Optimal work bench depth?

[GarageGuy89]

I'm extending my work bench around the long side of my shop area. The shop area is 10' wide and 25' long and I'd be extending it along the 25' side.

The current bench is 2' deep. Haven't had any problems or regrets so far with needing it to be deeper. I was wanting to do a 4' deep bench but then it eats up almost half the shop area, especially when I have stuff on the other wall.

Anyone have an optimal bench depth they've found, or have any regrets on making it too short?

PS. I do have a 25'x25' garage bay attached to it which I have a nice 4'x8' table on locking casters I roll around, so if need be I can put something big on there.

 

[ford fanatic]

Mine are all 2'. I am building another and will be making it the same.

 

[e34 brian]

Yea, I gave this a fair bit of thought on my latest build and came up w/ 28". I enclosed the area under the bench top in plywood on the sides and back to create a 'box' that I later added sections to, and then drawers and cabinets. I wanted to use 24" drawer slides and still have a 4" overhang on the front. It's nice to work w/ 24" on the sides and drawers to get the most out of a sheet of plywood. The 28" bench depth worked fantastic.

Technically, I shot for a 3" overhang on the benchtop, which left 25" depth for my drawer cabinets. I still used 24" pieces to enclose the sides of the bench, but mounted them on the inside of the bench legs to hide the 1" gap. I divided the space under my bench with 24" plywood, putting the gap at the back where it's not visible. Voila, 25" deep drawer cabinet, ready for my 24" drawers.

I did add a strip of hardwood to the edge of the benchtop and also a backsplash to bring the overhang to 4.5" and the overall bench depth to 29.5".

My $0.02

 

[Sawdustmaker]

Mine is 26" with a back splash and 2"overhang. Eight feet long. I also will be adding 24" deep drawers on full extension drawer guides.

 

[nine4gmc]

My best work bench depth is about 30-32", anything more and I can't reach across it and anything less just becomes a shelf. Most of my bench space is 24" deep...

 

[jamesd]

My preference is 30". I like to keep some tools/consumables along the back against the wall while still allowing me ~24" clear to work. Any deeper then 30" and I find myself having to reach too far to get something at the back.

 

[Crazyjake8493]

For a bench against the wall I like 24" deep at the most. I recently removed my garage workbench and am building a center work table that'll be 30" or 32" deep, haven't decided yet.

 

[SlowPoke-Canada]

I really appreciate my 30x96 work surface. It allows for enough reach to access the 48x96 slatwall behind it and I can stand on it to access the 18" deep cabinets above the slatwall. I've had a 24" bench and it was fine for the most part but I'd hate to go back.

 

[Bcom]

This is something i talked about with a friend the other day. He was tearing down his workbench to build another. I currently have a large bench vise that he wanted to buy and i had to give him the measurements so his new table could accomodate it. His old table wasnt deep enough. The vise is 25" long so he would have to build his new table deep enough to accomodate it. Keep that in mind when building your table if you plan on getting a large vise for it in the future.

 

[Westozfixer]

Jeez a 25" vice would just about win any "my vise is bigger than yours" competition wouldn't it?

 

[Bcom]

Jeez a 25" vice would just about win any "my vise is bigger than yours" competition wouldn't it?

nahhh. Im sure there are lots of bigger ones. Its only a 6" Ridgid at 101LBS. its 25" long

 

[CoogarXR]

My main bench is 32" deep. I work on a lot of big TVs, so I need a deep work space.

 

[Maddog10]

I cut my workbench surface to 23" deep, and then added 1.5" trim around the outside for a total depth of 26"... I was looking for answers to the same question when I built it, and I'm pleased with the depth I chose. My bench is against a wall.

 

[happy2rv]

It depends on what you mean by "optimal" and what materials you're using. If you're looking at it from a purely ergonomic point of view, assuming the bench is against a wall, generally you would want it to be no deeper than you can comfortably reach across at the height of the top surface. 24 to 30 inches is comfortable for most people. Presumably you will have outlets and/or switches on the wall behind it and you don't want to have to struggle to reach them or things sitting on the work surface near the back. If the bench is free standing and can be approached from both sides, you might want it considerably wider.

If you approach it from an efficiency in materials / cost standpoint, then it obviously depends on the materials. For instance, if you are using plywood for the bench top and using 4x8 sheets, a 3' bench top would leave 1' of potentially wasted plywood.

