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Thread: Bench height

  1. #1
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    Bench height

    Yes our industrious forefathers of the 17th and 18th centuries who’s woodwork established a trade and our current respect were shorter than we are today. In fact they were shorter than many previous centuries due to climate, health and economic conditions. Men born from 1650 to 1750 had a life expectancy of 35 years!

    Men in England have regained their height from the medieval period and are now exceeding it.

    Clearly the height of a workbench must be related to the height of the user. I have often seen 32” referred to as a ‘traditional height’ and that may well be right but those days are gone! I think the term ‘historical height’ would release people from traditional thinking.

    Some people excuse this low height in today’s world with the explanation that it enables you to ‘press down’ when planning. Clearly our forefathers were not ‘pressing down’.

    Lie Nielson offer heights of 32” to 38”; bravo!

    So pick YOUR height and make your bench fancy if you wish because you will almost certainly get to use it past 35 years of age!
    ​You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!

  2. #2
    Not only were they shorter, but they also tended to die long before back problems started to show up! Or poor eyesight for that matter.

    I say to completely ignore all rules for bench height. Stack some wood/books/whatever on a table and pretend to work and see what’s best. Personally, I see no advantage to hunching over a bench.

    FWIW, I’m 6’6” and my bench is 42” tall and it’s perfect. That’s significantly taller than any rule of thumb even taking into consideration my height.

  3. #3
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    Hi William

    I have argued that the low bench height (for example, suggested by Chris Schwarz) is an illusion.

    CS wrote about the ideal bench height being at "pinky height". Even if this was so, the reality is that we plane effectively higher than this. This is due to the way we move, and that planing takes place from the hips and not the shoulders. In planing from the hips, we "sit down" lower and, as a result, the bench height drops.

    Here is an example. My bench a few years back was in line with the hem of my t-shirt ..



    But when planing, you can see how much lower I am as my knees bend ...







    Since building my bench at pinky height, I have raised it a total of 4". Now it feels right.

    I've written a bit about force vectors when planing. Planing from the hips means that we push horizontally and not diagonally from the shoulders ...





    David Charlesworth ...



    Frank Klausz ...



    And look how low CS gets to use his low bench!



    Regards from Perth

    Derek

  4. #4
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    Thanks for that Derek, great pictures! Men’s arm length varies considerably so using the pinky finger is useless, not least because when planning the arms are raised so arm length is irrelevant. My arms are long so my pinky middle is 25” but I have shrunk to 6’ 1” and my bench is 38”. Having had the chance to do some work on it now I love that height.

    Chris your height and bench ratios are within an inch of mine. I wear work boots with an inch heel and stand on a 1/4” rubber mat so effectively lowering my bench to 37”.

    Yes planning is with the hips but my arm is not resting on my hips. The force comes from the shoulders, a mans build will change his comfort level pushing.

    Without a doubt bench height is very important, give it some real thought, experiment and like Chris at 6’ 6” do what’s right for you.
    ​You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!

  5. #5
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    Agree it’s an individual thing. My bench height is 34” which puts the top of my bench at about my wrist. I was following CS’s build plans and height recommendation, but made it a few inches taller (34”) knowing I could always lower it. At 34”, planning is comfortable, but the interesting thing is that when I edge plane and the stock is 2-3 inches higher than the bench height, it feels pretty good as well, maybe better. I’m tempted to raise the entire bench a few inches just to see, which would put it much higher than “standard”, if there is such a thing.

  6. #6
    I got my students to stand up with their back to a bench or table. The forearms held horizontal.

    My advice was to choose 4 1/2" below the average measurement to the underside of the elbows.

    Average can be important as some people are surprisingly lopsided!

    Best wishes, David.

  7. #7
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    David your method agrees with me. I am 1 inch lopsided! My average is 42.5” so -4.5” is exactly 38” which is my bench height!
    ​You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!

  8. #8
    Both your height and inseam are important. I'm 5'8" with a 30" inseam. There are five benches in my shop, the most comfortable is 34 1/2" slab to floor. The 31" bench is ok for crosscutting and planning but too low for all around use. The 35 1/2" is just a hair too tall and if it were not such a PITA to cut an inch off the legs it would have been done long ago. The other two benches come in at 33" and are almost as comfortable as the 34 1/2" bench. My "sweet spot" appears to be between 33" and 34 1/2" and all additional builds for my use will be in that range.

    ken

  9. #9
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    What is good to see is that people are sensible enough to adjust their bench height to suit their work. Allowing a bit of room for cutting some off the legs is a good idea. People should keep in mind that every persons work varies. Some people find it useful to have a bench low, this enables them to sit on the work when required. Also some people make big pieces of work, some small. I would not draw too much from Derek's or Chris' advise, it works for them and that's great, will it work for you?

