Workbench Size - 6Ft or 7ft or 8ft?

[Mordi]

I am in the process of planning for the back wall of the garage (std 2 car 400 sq ft) and the current plan calls for a workbench and home built cabinets. For the workbench, my original thoughts were a 6 ft workbench that consisted of 2 craftsman tool cabinets (on wheels) with a piece of butcher block (Ikea) over the top and some small cabinets over the workbench area. Since I don't forsee using the workbench that much, I thought a 6 ft length work area would be sufficient. After reading up a bit, now I am not so sure that 6 feet is adequate . Since the storage cabinets on the back wall will be home built (see thread on home built cabinets), I could make really make the cabinets any size I like and therefore could increase the workbench to 7 or 8 ft in length.

Will I have any regrets if I keep the bench at 6 ft?

Thanks,
Mordi

 

[nissan_crawler]

as long as you can fit. Yes, I'm serious. I have 16' of workbench, and it's not always enough.

 

[Phatsub]

Mine is 6', wish it was longer most of the time. Maybe thias summer it'll be time to build a new one. If you've got the room, go as long as you can.

 

[bomber]

It really depends on teh kind of worker you are -- if you, like me, have a love for any horizontal surface, seeing it as ideal to cover with tools, parts, broken bicycles, reading materials, can of explosive liquids, neighborhood pets and small children, limiting the size of the bench make serve as a prompt to clean up your act . . . . .

 

[D KRAGER]

I have one 8' with nothing mounted to it but a vice. I have another 7' that I use as a welding table and has the drill press, chop saw and bench grinder on it. Also another 8' miter saw table/ bench. Still don't have enough space at times. BIGGER THE BETTER!!!

 

[Cobra4B]

Bigger = better... I have a standard 4.5' Craftsman bench w/ backboard and I'm planning on building a new one this spring... most likely 10' minimum.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

I have two matching 8 ft wooden workbenches butted end to end, and three steel industrial workbenches, a 7, a 6 and a 5 ft, on the other side of a 4 ft wide aisle from the wooden ones. You cannot have too much workbench to pile junk on

One of the metal workbenches only had one set of legs, so I butted the other end to one of the other metal workbenches and bolted them together (they are actually made to do this). I keep the shop vac and a stool under this section.

Charles

 

[tdkkart]

My last garage had a 14ft workbench, the new one has a 15ft in a room twice as big. I'm seriously considering adding another along the side wall.......

 

[cdent]

Of the lengths you're considering, why not go for the 8'. It'll make better use of common lumber that you might need for bracing, etc. Build it sturdy, sooner or later you'll have to pound or really crank on something that's stubborn.

 

[Garage-Junkie]

8' can always be cut down to 6' if it gets too long

I run twin 8' x 22" benches, with mid-shelves on each and like them. As soon as I build some cabinets, I'll finally get to SEE and USE my workbench, rather than it being a space to store Jeep parts and tools

 

[russlaferrera]

Mordi, What projects do you work on? Do you sit or stand.? Are you neat? Are any of your projects very heavy? Are any tools to be mounted on the bench? By answering these questions you can decide the best bench for you.

Everyone stated why they built their benches the way they did. Each one is specific to their craft and likes.

 

[toadjammer]

I have no non mobile benches in my shop. I try to make every thing mobile so I can get a car in the garage and still get around it to work on it. Try take 2' away from what sounds like you have a 20x20. I know my suburban will barely fit in my 20' space. An any smaller car will fit but still be a little tight.

 

[Ray-CA]

I have an eight foot bench but it is open at one end so if I have a project that runs long, I can hang it over the end.

Ray

 

[dwilliams35]

I've got an 8', a 16', a 6', and a 9'. Need more.

 

[Dave88LX]

6' is not nearly enough. Make it as long as you can afford. Once you mount a vice on one end, grinder on the other, it's going to be pretty small.

 

[kbs2244]

I am with toadjammer on this.
Work benches are junk collectors.
I have one, but all my work is done on roll around work tables that go to the job and roll back under the “work bench” when the job is done,
It turns into just another shelf.

 

[Bib Overalls]

I have a 7' long bench. I built it 20 years ago to fit along a wall in our garage. We have moved several times since. And now that I have a 30' x 40' shop I miss/need that additional foot!

 

[waltmcq]

I have a 16' bench and I bet I use about 5' of it, the rest is full on junk. So I guess it's just about how clean you can keep it.

 

[e-tek]

Mine is 16 feet. The only tools on top are a drill press and vise. The rest I use for what I'm working on and often it's just enough.

 

[buening]

I'm going to go against the grain and say that I prefer more storage than more workbench length. My back wall will consist of an 8' workbench and a tall cabinet at the end of the workbench. I too have a 400sf garage and space is limited. My cabinet is 4' wide. Here is a drawing of my plan. All will be MDF home-built.

 

[cwolfley]

i just built this one this weekend 8feet long 18" deep 2x4 frame what do ya think..

 

[Palmetto]

Mine is 16'. The top is five 16'-0" long 2x6's bolted down to 2" angle iron base. These where some of the form boards from a concrete job. I sanded them down real smooth with a belt sander. Turned out real nice. I need to take some pics....

 

[bomber]

One more comment from this non-bench expert -- I built a 10 foot bench (the garage has mostly motorcycles in it, which makes my space MUCH more flexible than most on this board) -- the bench has three 4X4 legs in the front, and it tied to the wall on the rear of the bench (2X4 ledger board fastened to the studs).

I won't do it this way in my next (and last) shop . . . . it works great until I start wailing on things in the vise or on the bench -- tied to the wall, any vibrations are transmitted directly to the wall, which sometimes is not a good thing (a can of WD40 on the shelf above the bench can hurt!)

I actually do very little on the bench (carb rebuilts, making wiring harnesses) -- most work is done on the vehical itself.

I don't think there is a one-size fits all answer to this question -- it depends on what you do, how you do it, and how you like to work.

 

[Kevin54]

i just built this one this weekend 8feet long 18" deep 2x4 frame what do ya think..

If that is your garage I wanna see some more pics!!! As far as the bench, it looks great but kinda small if you are going to do any kind of big work on there. Mine is 14' long and 30" deep and I find that kind of small depending on what I am doing. When i had the engine out of my JD 18 horse up there I really could have used a bench that was deeper. Personally I would never go less than 24" for depth on a bench. But that's just my $.02 worth.

 

[JakeD]

More bench is more better until you don't have room for your other stuff. I guess it all depends on what else you want to put in there. If you're thinking welder, compressor, welding table, storage cabinets, shelves, fridge, car (do you park in there?)... you may be smart to budget the space accordingly.

 

[toadjammer]

Here are a couple of my benchs. Like I said I really prefer to have the flexebility of mobile work areas. If some of my machines weren't quite so heavy I'd have everything on wheels other than my storage racks.

 

[autoist]

How about storage & lots of workbench? Right now I've got one table covered with HO train stuff, part of another table covered with MGB hardtop glass & weatherstripping parts & still have lots of space on which to work:

20' of workbench:

Turning corner & running to computer workstation:

Computer workstation & small work bench:

Corner workstation:

 

[Vicegrip]

I have 14 feet of wall mounted bench space and 2 5X3 roll around work cabinets with stainless tops. One is parked with tool boxes on top the other gets 99% of the work done on it. There is never enough flat surface area even when you are sorta neat as I try and be. I used to build reproduction furniture and IMO wood work needs a lot more work surface area than cars.

 

[cwolfley]

in repsponse to kevin,,, the rest of the garage is still under const. not done with the floor and the rest of the trim work...
sorry off topic,, love this site alot of good info and ideas