18 wide x 72 long x 3 inches thick
The width is a different matter. You can have a bench that is too wide for a one-person shop. I’ve worked on benches that are 36″ wide and they have downsides. For starters, if you park them against the wall you’ll have to stretch to reach the tools hanging on the wall. If you assemble projects on your bench, you will find yourself dancing around it a lot more than you should.
But there’s more. Cabinetwork is sized in standard chunks. These sizes come from the human body; they aren’t arbitrary. A kitchen’s base cabinet is generally 24″ deep and 34-1/2″ high. This is important for a couple reasons. First: It means you don’t really need a bench that’s much more than 24″ deep to build cabinets. With that 24″ depth, you actually get some advantages, including the fact that you can clamp the cabinet to your bench from as many as three sides of your bench. That’s dang handy. A deep bench allows you to clamp your cabinets to the bench on only two sides (with a couple exceptions). Here’s the other thing to keep in mind: Kitchen cabinets are themselves a highly studied work surface. There’s a good reason that kitchen cabinets are 24″ deep. And it’s the same reason you don’t want your workbench much deeper either.
Now I’m not going to argue with you if you build really big stuff or have a bench that you share with another woodworker facing you; you might need more depth. But if you are like the rest of us, a 24″-deep bench is a powerful and right-sized tool.
Schwarz on benchtop width:
But there’s more. Cabinetwork is sized in standard chunks. These sizes come from the human body; they aren’t arbitrary. A kitchen’s base cabinet is generally 24″ deep and 34-1/2″ high.
This is important for a couple reasons. First: It means you don’t really need a bench that’s much more than 24″ deep to build cabinets. With that 24″ depth, you actually get some advantages, including the fact that you can clamp the cabinet to your bench from as many as three sides of your bench. That’s dang handy. A deep bench allows you to clamp your cabinets to the bench on only two sides (with a couple exceptions).
Here’s the other thing to keep in mind: Kitchen cabinets are themselves a highly studied work surface. There’s a good reason that kitchen cabinets are 24″ deep. And it’s the same reason you don’t want your workbench much deeper either.
Sorry I've just grown weary of how Chris' thoughts and ideas are becoming some type of standard of practice when in reality they are just a good starting point -sort of like the thread on older style plans.
Not sure how many books it takes to build a bench but I don't agree w/ Chris' logic here. Much of this doesn't make sense:
Yes. I agree.
That makes no sense. Which sides are not clampable on a larger bench?
Actually their depths are not related. Cabinet depth is dictated by storage (dishes, glasses, etc.) just like a dresser or any other storage unit, not by work surface. In fact, plenty of kitchen counters extend beyond the cabinet base b/c the larger surface is handy. In Mike's case, he doesn't need a wider bench b/c he's not building cabinets. Plus floor space is also an issue. To me, that makes sense. I figured Mike had a good reason for it and was just curious.
Sorry I've just grown weary of how Chris' thoughts and ideas are becoming some type of standard of practice when in reality they are just a good starting point -sort of like the thread on older style plans.
That makes no sense. Which sides are not clampable on a larger bench?
Imagine clamping a piece of plywood down to the top of your bench. Assuming the plywood is much shorter than your bench is long you can only clamp it on 3 sides. Begin to widen the bench, keeping the plywood the same width and soon you will lose the third side also (unless you have some freakish long reach clamps).