{"id":6,"date":"2011-12-31T18:14:26","date_gmt":"2011-12-31T18:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/?p=6"},"modified":"2012-12-19T23:13:25","modified_gmt":"2012-12-19T23:13:25","slug":"workbench-height-perfect-height-bench","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/workbench\/workbench-height-perfect-height-bench\/","title":{"rendered":"Workbench Height &#8211; What&#8217;s the Perfect Height for My Bench?"},"content":{"rendered":"<!--CusAds--><p>The height of a workbench seems to be one of the first things people ask about when <a title=\"workbench height\" href=\"http:\/\/www.workbenchplans.org\/workbench-design\/workbench-height\">building a bench<\/a>. The fact is, there\u2019s really no one height that works best for everyone. And that&#8217;s because whatever distance you put between the floor and your workbench top should be custom tailored to fit <em>your particular body height<\/em> and <em>the type of work<\/em> you plan to do there. More on that later. But first let\u2019s take a look at why you should even care about such things.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JFVjTda6U0Q\" height=\"315\" width=\"560\" allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Does Bench Height Really Make a Difference?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Any kind of manual work puts stress on the body. Nothing wrong with that, really, if it includes a healthy mix of moving, stretching, pulling, and pushing. Unfortunately, that doesn\u2019t happen while standing in front of a workbench, where we can easily spend hours going through the same motions over and over. Of course, the most common hazard from this kind of repetition is lower back pain, which usually comes from working on a bench that is too low. So what&#8217;s the solution?<\/p>\n<p>The best way to avoid back problems working at your bench is to <a title=\"workbench design\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/workbench-plans.html\">design your bench<\/a> to fit your body height and the type of work you plan to do there. First, let&#8217;s talk about body height.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Match Workbench Height to Your Body Height<\/strong><\/p><!--CusAds-->\n<p>The basic rule of thumb is that for most basic types of woodworking you might do at a bench (like joinery, construction, etc.) it\u2019s best to set the top of your bench to be even with the bottom edge of your shirt cuff. This will give you nice, workable surface for most of the jobs you\u2019ll bring to a bench.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Setting Workbench Height to Specific Jobs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>While the shirt-cuff rule of thumb works great for most work I bring to my bench, there are some jobs that are better suited for a higher (or lower) bench top. For example, when I\u2019m sanding project, I like the top of my bench to be a little lower. This lets me use the weight of my arms and shoulders to help do the work. I&#8217;ve found that dropping the height just 6\u201d <em>below<\/em> my cuff makes a big difference with these types of jobs.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, if I\u2019m using a bench primarily assembling a project or making repairs, I like the bench top be a little <em>higher<\/em>. Setting my bench top just 6&#8243; above my shirt cuff keeps me from having to bend over my work, and just make it easier to see what I\u2019m doing.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re looking for workbench plans, I have a nice <a title=\"workbench plans\" href=\"http:\/\/www.workbenchplans.org\">downloadable guidebook<\/a> at my website that will take you through all the steps we\u2019ve talked about here, plus show you a <em>very easy<\/em> way to build a bench for the garage or basement using simple 2x4s and plywood.<\/p>\n<!--CusAds--><p>This is one of the strongest and most durable bench designs I\u2019ve seen, and the best part is that it doesn\u2019t require a lot of building skills or expensive tools to bring it together.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!--CusAds-->\n<div style=\"font-size: 0px; height: 0px; line-height: 0px; margin: 0; padding: 0; clear: both;\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The height of a workbench seems to be one of the first things people ask about when building a bench. The fact is, there\u2019s really no one height that works best for everyone. And that&#8217;s because whatever distance you put <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/workbench\/workbench-height-perfect-height-bench\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-workbench"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":251,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6\/revisions\/251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ezwoodshop.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}