I opt for no arms, though some like them. Think basic office swivel chair, but taller. I have spent many an hour on a plain old round stool from Grainger, but mainly I use drafting stools. My bench tends to be standard height, I guess about 3 feet? Countertop, not desk top.
Before buying or building your bench, decide what your needs are for devices that will hold your workpieces firmly.I ran a bench for decades, personally I only stand to reach into or around the work. Jigs and dogs and stops and clamps, among other elements, are essential to most benches, as are vises. In practice, this generally means in the range of thirty-three to thirty-six inches.īe sure to remember the surprising range of benchtop accessories, some of which can help make your bench more useful. One traditional rule of thumb for benches is that they should be approximately the height of their user’s hip joint. That way its surface can be used as a table extension to support long boards being cut. If you have a choice of bench heights, as you will if you elect to make your own bench, you might find it expedient to make it the same height as your table or radial-arm saw. A lower work surface allows for more pressure from above. But another factor is leverage: When tools are powered by human muscles alone, leverage and gravity are invaluable allies to be enlisted. People were shorter then, that’s part of the explanation.
#Electronic workbench table portable#
Portable workbenches are relatively lightweight and can be moved from job site to job site and packed away out of sight when not in use.
But the bigger the bench, the more hassle involved with stowing it. This is a distinction that decides much about your bench choice: Is it to remain stationary or must it fold, roll, or otherwise make itself scarce between jobs? Large, heavy benches are more stable and, in general, more adaptable to different jobs (sometimes several at once). For most of us, however, space limitations preclude the biggest, and the smallest are just not big enough.Ī good size is five to seven feet long and two to three feet wide. In contrast, jewelers’ cabinets seem to be on a dollhouse scale, with tiny tools to match. I’ve seen antique cabinetmakers’ benches that are sixteen and seventeen feet long, more than three feet wide, and supported by a dozen drawers and doors-and that weigh as much as a felled oak tree. Otherwise, workbenches tend to be as varied as the uses to which they are put. What do all benches have in common? Each has a work surface on the top that’s essentially flat. Photo: What Sort of Bench Do You Need?Ĭonsider the questions that follow if you’re not sure.
Despite the improvements, the linkage to Greek and Roman antecedents is still evident. The norm nowadays is four straight legs supporting the bulk above, often with braces and a shelf below. Descendants of those benches are manufactured today, usually with a top of hardwood slabs glued together. In ancient times, the woodworker’s bench consisted of a plank or split log with four splayed legs. Which means, in short, there is no one model that suits everybody. A good bench is a bench that suits its user’s needs, that helps the worker accomplish his or her tasks faster, better, or with a higher degree of safety. If there’s one constant in benches of today and of yore, it’s their very diversity. But unlike baseball diamonds, the shape, proportion and size of workbenches are infinitely variable. The woodworking bench is to the workshop as bases are to the game of baseball: Without a proper bench at which to work, you’ll be like a base runner with no place to go.
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