Bench length?

[dvoigt]

Reviewing my on-going struggle on if I can build this bench (time and money being the consideration), I measured the area that I would need to put the bench. I can only fit a 6' bench max, and even that will take some rearranging. And I will need to make the bench moveable, not ideal for a bench of this weight, but I also consider a shorter 6' bench to be a plus for this.

So I suppose my question is: at what point does a bench of this caliber suffer if it is too short? I don't do alot of really long things currently, but there is always the possibility that I will in the future and i don't want to out grow this bench.

What is everyone's thought on this? How long is the bench that you plan on making?

Thanks,

Derek!

[AMarshall]

Benchcrafted has a version in their shop that is just 60" long, and I would think that would be fine 99% of the time. If you are focused on joinery, most of it happens at one end of the bench or the other.

Shannon Rogers also has a dedicated joinery bench that is a very small footprint. Check it out at http://www.renaissancewoodworker.com/joinery-bench-completed/

For me, there's nothing wrong with a shorter version.

[ChetlovesMer]

I've seen very stout 48" benches that work really well.

I don't think its the end of the world to make your bench slightly shorter. After all, the hardware can always be moved to a larger bench assuming that you one day get more space. Plus, you can kind of think of it as practice... I know that sounds weird, but if you enjoy the journey, no reason not to do it now, learn from it. Use the bench for some number of years and then build it again if it needs to be longer.

[dvoigt]

I probably won't do much over 6' long in general, although I'll probably end up leaving my planer on it for storage unless i need the space.

What about going with a thinner top, like 3" thick instead of 4". I understand that 4 is better, but if I have a shorter bench can I go 3" to save some wood and weight and not adversely affect the performance of the bench?

[Big John]

I agree with hhh, the mass is the critical element of the bench. When you are trying to do some heavy planing with a scrub or jack plane, you don't want the bench skipping across the floor. This may not be as much of an issue if you primarily use power tools though. So, the length is determined by what you plan to build and the mass should be determined by how you plan to do it.

[AndremG]

My question, to add onto the OP, would be ...

If you were to make the bench shorter, where would you take out the difference?

Where I plan to put my bench in my basement, I have exactly 90 inches between a cinderblock wall (on the right side) and support post (on the left side). I'd probably opt for a slightly shorter bench in the ~80 inches range to give me a little (very little) room on the right to work the tail vise. That gives me like 7 inches or so to cut out of the plan. You need a set amount of room on the right for the tail vise mechanism so that's probably out. Would you take it from the left or the middle (long stretchers)?

[AMarshall]

I'm no expert, but I've been staring at this plan for quite a while so I'll take a shot at answering. Personally, I'd take space off the left end (past the leg vise) before I took anything out of the middle. The overhang on the left end is 14 3/4", and it's less useable "real estate" than the space to the right of the leg vise. On the left, there isn't any support below the top for anything clamped on the left side of the leg vise screw. On the right, the lower stretcher can support a board at the bottom, and the sliding deadman can always be slid over to back up a board. Since most planing operations will be done working into the leg vise from the right (assuming a right-handed woodworker) this is the space that sees more action.

The other benefit of taking length off the left end is that the footprint of the base stays wider, so the bench should be more stable. And heavier, since you didn't shorten the long stretchers.

One argument against this is stability if you have a huge overhang on one end vs the other, but I think the bench is heavy enough for this not to be an issue. Other than that, all I can think of are the aesthetics of wanting a symemetrical design.

Rambling a bit, hope that helps.

[AndremG]

This helps a lot, mostly to confirm what I had anticipated. I figured that if I needed to, I could take from both the left side overhang and the middle. I'm going to try to take as little as I can. If I need to cut out more than something like 4 inches, I might steal a bit from the middle.

[konkers]

Going back to thinking about working the 3 faces of a board, I would make sure that there is enough room between the leg vise and the wall to the right (or left if you're left handed) to comfortably use a large jointer plane without running it into the wall. Other than that, I agree with Aaron that I'd take length off the end past the leg vise before taking it out of the middle.

[Torch02]

Going back to thinking about working the 3 faces of a board, I would make sure that there is enough room between the leg vise and the wall to the right (or left if you're left handed) to comfortably use a large jointer plane without running it into the wall. Other than that, I agree with Aaron that I'd take length off the end past the leg vise before taking it out of the middle.

This is a great point. You need to make sure that you have sufficient "outfeed" for your tools on either side of the bench.

Whether that means clearance for the front 9" of your jointer plane, space to fit a big clamp, room to operate your tail vise, or anything you might be doing near wither end of the bench - you want to make sure you have the space to follow through on any operation.

[AMarshall]

Going back to thinking about working the 3 faces of a board, I would make sure that there is enough room between the leg vise and the wall to the right (or left if you're left handed) to comfortably use a large jointer plane without running it into the wall. Other than that, I agree with Aaron that I'd take length off the end past the leg vise before taking it out of the middle.

I knew there was something I was forgetting! Ha. Thanks for keeping me straight, guys.

[AndremG]

Ah-ha, I see! Yes, I did think about that (right side wagon vise space), but not enough! I don't do much surface planing by hand (yet), but would like to leave that option open for the future. The post on the left shouldn't be a problem most of the time because it is small (4 x 4) and will be toward the back of the bench (at least beyond the gap stop). But perhaps my 80" bench should be a 72" bench for comfort sake. Darn it! I was looking forward to lugging ten-foot 8/4 stock around (Not!).