Opinionated = Good (Round 5)

[pmcgee]

Paul Sellers has fun in the workshop ...




but ...

Bench Heights And Paul Sellers | The English Woodworker

[Blue-deviled]

Bench at a height you find comfortable, and a sharp plane

[derekcohen]

I think that he is pulling more than your plane

Regards from Perth

Derek

[IanW]

I think he's making a valid point - anyone who has used a plane other than casually knows a sharp plane needs little pressure to cut. Likewise, anyone with any experience of woodworking knows they don't stay squeaky sharp for long, and you find yourself bearing down a little harder to get it to bite - it's unconscious at first, but after a bit, the couple of functioning neurons in my brain finally connect, & signal to me "hey, you great dope, this tool needs attention"...

I like to be able to lean over my planes, not to exert excessive pressure on dull blades, but to get all of my body to help with what can be hard yakka:

Bench at a height you find comfortable...

(my italics)...

That height is going to differ depending on what you are doing & how you like to do it. I could not contemplate a serious planing session on a bench the same relative height as in that video! At that height, I could only use my arms, I couldn't get the rest of my body working behind them the way I like. It would be ok for a couple of passes to joint the edge of an almost-straight board, but not for the many minutes of relatively heavy work to flatten a wide, thick plank.

This issue of bench height gets raised over & over and there is, simply, no simple formula. I arrived at the height of my bench after much trial & error, over quite a few years. About 60% of the time it's just right, about 39% it's too low and very, very occasionally I wish it were lower. I don't think anyone else who has used it has found it the right height for them!

Like lots of other people, I've thought about an adjustable job, but like most, decided it's more bother than it's worth. I frequently find myself switching between operations where a bit more height would be nice, & those where it's just right, every few minutes. Unless I had an automatic adjuster that responded instantly to voice commands, any adjustable bench I owned would end up at the compromise height on day one, and there it would remain....

Cheers,

[artme]

I wonder how that would go with some of the world's hardwoods??

[Simplicity]

I think the only point is to keep it sharp.
Let the tool do the work it is designed for.
Any tool put under more pressure than it is designed for is going to be a pain to use, weather it be a hand plane a saw or even a power tool machine.
The heir and the tortious story springs to mind


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[Mr Big]

I finally got to enjoy my first experience in using a properly setup and sharp hand plane last night and it was wonderful. Nice thin shavings and very easy to push. After trying about 3 other methods unsuccessfully it was the ruler trick article that got it to actually work for the first time. Planing Western Red Cedar also helps.

On the issue of bench height what I did find is that for the angle o the plane tote my bench seems a little low and it's already at 40 inches. I seemed to get the best results by getting into a quarter squat when planing. I am 6'5" so the numbers may be a little different for you.


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[Robson Valley]

In my part of the world, the checkout counters in the grocery stores are adjustable, up and down. That puts the deck at a good working height for the stature of the cashiers. The whole thing, from one end to the other. Could be a nice shop bench, too. It's a honkin' big scissors lift. I can buy that for less than $80. Same kind of thing that you can buy for motorcycles (1,000kg) but those are armstrong, not electric.

Since it's winter here at 53N, I want to build a wood carver's bench with a double top. The upper one lifts and is shimmed with chunks of fencepost.

[Blue-deviled]

I wonder how that would go with some of the world's hardwoods??

You'd get a heavier piece of rope

[chook]

Very interesting. Paul Sellars is one of the more interesting chaps about.

[GraemeCook]

I think he's making a valid point - anyone who has used a plane other than casually knows a sharp plane needs little pressure to cut. Likewise, anyone with any experience of woodworking knows they don't stay squeaky sharp for long, and you find yourself bearing down a little harder to get it to bite - it's unconscious at first, but after a bit, the couple of functioning neurons in my brain finally connect, & signal to me "hey, you great dope, this tool needs attention"...

I like to be able to lean over my planes, not to exert excessive pressure on dull blades, but to get all of my body to help with what can be hard yakka:



(my italics)...

That height is going to differ depending on what you are doing & how you like to do it. I could not contemplate a serious planing session on a bench the same relative height as in that video! At that height, I could only use my arms, I couldn't get the rest of my body working behind them the way I like. It would be ok for a couple of passes to joint the edge of an almost-straight board, but not for the many minutes of relatively heavy work to flatten a wide, thick plank.

This issue of bench height gets raised over & over and there is, simply, no simple formula. I arrived at the height of my bench after much trial & error, over quite a few years. About 60% of the time it's just right, about 39% it's too low and very, very occasionally I wish it were lower. I don't think anyone else who has used it has found it the right height for them!

Like lots of other people, I've thought about an adjustable job, but like most, decided it's more bother than it's worth. I frequently find myself switching between operations where a bit more height would be nice, & those where it's just right, every few minutes. Unless I had an automatic adjuster that responded instantly to voice commands, any adjustable bench I owned would end up at the compromise height on day one, and there it would remain....

Cheers,

I have written previously about the "old oke bensch" used in a family building business for at least 170 years.

That bench was unusually high - cannot be more specific as it is over 30 years since I last saw it. My great uncles' response to a very high bench was to constantly adjust the height to the task and the joiner by use of treads (their term) - One tread got their feet off the cold floor, two treads raised their height by 40-50 mm, and so on. Treads were simply three or four thin planks (15 mm ? ) held together with cleats that acted as spacers. There were always 3 or 4 treads stacked against a wall or in use.

Simple, easy, cheap and foolproof.


Tread - Workbench.jpg



Fair Winds

Graeme

[IanW]

.... There were always 3 or 4 treads stacked against a wall or in use. Simple, easy, cheap and foolproof....

Almost as good as a voice-activated automatic height adjuster.

It's an excellent, simple solution, Graeme, & particularly if you have to share a bench with someone else. However, as I said, I frequently switch between say, planing & sawing dovetails, every few minutes. Constantly picking up & replacing the treads may end up creating a worse sore back than the bending my fixed bench height causes! So I think I'll just go on complaining for now.

A few months ago, I decided I have just enough room beside my main bench to fit a taller, shorter, bench so that it won't get in the way, & this is what I plan to do, sometime this year. It won't solve all the issues, but it will give me an excuse to build another bench, incorporating some ideas that've ben floating around amongst the cobwebs for a while.....

Cheers,

[GraemeCook]

Almost as good as a voice-activated automatic height adjuster.

It's an excellent, simple solution, Graeme, & particularly if you have to share a bench with someone else.

Cheers,

Very true, Ian.

As small kids when we went into the workshop and the uncles stacked four or five treads, we knew that it was an invitation to do real work at the bench. If the treads remained stacked against the wall, we quickly learned they were busy and did not want us hanging around.

Sounds Pavlovian!



Fair Winds

Graeme