Workbench racking vs. base length

[Bill Miltner]

Peter,

To answer your initial question, Yes shortening the base will increase the possibility of racking. That does not mean you will experience racking as that depends on exactly how you use your bench, the size of the stretchers, rigidity of the leg assemblies.... Racking results from lateral forces not vertical ones.

[Brett Baldwin]

Just a thought here. As long as you're thinking about modifying the legs, what about giving the left side legs an angle to give you the clearance you need? I'm not sure if it would give you enough to do what you're thinking but you could leave your footprint the same while gaining clearance on the left side. It would look like this from the side.
_____
/__|

Just throwing it out there.

[Pedro Reyes]

To echo what Bill said.

I can't say anything definitive about racking, depends too much on the stresses you impose on it. What I can say is, the smaller your base (assuming all else stays the same) the more stress you'll have on your strecher to leg joints.

peace

/p

[Joel Goodman]

Are you planning on having a cabinet under the bench? If so a 3/4" plywood back for it can provide racking resistance.