Workbench - leg space?

[964haus]

Guys,
Putting together the finishing touches on my workbench design and have a question - how many of you have space left open for your knees if you're sitting at your workbench?? I'm undecided whether to leave said space, or just fill it in with workbenches like I've seen here.

This is a workbench along the entire wall of my shed - 9'6" long. It will be used for variety of work, focused mainly on the maintenance of my beloved KTM. This is my only bench. 36" high and 25" deep. Other maintenance work as needed to keep the house running smoothly.

I will have a stool but unsure if i'd sit at the bench with my knees underneath...so.....what have you guys found works and doesn't work with leaving a space?

I'm sure I'm overthinking this - my wife keeps telling me it's only a shed, but opinions from people I respect always helps.

Thanks
Matthew.

 

[koditten]

If you have the space, keep a section open. You are going to want to take a load off and do some buisy work at the bench sitting on a stool. Its a good place to store odd items like wet/dry vacs that get used often as well.

KO

 

[coljar]

I've saved the work bench area of my garage for last to finish, so I could think about it longer in case I changed my mind about the layout, but the basic idea stayed the same. It will be "L" shaped with an island (4' X 7')in the middle. The smaller part of the "L" (4')will have leg room to be able to sit on a stool at it with a pull out drawer in the middle like a desk.

 

[softailgarage]

One of my biggest complaints about the standard workbench is the amount of space you have to work on. I think the average bench top measures from 19" to 21", then you put some screw, nut & bolt cabinets (typically 6" deep), now you're down to 15" to work on, not enough for me and no leg room. I took a sheet of plywood 6'x3'x3/4", centered it on top of the existing 6'x19"x1" top, screwed it down and then covered it with a piece of hardboard. Braced the legs a little more and now I have plenty of workspace, room for my knees and an area I could hide a 12 outlet power strip and speakers.

 

[nine4gmc]

I have a computer at a desk in another room than my work bench that I can sit at. My work bench is 30" deep and 10' long, I put an old Craftsman set of drawers under one end and put my welding machine, chop saw, router table etc under the other end. I have a stool out there but use it mainly at the parts washer, never at the bench.

 

[lilscorpion]

I left no space and don't regret it. I can still sit at it, just not under it. Never been a problem though I don't sit all that much I guess.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

I left some leg room under a section of my workbench and am glad I did so.

 

[hockey88fan]

If you have the space, keep a section open. You are going to want to take a load off and do some buisy work at the bench sitting on a stool. Its a good place to store odd items like wet/dry vacs that get used often as well.

KO

+1, kept half mine open. Great for shop vac, stools, hydraulic stool.

 

[rednecklimo85]

You really have to look at what your using it for. If your using it to for small time consuming projects like say building a model car, your gonna want leg room, if your just using it to put a part in a vice and drive a roll pin out, then not it's not very important. I would leave it open for now and see how it goes. If you find you need the drawer space use it, if it's nice having some leg room then so be it.

My own work bench is open and that's were I store jacks, jack stands, and other misc items with out a home.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I have a section left open to sit at. I wouldn't want it any other way.

I generally sit when

taking a break
eating a snack or lunch
reading directions
drawing out plans
figuring out a list of materials
soldering something
gun cleaning

 

[egnorant]

This is the bench I built from an old waterbed.

Notice the knee room I cut out on the front crosspiece. Might cut the lower out for sliding items under, but it has been a perfect footrest and could stay!

Bruce

 

[2manytoyz]

I have several workbenches. One is for smaller - detailed work. The corner of my shop has a nook, so the bench is actually hanging on three walls, no legs.

The other benches are for stand up work.

 

[964haus]

Great thanks for the feedback everyone.
I'm leaning towards leaving a centre section free, but measured so that it makes sense to fill in with an additional cabinet if so desired. I might even build a half-deep shelf there too, so I can put some less-used things there for the short term...

Love seeing all the benches too - inspires me to get mine done!

Matthew.

 

[akdiesel]

Like kodittan said you can use it to store items when not in use. I plan on using my open space to store my rolling cart I will use to hold the tools needed for the task at hand.

 

[HandsomeDan]

I gave myself a lower shelf, just high enough for my feet if I'm sitting on a stool.
I'm probably going to add more shelving to half of my bench, though.

 

[tylernt]

One thing to consider when designing knee room -- the height of the member supporting the front lip of your bench.

I see a lot of 2x4s stood up on edge to support the front of the bench. That means your stool must be short enough so that the bottom of the support doesn't hit the top of your thighs. On a wooden stool you can cut the legs shorter but on a metal stool that's harder. Even then, the bench top ends up relatively tall when sitting so you have to lift your arms more.

So... my preference is to use a thick workbench that needs no support (two 3/4" ply for example) or for longer spans or thinner material, use steel to support the front lip -- either 1" box tubing underneath the surface, or wrap the front edge with angle.

 

[7th Kahuna]

I recently designed a new workbench for myself. I did leave a section open for my knees but not full depth. I designed shelves in the back for stuff I don't use real often. What I haven't decided yet is if I will include a pair of sliding doors in front of the shelves to keep things a little cleaner.

 

[Trey T]

Gotta have the leg room for sitting down. No way I'm standing and solder small wires and stuff.

 

[Seiler]

I have several workbenches.

Any additional information on this bench top? That looks purdy!

Scott