Shop seating recommendations

[Ken Platt]

Folks -I'm spending some time upgrading the shop environment, and the cheap wooden stool I've got needs to go to some school with naughty kids who can be placed on it for punishment, 'cause that's about all it's good for.

So, I'm looking for a good quality, adjustable height sturdy shop seat, with a back (Is it still a stool if it has a back?). The number of seating options out there truly overwhelms me. Does anyone have a recommended vendor or specific model they love?

I suspect many of us get by on something suboptimal, but I'm hoping there are some others out there who like me are finding the skeleton is needing a bit more pampering as the years go by and have found something to do just that while allowing the motions needed for bench work.

Any recommendations? Thanks -

Ken

[Mike Cutler]

Ken

The adustable height is a little tricky, but I was in Chef's Warehouse on Rte 5 in Wallingford a few months back and they had a really big selection of restaraunt chairs. All different heights.
The chairs are on top of the freezers in the back left of the store.
Pretty rugged chairs too.

Of course Darrel Greene in Portland Maine could make you a really fine chair that would be the envy of any woodworker.;)

[Tom Godley]

I have two from Woodcraft - one has a small back on it the other is just a stool. I bought them both on sale w/free shipping -- the stool for $20.00!

Sears sells one that has an adjustable hydraulic control like an office chair - but I find that a stationary one is best for me in the shop.

Woodcraft also has a green matt to soften the hard floor for your feet - that is also on sale - picked that up last week also.

[tyler mckenzie]

make your own??

[Chip Lindley]

I didn't know anybody sat in a workshop! (except on a well-deserved break!) Every operation I can think of requires standing and continual movement.

Ok...maybe at the workbench, working on small items under magnification! Or, if you carve and paint duck decoys....

[Bob Genovesi]

What ever you buy make sure it has a backrest and armrests. Nice cushioning and support go a long way in the shop...http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/big_standart/drinks.gif

[Leo Graywacz]

When I need to sit in my shop I usually just pull out my office chair I got from Staples. Cloth covered with a back and arm rests, will adjust up and down quite a good ways. Not sure if it will adjust up high enough but it is simple enough to go to a store and sit in one and adjust it.

Sitting for drawing, carving, thinking and assembling smaller items is common in my shop.

[Mike Cruz]

Bob, like a Lazy-Boy?

[Myk Rian]

I have a Steelcase lab stool. Look for a business selling out, or a used office supply in your area.

[Peter Quinn]

My wife has a Herman Miller Aaron chair in her office that I sometimes commandeer for drafting table sessions, and that thing sure is comfortable. Everything adjusts in every way to suit the occupant, and man does it annoy her when I adjust her chair to fit my frame! She should really get me my own!:D

In the shop I am with Chip, it never occurred to me to sit for any great time. I do have a couple of Side-O-Road found oak bar stools with a built in Butt-O-Meter time out warning system. They effectively let me know I have been sitting too long and should get up and do something, usually within 15min of having sat down. The pain starts with a slight tingling in the back of the thighs and increases exponentially for each additional minute that the stool remains occupied. I suspect if the warning is ignored that eventually my butt will actually fall off though I have yet to muster the courage or fortitude to test this theory.

[David DeCristoforo]

"Every operation I can think of requires standing and continual movement."

Oh...um...er...ah... maybe that's why I never get any work done.... That tears it. The recliner has got to go! ;)

[Dave Sharpe]

Not really a reccomendation, but I use an old stool with steel frame legs, a bent plywood seat and a low plywood back. It looks pretty beat up, but it's main claim to fame is that I remember sitting in that very same stool in my Dad's workshop getting haircuts as a little boy. Now my wife gives me haircuts in it, and it's one of my treasured shop fixtures.

[Lou Petrosino]

Ken

I've been thinking the same thing lately; long bench sessions get uncomfortable. I was looking at this Sit-Stand Stool, looks like it would be just the thing to ease the back pain a little.

