for building insterments but a really a pain in the --- when I do big stuff on it. I some time have to stand of a chair to reach the top of prodjects like the tablesaw cabniet I built. One day I will build a "construction bench" These are short benches like you find in some cabniets shops. allowing you to build the carcase of a cabniet off the ground. Uasly just a littel taller them your knee.

[Wongo]

G'day,

I found the best working height for me is at waist level, which on my bench is about 1.3m


Tall bloke with short arms. :D

Seriously 90cm is the way to go. :)

[Waldo]

G'day,

When I was down the shed yesterday I grabbed my tape measure to measure the height of my bench. I said earlier that it was 1.3m, well the correct height is actually 1.03m.

So there ya go.

[ernknot]

Waldo,
How tall are you???

[Waldo]

G'day Ernknot,

6' 4". :)

[derekcohen]

Modern benches that are used predominantly by power tool users are higher than the traditional bench used by handtoolers. When pushing a handplane it is often necessary to press downward. Look at the Stanley rear tote. It is angled at 45 degrees. The LV range of handplanes, especially the bevel up planes, appear to be made with more modern benches in mind. Their totes angle at 80 degrees, which encourages more forward than downward movement.

A few examples. My workbench is moderately high - 35 ½ “ - compared to those of Frank Klausz at 33” (since Frank is 6’0” tall, this bench is clearly very low) and Ian Kirby at 34” (he is 5’9”, about an inch shorter than myself). (information available from The Workbench Book by Scott Landis). It was built many years ago and before I thought to dedicate it to handtool use.

Regards from Perth

Derek

[Wild Dingo]

Elbow height works fine here Im 5ft 5and a bit and if the things taller than my elbows its a pain and uncomfortable if shorter its a pain in the back... hence most of the tools Ive bought ie: router table will be either raised or a new stand made for them to lift them to the height that best suits me without aches or pains :cool:

[seanr]

I make benches for a living and the standard height is 900mm . I took this height from a kitchen bench . I'm 6'3" and my first bench was 750mm , standard table height . When i made a few to sell , most people were commenting that they were too low . I now have mine at 900mm with a couple others at 750mm. I have made a few at 1000mm for people around 6'6" mark , but i think they were too high for general use .

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

I've noticed that "old school" benches seem to have gone out of fashion... the old type with the "channel" running down the middle. For a few years I've been toying with the idea of building one, but due to the nature of my work it has been very low on the priority list. Machinery has the floorspace priority. [shrug]

Is there any particular reason for 'em to have become less popular?

I'm also toying with the idea of making it split level, or rather, having one end adjustable so I can raise it (from 900 to about 1200mm height) as a fiddlework table or a full-width dog. Apart from the mechanics of the lift, can anyone see any potential problems with this?

[Wongo]

G'day,

When I was down the shed yesterday I grabbed my tape measure to measure the height of my bench. I said earlier that it was 1.3m, well the correct height is actually 1.03m.

So there ya go.

Waldo, measure twice tell once. :cool:

[Waldo]

G'day Wongo,

Yeah I probably should have. I was going by memory, I had the numbers in there just the wrong order - must be the grey hairs or something else I don't know - I can't remember. :D

[echnidna]

I've noticed that "old school" benches seem to have gone out of fashion... the old type with the "channel" running down the middle. For a few years I've been toying with the idea of building one, but due to the nature of my work it has been very low on the priority list. Machinery has the floorspace priority. [shrug]

Is there any particular reason for 'em to have become less popular?

I'm also toying with the idea of making it split level, or rather, having one end adjustable so I can raise it (from 900 to about 1200mm height) as a fiddlework table or a full-width dog. Apart from the mechanics of the lift, can anyone see any potential problems with this?

The old english workbench with the tool well in the centre has possibly lost popularity as the bulk of todays woodies have never experienced the advantage of a tool well.

Most of the modern woodies also tend to go for a bench height better suited to metalwork. This is an advantage using a router but a disadvantage with a handplane and hand morticing. My next bench will have a well in the centre. Might do like you and make it height adjustable though.

What did you have in mind for height adjustment?

[rmcpb]

I have set up my benches to my hip joint height. Low enough to get some weight on the heavy jobs but high enough to plane and do the finer work without bending down too much. Its a compromise.

Cheers

[bjn]

G'day,

I found the best working height for me is at waist level, which on my bench is about 1.3m

Waldo - you big bugger you.:D How tall are you? :confused: a waste level of 1.3 metres, which equates to 4'3" in the old money :eek: - you must be 8' plus tall.:D

I'm 6'1" and my waist hangs down to 3'1" or 0.94 metres, that might just have something to do with the size of my, shall we say generously proportioned stomach.:o

I've found the best working height to be around 18" and prostrate for at least 8 hours.:p

Regards
Brenton

[kiwioutdoors]

I have added some timber to the bottom of the bench and it is now 900 seems better than the 810 it was. Have also removed one of the vices and installed a record 52 or 53 1/2 on the end. Will have to test it out and modify as i go. When my skills are good enough I will build my own bench in a traditional style.

Andrew

[Waldo]

G'day,

For me my bench at just over 1m is the perfect height. I don't like to stoop down to work and like my work height a bit higher than most. I can plane on it with ease, nail, paint and stuff up things.

Any lower and I'd get a sore back and shoulders.

:)

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

The old english workbench with the tool well in the centre has possibly lost popularity as the bulk of todays woodies have never experienced the advantage of a tool well.

I first encountered 'em at school and would've thought they'd still be in use there now. They were certainly solid enough! :D They're more complex to build though, so I guess that's part of it too.


What did you have in mind for height adjustment?

Ahhh... the weak spot in my plan for world domination. :o I've thought of several methods, but none I'm really happy with. At the moment I'm toying with the idea of using endless thread in each corner, linked by bicycle chain & sprockets so I can use a single winder. Ideally I'd prefer something a bit simpler but simpler seems to equate to either more effort in adjustment or lack of strength.

[Richardwoodhead]

I think the ideal height is one where you're not bending over too much. I was taught / read somewhere, that ELBOW height is the correcy work bench height. Works for me.

Richard

[Dust Mite]

I think the ideal height is one where you're not bending over too much. I was taught / read somewhere, that ELBOW height is the correcy work bench height. Works for me.

Richard

Yeah thats about what I have been told. General rule of thumb for most industries would suggest a height of 900mm.

I'm 6" 2' in old money or 1.88 metres. My current workbench is 920mmm and is too low by about 50mm. I tend to get a stiff back after 4 to 6 hrs work. My auxillary bench that holds my drill press is 980mm and is a lot nicer to work at.

I'm about to build a new workbenck like this one (http://www.workbenchdesign.net/details.html) from recycled kauri and its height will be 1000mm as this seems the best height for my son and myself to use.

At the end of the day it depends a lot on your height and what you are comfortable with.

[Glue and Screw]

Andrew

Work bench height, stand straight, arms down your sides, anywhere between wrist and elbow.

Assembly bench height, depending on job, any where btween wrist and knee.

I personly like a higher bench work bench, for easier work with hand tools and then my assembly bench is can be variable by using sound stools or horses with a slab of 32 mdf.

Just go with what you are happy with.

Cheers
Marty

[mkemila]

(If you do alot of detail work) Try working at a given height for about half an hour and see how your back likes that height. For me I like a fairly high bench, if I am going to be at something for a while I can sit on a stool and keep working.


Mark