Plans for bench

Hi all

I just moved into a new house and the basement is basically a blank slate. I would like to make a bench approx 6ft long for working on and miscellaneous things. I am not a carpenter by any stretch of the imagination, so I am wondering if anyone has any plans for a very basic work bench for a beginner carpenter. Thanks for any input.

Jon, Here is a link (thanks to JOAT) I found while looking at JOAT's post on a gun cabinet. HTH Big John

Yeah right, if he wants a classic woodworkers bench and the complexities of building one... he's "new".

The same link has a more modest bench that might make you both happy.

bench or modifying my current set-up. I'm a sculptor who has a very modest wood working set-up (Foredom flexible shaft, reciprocating power carver, various dremels, cheesy no-name 9" bandsaw, dust collector, palm sander, drill, lots of files, rifflers and handsaws) to build bases & armatures, carve details and sand. My "bench" is a big, ugly but solid dresser with the top at 34" tall.

I'm curious about the typical height of workbenches and the whole ergonomics of woodworking. I find that I tend to hunch over my work and as a result get sore at the base of my neck/shoulders. It worse with sanding as it's my least favorite activity and I tend to bear down to get it over with as soon as possible. I'm toying with getting a dremel detail sander and/or a drill press with a sanding drum to see if that would help. My other thought is to possibly raise the work surface so that it's higher (perhaps make long bench with one part taller than normal?). I've noticed that I never get neck/shoulder pain when using my bandsaw. I think it's because the work surface there is higher and I'm able to look closely at my work without hunkering over so much.

Does anyone else get neck/upper back pain from wood working? Any suggestions for optimal working ergonomics?

Chris

Do a lot of Google, and read "The Workbench Book" before you start. There's a _lot_ of information out there, especially this newsgroup.

Benches are important. Expensive in materials too. But no-one ever builds their "ultimate" bench - most people will re-work the old one every few years, as they want more from it. So don't be afraid to make something usable but basically nasty, if it gets you going.

What are you going to do with this bench ? Just woodwork, or other stuff too ? Clean or dirty ?

What have you got to make it with ? How much skill? Have you got an existing bench? - I wouldn't fancy chopping mortices without one!

What machinery have you got to work with ? A substantial table saw is a great advantage for ripping the strips of a bench top to size.

What's your budget ? 2" solid maple top, or just two layers of 3/4" plywood and a 4mm MDF top for wear ? (cheapest sensible option).

If you're a woodworker, what tools do you use ? Hand or power ? Hand work puts a lot more force (especially sideways) into the frame and needs something that resists these racking forces.

Just one bench ? It's worth having more than one, even if this means a smaller bench. A benchtop that's always clean and clear is a great help

- find an adjoining table for storing small parts and tools "out of your hand", or something as an assembly stand for the finished item. As these aren't workbench surfaces, they don't need to be so substantial. But hand woodworking needs a benchtop that's empty before you start.

Simple benches are the Workmutt. Get a genuine B&D, solidly-made model but without the gimmicks. It's a terrible bench, but an excellent clamp. Every home owner needs one.

Another simple bench is a pair of trestles, either portable and nesting, or semi-permanent with a strong firedoor blank on top as a workbench. Not a great bench, but easy and quick. Trestles are also great for big work outdoors, when the weather is good. If you're in a cellar you'll be doing a lot of ripping up big sheets of plywood, just to get them downstairs easily.

Next up is a laminated plywood top. Two 3/4" plies and 4mm MDF or Masonite on top. Stick the top down just with DS tape, so you can pry it off and replace it every few years. Fit a hardwood trim strip around the edge.

The frame can be construction-grade softwood; 4x4 legs and 2x4 framings. Use screwed half-laps (easy to make) to hold it together. Make the end frames as one panel each and _bolt_ the lengthways stretchers on, for easy dismantling. Put diagonal bracing (or sheet plywood) across the end panels and the rear, as bracing. Size all the screws to be twice what you expect to need - there's a lot of racking force in a handwork bench and you don't want it wobbling.

Don't put drawers and cupboards into a bench. You need that space fro framing instead, so a useful cupboard needs to be

Then you're into laminated wood tops. These are probably best bought as a one-piece. There are several makers doing maple, beech or oak and they're not easy to make yourself until you have an established workshop.

Think about vices. IMHO, there are three sorts worth having.

First off is a big cast iron face vice - as big and wide as you can find, ideally an old English one like a Parkinson's, Paramo or Record. Fit maple faces to it. Attach it firmly too, to the underframe rather than the benchtop. Add extra framing to the underframe, if needed.

Secondly you need a lengthways clamp system, which holds timber for planing. The best of these is a set of movable height-adjustable dogs, ideally in two rows. Moving these is the real function of a tail vice.

If you aren't building a traditional European bench (Frank Klausz or Tage Frid pattern) then you don't get moving dogs. Moving dogs are _the_ way to clamp for hand woodworking - they're why you'd bother with this complex style of bench. In other cases (especially the plywood top) then drill two rows of 3/4" round dogholes and buy some of the Veritas "Wonder Dogs" which are a dog with a built in clamp screw.

