Workbench Size

[Jim Foster]

Guys, In a previous post I asked about material selection, got a lot of help; now I'm interested in workbench length. I was assuming 8ft. I'm making a "french" style or Roubo. It will be 24" wide. The wall it's going on is 22' long and has a 9' wide window in the middle that dies not get much if any direct sun. In reading Schwarz's book, he states "the longer the better." Also he discusses the ability to eliminate an assembly or setup table if the bench is long enough.

I'm curious if anyone has made a 12' long bench of this style. I'll have to handplane the surface flat. I''m also curious about sagging at this length, and general challenges working with a glue-up this long. I could chicken out and make one 10', but 12' seems like it will replace any need for an assembly/setup table and take up minimal overall bench space in my shop.

I'm making the bench 31" high, I'm 5'10" with arms that are a little longer than average for my height and the discussions about estimating height seem to indicate this height for my dimensions.

Any thoughts, or suggestions will be appreciated.

Regards
Jim

[Sean Hughto]

It kinda of depends what sorts of projects you tend to make. Unless you make massive armoires and such, you will only ever be working on a surface area of around 2' x 3' at any one time. The rest will hold tools and clutter (at least in my shop ;-)) In short, 8' seems like plenty to me.

My bench is between 7 and 8 feet (around 28" wide) and sits in the middle of my shop. I've never wished it was longer or wider or pushed up against a wall. A window, however, would be very nice.

[dan sherman]

At 12' x 24" x 2" (assumption, I would make it thicker myself), the top alone is going to weight 350+ pounds. Personally i would make 2 benches just so the glue up and any future moving of the bench would be easier.

[george wilson]

Sean,I agree with you!!! The rest of the bench holds clutter!! That is so true. As an instrument maker,that is just about the size area I work in. 2'x3'.

[Michael Sobik]

If I had the room, my Roubo would be 12' long. As it is I can fit "only" 8' of bench in my shop. It's true that generally you only use a small portion of the bench at a time, but what's nice about a longer bench is that you can use one end for working and the other for assembling. I find that those tasks use different sets of tools and that even at 8' my bench is a little tight sometimes and I have to move stuff off to make room.

If you're working alone, 12' of top is going to be really difficult to move around. Plan on a helper or a couple rolling carts. I wouldn't worry about sagging. A 4" thick laminated top shouldn't give you any trouble.

Definitely take you time with the glue up. I made the mistake of trying to glue too many sections together at one and my top came out of the clamps needing a lot of work with the jack plane. Go one lamination at a time and keep them flat and aligned. The top was by far the most work on my bench.

Let's see some pictures when you get it done!

[Jim Foster]

Do you find yourself moving your bench much?


If I had the room, my Roubo would be 12' long. As it is I can fit "only" 8' of bench in my shop. It's true that generally you only use a small portion of the bench at a time, but what's nice about a longer bench is that you can use one end for working and the other for assembling. I find that those tasks use different sets of tools and that even at 8' my bench is a little tight sometimes and I have to move stuff off to make room.

If you're working alone, 12' of top is going to be really difficult to move around. Plan on a helper or a couple rolling carts. I wouldn't worry about sagging. A 4" thick laminated top shouldn't give you any trouble.

Definitely take you time with the glue up. I made the mistake of trying to glue too many sections together at one and my top came out of the clamps needing a lot of work with the jack plane. Go one lamination at a time and keep them flat and aligned. The top was by far the most work on my bench.

Let's see some pictures when you get it done!

[Robert Rozaieski]

If you plan to hand plane your moldings, make it as long as you can. Sure, even if you are making a 9' tall two part case piece, the sides of the upper case may only be about 5' long by about 24" deep. However, when you need to make a molding for that piece, it's 24" for each side plus the distance across the front (probably another 36"), plus your waste (at least another 12-18"). So that brings the total to about 8½' for the molding to be exactly as long as the bench.