Lou

http://www.labsafety.com/LYON-Sit-Stand-Stool_s_27282/Sit---Stand-Stools_24549216/?isredirect=true

[Dave Lehnert]

I have this unit from Sears and like it a lot.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00961828000P?keyword=craftsman+stool

[glenn bradley]

I finally gave away one of my two stools. The second one has set behind the cyclone for so long, I forgot it was there till you posted. Thanks, I'll be getting rid of it too now. If you were closer, you would be welcome to it. ;-)

[Jeff Bratt]

I occasionally use a stool - usually when working on small parts, like veneering. It may be considered heresy, but I use this (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40059300) stool. It's a good size for me and it folds up flat for easy storage, plus I couldn't even buy materials to make something myself for the $20 this costs. It's not adjustable height, but that hasn't bothered me one bit.

[ken gibbs]

Why don't you find an empty nail keg? Not much for back rests, but you are supposed to stand up and get your work done anyway.

[Jim Sears]

I went to the local bar and asked if they had any broken barstools. Obviously, they did. As a matter of fact, they had several. (This is not the kind of bar you take the family to.) The stool was nicely padded, swivels and has a back. I really don't know why they couldn't still use it. But they said I could have my pick of them. The price? Nada, zip, zero. So if you have a bar in the area, check it out. Preferably the rougher the better. If you are lucky enough to have a biker bar close by, no doubt, there will be plenty of stools to choose from.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Hi Ken,
I don't spend much time sitting in my shop. I need to be on my feet when I work. I even carve standing most of the time. However, that does not preclude the fact that I have a couple seats in the shop. One is high stool that I made to sit at my bench. It collects dust under the table saw extension. Another is a chair from an old dining room set. Someone leaned back on it and broke the back off the chair. It was delivered to my shop by my villainous brother-in-law who was looking for a miracle. None happened so I use it as a stepping stool to reach my high storage. The real shop chair is a very old leather bound office chair, probably 1940 vintage. It is soft and worn and the seat goes back so far I can put my feet up on the broken dining chair and read or snooze peacefully. It may not aid in the work flow but since I don't make my living in the shop, I wouldn't trade it for anything except a dust proof recliner.

Butch ZZZZZZZ;)

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Build your shop seating.
It's a shop. There's lumber.
There's tools. Build it, is my threepence.

[Gary Muto]

I have two from Woodcraft - one has a small back on it the other is just a stool. I bought them both on sale w/free shipping -- the stool for $20.00!

Sears sells one that has an adjustable hydraulic control like an office chair - but I find that a stationary one is best for me in the shop.

Woodcraft also has a green matt to soften the hard floor for your feet - that is also on sale - picked that up last week also.

I did the same thing. I actually like the fixed height stool a little better.

[Al Willits]

I do a lot of my work sitting, thanks to severe arthrtus in one foot, I use a couple of plastic lawn chairs, and a used office desk chair.

The lawn chairs are pretty comfortable considering there's no padding and the office chair is adjustable.

My assembly table is set on adjustable legs and sits lower than normal so I can sit at that and do much of my work.

Longer I can sit, the longer I can play...er...work in my shop.

Don't have to be fancy. just comfortable. :D

Al

[Mike Cruz]

You know, I did WW professionally for about 5 years, and to be honest, there was a whole lot of sitting goin' on in our shop. Sure, planing, jointing, table saw work, band sawing...all require standing, but a large part to our days included carving, small assembly, sanding and the likes which required/allowed sitting.

I don't know about you fellas, but after about 4 hours of standing around in the shop, I feel like I've been "shopping" with the wife. A 5 to 10 minute sit down really recharges the legs.

I'm all for the seat in the shop...now I just need to get one!

[Ken Massingale]

I have this unit from Sears and like it a lot.

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_12605_00961828000P?keyword=craftsman+stool
I have the same one Dave. I too like it, and it's on sale right now.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
+3 for the Sears.
I got mine for $39.00 on a Black Friday sale.

[Bill White]

I use a Hon brand office chair w/ adj. arms, seat, and back. Though it is a fabric cover (blow it out often), it is a welcome spot for my big old bu++. :eek:
Bill