On 1/26/2021 4:31 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
On Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 4:36:00 PM UTC-5, Leon wrote:
On 1/26/2021 3:31 PM, knuttle wrote:
On 1/26/2021 4:19 PM, DerbyDad03 wrote:
I've been doing some reading about the proper workbench height. A lot
of sources say that for "general work" the proper height is right at
the wrist
level of the user. Adjustments are made from there for specific types of
work.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Vx94zSkRWBU/maxresdefault.jpg

If you were going to build a general purpose workbench for a new
homeowner,
would you follow the wrist height rule? The person I have in mind is
not a
woodworker. She knows which end of a screwdriver to use, but she might
not
always use the right bit. ;-)

I made my work bench on wheels, and the same height as my table saw.

This permits me to use the workbench as an extention table for the saw.
For ripping it is an out feed table, and moves around the saw as I
work on different things and make differenct cuts.

Ask her what height she wants. She likely just needs something to open
paint cans and or simple tasks like that.

Asking her what height she wants would be like asking a new driver what size
engine they want. ;-)

Never having had a workbench before and never having done much DIY (previously
lived in rental properties) she's not really going to know what height her workbench
should be. A year from now, maybe, but not yet.

Different difficult tasks require different heights. I prefer taller
for assembly, shorter for hand work.

But how short? Is your hand work station at wrist level?

I do not know. I would not know even if I were considering building
another bench. The Paulk work bench wooed be too high, for me, for hand
work. But it is great at everything else.

And yes, it's for opening paint cans, maybe staining a shelf kit, polishing the
antique brass & glass door knobs we just picked up at an architectural salvage
place, etc.

Then go TS height. A good compromise.



Sounds like "general work" which leads to the "wrist height" standard.

I don't think wrist height will even come into play unless she will be
using a hand plane and or chisels. Staining will be all different
heights so no height will be correct or incorrect.



My shop workbench is about 4" higher than my wrist but I also have a large
work area/defacto assembly table in the main part of the basement that
is at my wrist height, but not because of any plan. That just happens to be
the height of a 2 x 4 stiffened sheet of 3/4 plywood on saw horses. ;-)

I stood at both of them today, trying to decide if I would rather work at the wrist
height table vs. the taller workbench, but after 35 years of using the workbench,
it's a tough call. I'll have to play around a bit more.

BTW with my daughter's wrists at 27", that would be a very short work bench
for anyone else. I'm 5'4", her boyfriend is at least 5'9". Maybe I'll build it at 30"
and see if she likes it. This one is just going to be a basic 2 x 4 bench so she
(and I) will have something to use. It can be made shorter quite easily. I plan to
build her a nicer one, but she (we) need something now.

So 30" is dinner table height. Test there. 36" is kitchen counter
height, and test there.