    Derek's photos show people working on small sections of timber with a metal plane. How about when people work wider and or thicker material? Chris is mentioned, here is an example of him doing a classroom type example. It worth noting that when working on a wide panel, if the bench is higher then it has some extra reach trying to get there. He has no issue with reach over a wide panel because of this.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_96gNMMc_g

    Also, Paul Sellers is an advocate of a taller bench. However, the video is a likely indicator that Paul, as Derek, uses his bench for cutting joinery only, with perhaps very occasional prep of stock.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m231_HKCOWs

    Also, Rob Cosman has a couple of videos working with different size boards than the small sections in Derek's photos. He clearly has a tall bench and uses his arms a lot. Something that many people say you should not do. It's worth remembering that the work we all do is quite different and how our resources vary.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGuGFGAQTxE

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5x65dj03C8 this one is a good example of a tall bench with a wide board showing that it can be done quite well.

    Everyone has made a good point, adjust your environment to suit your work! It seems that everyone in their respective videos is quite happy.

    If Warren is reading this, I would be very interested to hear his perspective. To my knowledge he is the only one here that has enjoyed a long career working by hand only and earned a living at it. Also Zach Dillinger, who also uses only hand power for his projects.
    Last edited by Graham Haydon; 01-19-2019 at 2:32 PM.

  10. #10
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    David, thank you, Your method would put my bench an inch higher, which is what I was thinking of trying.

  11. #11
    David Charlesworth makes the important comment that some of us are "unusual". I know I am. I'm 5'9" but have 36" sleeves for a total wingspan 6" more than my height. I find my 28" high bench just right, particularly when using wooden planes which are taller than most modern metal planes. I choose the 28" after having a previous metal legged bench which started at 33" and over the years was slowly lowered an inch at a time to 29"which was as low as it would go.
    Dave Anderson

    Chester, NH

  12. #12
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    Dave, I’m curious if you use David’s method what height bench do you get? My wingspan is 3” greater than my height and I am 4 inches taller. That makes our finger tips 5.5 inches different but our bench heights are 10” different, even allowing for wooden planes that’s quite a difference! Perhaps it’s your upper arm adding most of your wingspan and David’s method will show more agreement?
    ​You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!

  13. #13
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    It's not something you can figure out by measuring, and planning, or at least until you find the height that works best for you. The testing needs to be long sessions-not just a few strokes. Lower works better for wide pieces, as in flattening. Higher works better for straight line work. I'm 5'7", and use a 32" for panels, and 36" for everything else.

    I've never taken any kind of personal measurements. Use something for an hour, and you'll find what doesn't work. For a few minutes, it doesn't matter much.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    It's not something you can figure out by measuring, and planning, or at least until you find the height that works best for you. The testing needs to be long sessions-not just a few strokes. Lower works better for wide pieces, as in flattening. Higher works better for straight line work. I'm 5'7", and use a 32" for panels, and 36" for everything else.

    I've never taken any kind of personal measurements. Use something for an hour, and you'll find what doesn't work. For a few minutes, it doesn't matter much.
    Tom,

    Yep, all the more reason to build more than one bench and for that matter having more than one bench in your shop. After a half dozen or so builds you may figure out what works, if you pay attention to what bugs you about the previous build .

    ken

  15. #15
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    If I didn't already have the little Lervad, that I bought new in 1977, I probably wouldn't have two benches to work with. That one is too small, and light for many things, but is great for panels. It's easy to move around, but needs to be clamped to something, or like the picture, have a 2x4 clamped to it to abut a wall (or fireplace bricks), to keep it from sliding. I may be remembering the height incorrectly, but am pretty sure it's not over 32".

    The block of wood in the vise was used as a stop to plane the 90" stiles on the edge of the bench. That made them hang over the end of the bench too far to catch a lot of the 90", so once I planed what was supported, the piece was moved to just hit the wall for the second stop. Nothing else needed to hold position for straight smooth planing.

    The other one is also used as an assembly table.
    CIMG2077 (1280x960).jpgCIMG2073 (1280x960).jpg
    Last edited by Tom M King; 01-20-2019 at 1:14 PM.

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