On 25 May 2006 06:54:34 -0700, "trbo20" wrote:

While at HD recently, I found a large bin full of 4' premium 2x10s in
their culled lumber for $0.51 / piece. I've been meaning to build a
basement workbench, and figured these would be perfect for the work
surface. My plan is to lay them down side by side like a deck and
cover them with a piece of 1/4" oak ply.

My question is, given 4' boards to work with and no floor space
limitations, how deep would you make the bench. At 4' I won't
really be able to reach the peg board in the back, but I would have
that much more surface on which to work.

My other question is, how high would you make it? Is there a rule of
thumb such as x inches above the waist?

Thanks in advance,
-T


It should be the same height as your sawhorse.

More seriously, it depends on what sort of work you're doing,
and whether yout expect to be doing it seated or standing.
If you're sawing on it with hand-saws, you're going to
want it low enough so you can get on top of the saw.
Likewise with heavy-duty hammering. If you're doing
a lot of fiddly detail work, you probably want it higher.

Build an adjustable sawhorse and try working on it
until you find a height that's comfortable for what
you expect to be doing.