You don't want to plane short pieces of molding rather you want to plane one long piece, as long as you can, so that the profile will match exactly at the miters. This is very difficult to do when you cut your molding from two different pieces. If you are going to make moldings with a shaper/router table it becomes less of an issue and you can get by with a shorter bench, however, if you have the room, I'd go as long as you can because you just never know.

My bench is 7' long and there have been times when I had to plane boards longer than the bench length. I made do in the pinch I was in but I really wished my bench was longer at the time as it would have made the task much simpler. Unfortunately, I don't have room for a longer bench in my shop or else it would be a minimum of at least 8 feet long.

[Bob Strawn]

I am rather fond of a somewhat lower assembly table height than would work for a workbench. My ideal is a pair of workbenches with an assembly table at the end. 12' x 24" sounds nice for a workbench next to a wall. Away from a wall, I prefer a shorter one for a lot of things, so that moving to the other side of the table is easy.

Bob

[Prashun Patel]

12' will be a bear to handle.

If you're going to do it, put 2 legs and a stretcher @ 6ft and never worry about sag.

Personally, I think it's overkill.

[Dave Anderson NH]

Several comments Jim.

First of all, I'm 5'9" and have long arms. With arms full extended horizontally my wingspread is 6'3" which in my old rock climbing days was described as an "ape index" of +6. My bench is 30.5" high and it is working out just great for me. I think you're on the right track about height.

My bench started out with the rough glueup being 98", but after trying it out in the place the bench was going to live, I cut it back to 90". I didn't want to do it, but I keep my bench out in the open because I often use all 4 sides, and the full length wouldn't allow me adequate room for access on the ends. If I had more room available I would have kept the full 8 feet or even gone longer for the same reasons others have stated.

Making the glueup can be done accurately if you take your time and only glue 3 pieces maximum at a time. This allows you the maximum time to spread the glue and carefully align the pieces top to bottom to minimize the amount of flattening you will have to do later. I strongly suggest that you glue up with Titebond Extend which will give you more open time. This makes life much easier for you. After you have glued up your bundles of 3, flatten each one and then glue them up into groups of 6 and flatten again. To allow for the flattening and any inadvertent misalignment that has crept in start with your stock a minimum of 1/4" thicker than your intended final thickness of the top.

I do not use my new bench for glueups or any finishing tasks. I have this luxury because my old bench has been lowered, lipped to allow a masonite panel to cover the dog holes, and turned into an assembly and finishing center with clamp storage underneath on a shelf.

Just remember, that we can offer advice, but only you can evaluate your needs and the tradeoffs that must be made.

Good luck and don't let analysis paralysis bite you.

[Nate Carey]

I build boats...rowing shells especially. My planking bench is 16' long, 22" wide, with a 2-1/4" thick top (laminated Eastern spruce)...it has 8 legs (Doug fir 4x4s) with about 200 lbs of L3 X 3 x 3/8" angle and appropriate bolts, nuts, and washers holding everything together. Under the bench top are 24 drawers of various sizes. On some projects I wish the bench was 32' long.

For "heavy" work I have another bench - made from a section of bowling alley...this bench is approximately 72" long by 40" wide with a solid maple (laminated) top that is 2-1/4" thick; the supporting structure is similar to the planking bench. Needless to say both benches are over-kill, but both are made from materials I had on hand (the bowling alley was a gift from my son) and they serve the purpose well.

[Michael Sobik]

Do you find yourself moving your bench much?

Surprisingly, I do move it quite a bit. Not out of the garage...err...shop, but I do drag it out away from the wall and put it at various angles in order to accommodate long workpieces clamped across the bench. The bench itself is super heavy but it's not too bad to just drag around. Picking it up completely would be a different story.

[Jim Foster]

I'm still undecided about the length, (ideally 10' to 12') however I noticed I have two 12 foot boards of 8/4 Oak that are each about 12 inches wide, so over the next couple days, I'll set them on a couple sawhorses where I'd put the bench and see how the length works in my shop.