When I built mine, I believe it was around 28" deep x 20' long along the back wall of my shop. I built a section about 5' long at a comfortable (for me) standing height and the rest at a lower height for sitting. The entire thing, including the top, was built out of 2x4's and has worked well. As long as you can get straight and uniform 2x material, it works well and is extremely solid.

I haven't regretted the size or materials choice, but you have to figure out what you are going to use it for and what works for you. The different heights would just get in the way for some people, but I've enjoyed it. If you're working with small intricate pieces, the non-uniform surface of the 2x4 top would probably be a nuisance, but if strength is the bigger factor, it's hard to beat the price/performance. Of course, there are ways to get the best of both, like putting plywood or hardboard on top of the 2x4 surface.

 

[phred]

I like a 36" deep bench. I keep commonly used items against the back wall like racks of zip ties, misc bins of fasteners and a rack of pliers cutters and screw drivers so I don't have to get up to get something out of the tool boxes. This gives me at least 30" of good clean work area.


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[John in OH]

What kind of work will you be doing on this bench? Optimal size may depend on function.

 

[Crusarius]

I have 2 different benches in my shop. one I think is 24" deep. and the other I think is 18 or 20. I like the shallower bench on the one wall because that is where I put my pegboard and have all my sockets and wrenches hanging on the wall. When that was 24" I had a hard time reaching the higher up tools. the other bench is where I do all my welding and grinding and has a nice top on it that makes a great dust collection area. That one is a pain to reach over and get to all my grinding supplies on the walls.

If you are going to be putting stuff on the walls remember that you need to be able to reach it that would equal shallower bench. but if you want to store stuff on the bench and still be able to work that equals deeper.

So many options, so much time.

 

[c/o say]

For me any deeper than 24 inches and it just gets to much stuff on it. That reminds me need to clean my storage bench I mean work bench off.

 

[nh_yota]

I like my bench tops a little higher than normal so I can use them without having to lean over like you often have to do with kitchen counters and sinks. I'm 6' tall so when I'm standing at a low counter it hurts my back.

Once you have the height figured out, the depth depends on whether or not you're going need access to items on the wall behind the bench top. If you're not going to store anything on the wall, it might be a good idea to make the bench top deeper (36"+) so you have a larger work surface. If you're going to store items on the wall behind the bench, you shouldn't go any deeper than 24-30" or else you're going to have a hard time reaching items on the wall.

 

[Falcon67]

30". Gives room on the back for misc junk and can leave the regular 24" clear. LOL on the clear top bench.

30" depth on the left return, 24" depth on the right. Right side is catch-all now for all kinds of stuff, mostly no room to do any real work.

 

[slow]

agreed 30-36" when you have drawers like are shown above on the left side. I have 30" with 6" used up by drawers, I wish I had another 6"

 

[finn]

Mine are around 24". I had some with more overhang, I think about 32" deep, but I found it made the drawers useless and I had to stretch to get things from the back, near the wall, so I cut the top back to 24".

The deeper top was inconvenient.

I do have a bench mounted on casters that is deep.

 

[pmiranda]

For general work 24" is great... Of course if you know you're going to stack drawers along the back, I first ask "why not wall mount them?" and then say allow space for them in addition to the 2 foot work space. If you know you work on larger pieces than you need somewhere to do that, but I have always just used the table saw top for that sort of thing.

 

[Trey T]

For me a clear space of 24" is sufficient for automotive repair and various stuff around the house.

I have a 28" deep workbench.

 

[Catadj78]

I have workbenches all over the shop depending on what I would be doing on them. The main ones are 24" though.


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[nh_yota]

Has anyone ever built something like a kitchen peninsula in their garage? Might be good for extra storage underneath and working on larger projects that need more clearance from the wall.

 

[Catadj78]

Has anyone ever built something like a kitchen peninsula in their garage? Might be good for extra storage underneath and working on larger projects that need more clearance from the wall.

Its cleaned off now but I'm not in the shop



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[2oolhound]

Here's a narrow view on the subject fwiw:
I like 24" but for space constraints it's 22". This bench is built over some roller cabinets (20") and you could't get into the top drawers if the top overhang was too long. Sure, stuff accumulates at the back of the bench but eventually it gets in the way when working on larger items and it all must be put away so you can spin the work piece around conveniently. Shallow shelves go up the wall above the bench starting around 16". The shelves are only 4 - 6" deep (for aerosol cans etc) but still get in way like when working on the compressor I have there now. It's high enough to hit the 1st shelf. If 22" D isn't enough I lay a 30" x 30" x3/8" sheet of steel on top. It usually doesn't need counter weight on the back but they are easy to add if needed. This is great for welding as you can clamp stuff to the over hang however access tot he top roller cab drawers is restricted.

