How narrow is too narrow?

[Harlan Barnhart]

I am laminating a top for my workbench and I am getting lazy, 24" seems wide. Does anyone use a bench narrower than the traditional 24"?

[Brian Ashton]

You'll have no problem filling every square inch when you're into it up to your elbows. For me wide is best. When I had a good sized shop my bench was 4 feet wide. It allowed me to have everything at my finger tips without having to move this or that to make room for that or this...

[Barry Vabeach]

Mine is 20, you could probably do 18 without a problem. Go to your kitchen table and simulate planing, or chopping a mortise more that 15 inches from the side where you are standing. For hand work nearly everything is worked on the closest 10 inches, the far side merely keeps the piece from falling off the bench, and gives you room for tools etc. I keep my table 8 - 10 inches from the wall, so there is no problem getting fairly wide pieces on the table. I do have a separate assembly table which is much bigger - and you will need that if you do anything where the legs or sides are farther apart than the width of the bench.

[Robert Rozaieski]

Depends on whether you plan to use your bench for assembly as well as hand work or if you have a separate assembly bench. Most case pieces are 18-24" deep. If you want to hand plane the panels of the case, you'll want a bench as wide as the widest panels you will have to plane. Also, the wider top makes a nicer area for assembly than a narrower top. If you only make small stuff, you can get away with a narrower bench.

You can, however, make it too wide. You don't want to make it any wider than you can comfortably reach across. If you will have access from both sides, don't make it any wider than you can reach to the center from each side.

[Larry Marshall]

I agree with Bob that the critical parameter is whether the bench will be used for assembly. Most piece work is done in the front foot of a bench in my experience. And if you're only making small things (eg - boxes), even assembly isn't a problem on a narrow bench.

I'll mildly disagree with Bob about not being able to make a bench that's too deep. If the bench is free-standing, this is true. If it's against a wall, however, useful depth is dependent upon how long your arms are and the 24" depth has become something of a defacto standard because most people's arms can comfortably deal with 24" depth but not much more.

Cheers --- Larry

[Harlan Barnhart]

Since I work primarily in the kitchen and take down my bench each time, narrower seems better. Thanks for the thoughts.

[george wilson]

You could finish off with a tool trough at the rear. Then,you could make a filler piece to lay in the trough when you need the extra wide top.

[Prashun Patel]

If your bench is out in the open, then wider the better.
If your bench is against a wall, then 2ft is about as wide as I'd go if yr going to have wall storage above. Mine's 2ft wide, and it's a stretch for me. I'm going to bump out my wall storage eventually.

[Dave Anderson NH]

When I built my new bench last years I downsized on the width and increased on the length. I went from a 30" x 72" to a 24" x 90". My old bench was lowered and became my assembly table after I added a lipped rim to take a piece of 1/4" hardboard to cover the dog holes. The assembly table is now 32" x 74" after adding the rim. Wider is better for an assembly table, but a bench is more personal. Go with what you feel comfortable with.

[George Beck]

I think it depends on what work you are doing. My bench (an old Ulmia) is 16 in wide at the laminated top. With the till or tool tray it is 20 inches and with the large front vise 25. This works well for me because I mostly make smaller things these days. The wider benches cause a reach problem for me. If you are making kitchen cabinets or things on a 24 in to 28 inch scale and you have the floor space to walk around the bench, wide benches are nice. Many, many years ago in an apartment I had a small Sjoberg bench that was 500mm without a till (about 19in ) and it did fine.

George