Thirdly you need a metalworking vice. This should be a _small_ _East European_ vice, possibly with a rotating base, and attached to a 3/4" plywood sub-panel that attaches to your main workbench. If you have a metalworking bench, then just use that and put a 6" jawed '50s Western monster onto it. But if you're sharing a bench for two tasks, then go with a demountable vice on a dirt-catcher panel that bolts quickly to your bench (through the dog holes, or maybe held in the vice). It might have a plywood front apron too. The Czechs, maybe the Poles, make the best of these vices. Chinese are rubbish, with brittle castings. Get some soft jaws for it too.

You also need clamps - lots of clamps. A thick 4" deep apron on the front of a 2" solid bench is great, because you can cut the dog holes into the apron, you can G clamp downwards and still get a clamp over the apron, or you can G clamp onto the face of the apron. One of my other benches (not my manufacture) has a 12" deep front apron that's a nice thing for stability and vice mounting, but it spoils it entirely for clamping.

Vices you don't need:

A Klausz/Frid style shoulder vice. They're great for holding assembled drawers, no damn use at all for holding a shallow piece of timber. Go for an iron face vice instead.

A patternmaker's tilting vice - Emmett style, or the £150 Taiwanese copy. Nice things to have in the workshop, but they'll drive you batty as an _only_ vice with their wobbling jaws.

A tail vice. Not much use for clamping stuff onto the end of a bench, especially when you're tight for space.

A tail vice - the L-shaped Euro style, where the two ends of the frame form a notch in the front edge of the bench. Now these are great if you're building a Euro bench, but if you're not, then the iron vice will do what you need.

If you're fitting out a workshop you also need wall cupboards, which in a cellar should have doors on. Get yourself a load of good 1/2" WBP plywood and a biscuit jointer, maybe birch plywood (lighter) for the doors. You'll also want some sort of circular saw to slice it up - either a decent table saw, or those trestles again with a handheld saw and a decent plywood blade.

No - I just don't believe there is such a thing. It's all too dependent on what you're doing, and how you do it. Go with what's comfortable for you.

My main bench is 36", which is "too tall" by the usual rules. I find it perfect for plaing and chisel work, whether standing or sitting (which I do a lot, for close work). I can also saw on this bench because I use Japanese saws, but I find it unusably high for Western saws.

My cabinet saw, planer and second bench are all 33", which is about the standard. I always found this bench too low - one reason for building its successor.

The router table is 31", for convenient manufacture, and should maybe be

My assembly table is 27". This is definitely too low to work on, but it's useful when there's a piece on top of it and I'm not trying to peer over the top. For big pieces I might even put a pallet on the floor with a sheet of plywood and a blanket.

I'd expect that unless you're especially tall in the upper body, sitting at a 36" bench would be pretty close to eye level. That seems kind of awkward to me. It's fine for seeing, but holding hands up to do everything at eye level would get tiring extremely fast. I should know because I'm sitting all the time.

My ideal bench is one I saw at a rehab hospital. 1 3/4" laminated Maple top, solid metal legs on the ends, hand crank height adjustable. I seriously considered buying one at the glorified price of $1700, but the only place I could find them was in the USA and shipping up to Canada was quoted along the lines of $300. Just too rich for my blood.

This should get you started:

At the very least it will give you an idea why there are so many opinions on this subject.

Here is where I was directed when I started looking:

But there is such a thing and that is why he is asking.

There is no one optimal "one height fits all", but there surely is an optimal ergonomical height for everyone. The question is how do you determine what that height is. Should be bench be x inches below the elbow? Should it be x inches above the waist? Should the top overhand the support by 6" or should it be flush? If hand planing a board, what height do you like it in relationship to bending your back? What happens if it is too high or two low?

If you have access to the next to last issue of WOOD magazine (June/July

One of the woodworking mags a while back showed basically a mini workbench that you could clamp to the top of the bench to raise it up. My neck bothers me when using chisels on my bench for extended periods, so I've been thinking about doing this. The problem with actually building a raised portion into the bench is sometimes you'll work on things that are bigger than the bench and it'll be in the way. Getting the entire bench to raised up easily and yet still be sturdy enough would be a challenge.

-Leuf

I'm about average height for this group, 6'4", and when I sit my eys level is 47". 36" sounds like a reasonable benchtop height, especially since anything I put on it will end up being around 40" or so. YMMV

Dave in Fairfax

The OP definitely needs to read "The Workbench Book". The fitting of bench to person is discussed fairly thoroughly as well as how it relates to hand vs power tool use on the bench. rule of thumb is the height of your palm held parallel to the ground at your side. I personally find that way too low. I like a bench that is just under elbow high.

Dave in Fairfax

My bench is 35" or about 3" higher than the palm Why 35"? Because that is an inch below the router table next to it. When routing a piece it will go over and not hit the bench.

It is an OK height. A few times I wish it was lower for assembly type work, a few times I wished it higher for the same reason. For planing, it is about right for me at 5'10"

I'd ratherhave a tall bench, then stand on a box to lower it if I need to. My feet ar emuch better at balancing than a sub-benchtop.

The link was very helpful for me. Thanks.

Art

Big John wrote:

The link was very helpful for me. Thanks. Art

Actually that is a damn nice plan for free, so, last night I made it into a total word.doc. Did some Photoshop work and put everything in the right place.