The other determining factor for bench depth was what other tools would be along the same wall beside it. I measured drill press, lathe, 20T press, grinder, storage cabinets etc. and grouped them together by depth so all the deep stuff was together on one side and the shallow stuff was opposite which left enough space in the middle of the floor to move items through. This area is only 8' wide and everything must pass through this area to get to the 12' wide section further back.

 

[CN Spots]

I made mine 24" so that I could split a 4x8' sheet of plywood for the top and second shelf.

Regarding the island, I made a 4x8' one out of a discarded pallet that my company shipped a piece of heavy equipment on. I put large casters on it and mostly use it as the wood working department. I roll it outside when I need to make a lot of dust. It's the same height as the benches so if a project won't fit on the 24" bench I KNOW it will fit on that island.

 

[steveo1o9]

The bench I just built is 36" wide, but that is primarily because I didn't want to cut the 72"x36" drafting table I got from work. It works out well for me because I built my bench tall to stand at (41"), and I have cabinets above the bench so I have about 12 inches of dead space under the cabinets. Your width preference entirely depends on your use and intended layout.

 

[rburke65]

nh_yota...... I have 4 Knaach tool 'roll-a-ways'.....2 on each side fastened together, so it's two wide and two deep. I laid 2 red oak butcher block counters on top and screwed these down, so I do have an island in my shop that measures 96"x60". I LOVE IT! Plenty of work area.

 

[rayra]

I've got 2' along the side of my garage. A 3' 'hobby' bench at the head of the garage, and a 3.5'x8' rolling work table height matched to my table saw to act as a feed table and I also inset my small router table to make it a large router table.

2' is only good if you can keep it clear. 3' is good if you are sitting at it, you can still reach across it for something. 4' is great for larger projects.


I once saw a workbench - it might have been here - that was a rolling table docked into a fixed set of shelves. Seemed like the best of both designs. Wide enough work surface to stick out from the shelves for headroom when working on things, and the option to drag it out for more room and 360deg access to the work.

 

[jimgood]

I'm extending my work bench around the long side of my shop area. The shop area is 10' wide and 25' long and I'd be extending it along the 25' side.

The current bench is 2' deep. Haven't had any problems or regrets so far with needing it to be deeper. I was wanting to do a 4' deep bench but then it eats up almost half the shop area, especially when I have stuff on the other wall.

Anyone have an optimal bench depth they've found, or have any regrets on making it too short?

PS. I do have a 25'x25' garage bay attached to it which I have a nice 4'x8' table on locking casters I roll around, so if need be I can put something big on there.

What do you want from a 4' X 25' flat surface that's 3' off the ground? That's the real question. If you think it will serve you to have that, build the **** out of it. You obviously know the downside of losing half your shop area. What's the upside?

 

[npp]

I work in a dealership and mine is 24 in. and is ok,but fellow beside me his is 32 in.and is nice,esp.if you do seat work or a window frame,has better support for bigger objects and for balance.

 

[John in OH]

Mine are 32" front to back with a 2" front lip.

 

[Handyfarmer]

24" would be considered normal, but if your like me and keep thing on the bench having it deeper can be a great help as you have room for the "things" and room to work, place for the cans of this and that or the small tools or what ever,

32" if I was redoing my shop, and I would consider, possibly even 34'

 

[PhantomEB]

Mines 29 with 1.5" thick backsplash. Determined by the beer fridge underneath.

 

[EOC_Jason]

I built my main workbench ripping a sheet of plywood, 3' for the top, 1' for a bottom shelf.

In hindsight, I wish I made the top 30" and the bottom shelf 18" as the top is kind of too deep and the lower shelf is a little too narrow.

So I'm with the 30" crowd, that's a good depth for a work area + bins or whatever against the back out of the way.

 

[JJThrasher]

Location and purpose factor in greatly. I have 20" deep benches against walls and quiet large free standing tear down and rebuilding benches that are meant to be walked around.

 

[GarageGuy89]

Has anyone ever built something like a kitchen peninsula in their garage? Might be good for extra storage underneath and working on larger projects that need more clearance from the wall.

I actually used to have one, but I tore it out. Didn't go well with a skinny shop layout and ended up being a shelf for junk.