Also, I can get green White Oak cut to my specifications for $2.15 board foot (or maybe a little less) a few miles from my house, and I'm getting a quote for Douglas Fir 2x12 framing stock (air dried) tomorrow. I checked out the three local Home Depot's and the Hem Fir (Kiln dried) was not in great supply and was there was not much to my liking for one reason or another.

I think the oak is going to be a little more pricey and take too long to dry, so I'm hoping the Doug Fir is quoted at a reasonable rate.

[Prashun Patel]

Make sure it's truly dry. General consensus is Fir can be hit or miss on a table top. It can warp on ya somethin fierce. It can be a good choice for the frame, though.

I wouldn't use green anything for the top.

If you're concerned about cost, consider soft maple or poplar for the top.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

deeper is better too.

As with all up sizing there are practical limits My preferece is the far outside of my reach while leaning into the stretch

[Ben Davis]

Jim,

My Roubo was nearly 9' long before trimming back down due to space contraints. It was rock solid without a hint of sag. Started with 4.5" thick top now flat at 4". Completely and utterly solid. 12' shouldn't be much of a problem. You're really only spanning 8-9' or so, depending on how large of a base you desire. Any one trying to frame a house with a 9' wouldn't have a problem heading it with a wooden header.

Ben

[michael osadchuk]

One further advantage of a really long laminated benchtop that can readily be planed flat is that you have a flat reference surface when making long stock flat - you can just slap the face or edge of the board on the benchtop and quickly see where an edge or face needs further planing.

I inherited a machinist bench whose structure was 2" steel angle iron with an overall size about 9 feet by 2.5 feet. The top could not be saved.
So I ended up with a laminated maple top 10.5 feet by 32" by 3.25" thick, including a full width Lee Valley twin vise on one end. Apart from the .5 foot of length that is full width wood top structure of the twin vise, the laminated slab is comprised of two widths, each about 16" wide - a concession to being being able to move things around while assembling the benchtop and with an eye to possible moves.
No problems with the size.

As for clutter, yeah, you can let that creep in. But if you start a project with a clear surface, you have lots of spare room to keep in sight tools, etc. currently in use at any particular stage of work.

good luck

michael

[Joel Goodman]

Jim,

My Roubo was nearly 9' long before trimming back down due to space contraints. It was rock solid without a hint of sag. Started with 4.5" thick top now flat at 4". Completely and utterly solid. 12' shouldn't be much of a problem. You're really only spanning 8-9' or so, depending on how large of a base you desire. Any one trying to frame a house with a 9' wouldn't have a problem heading it with a wooden header.

Ben

I'm sure your bench is solid but no one would recommend a 4" header for an 8' opening. Is there stretcher (if that's the correct word) under the top or on Roubo's are the legs mortised into the top?

[Ben Davis]

The legs are mortised into the top. On the original benches, they were through tennons.

Hope this helps!

[Casey Gooding]

Very simply. Make it as long as you can.
You will find a workbench can be too short. I doubt you will ever think a bench is too long. Also, it can be too wide. Most people using hand tools find 24" to be ideal. Many power tool users frequently like them wider.

[glenn bradley]

I'm in agreement with Casey to a point. I have had a very long wall mounted bench. Even though I am a bit of a stickler for putting things away as I go and cleaning off surfaces to always have room to work; that empty end "way down there" used to get cluttered. I find my current 'middle of the room' 32" x 88" to be closer to "right" for me. It is important to mention that I have another 30" x 50" rolling work table and a 24" x 60" outfeed table as well.

The 32" depth is OK as I work from both sides. If one side were blocked or inconvenient I would think 24" would be more usable. As to the length, I guess it depends what fits, what other surfaces you have available to share the workload and so forth. I read once that while working on any given step, you should have about 4 square feet of usable space for setting things down, staging things you will need next, etc. I have found this to be true. Ever turned to set that clamp down and end of setting it at your feet because there's just no where else?