mgnostic

After selling our house with its large basement where I had my workshop and after living with our kids for nearly a year I am finally getting to set up a new work shop. I will have a 8 foot by 20 foot area to set up my building table. For over 20 years I used a hollow core door that sat on stacked milk crates. This gave me a work surface that was about 24 inches above the floor. I like the door as a work surface but as I am now well into middle age I'm more concerned with ergonomics. I will be building whatever support I put under the new building table. As my fellow builders, what do you find to be the optimum height for your work surface?
The photo shows the clutter bomb that was my old workspace.

TomCrump

Table height works well for me. I have my hollow core door sitting on a folding banquet table.

raptureboy

standard table height is 30" and kitchen counters are 36" I use a solid core 36" door on a set of cabinets that are 30 inches high. I have a stool that adjusts in height by spinning it and it allows me to work comfortably. By the time I add a Robart work stand on top of the table I can stand comfortably also to work on a fuselage.

mgnostic

Hmm, the cabinets sound like an interesting storage solution.

acdii

Mine are 42" high. I like that I dont have to lean over to work on anything, but the downside is, large planes in a cradle get to be cumbersome, and sometimes can't quite get to what I need to, as well as moving them, they tend to hit the joists above my head if not careful. I use a 36 x 80 hollow core for two benches, and have a 50 x 72 solid top bench for finish and setup work, all my pinning and assembling is done on the doors, painting, covering, etc, stuff that makes a mess happens on the solid bench. I just screwed 2x4's together to make the stands for them.

Clay Walters

I like a folding table 6ft long with a 4ft long light fixture suspended over my seated head but just high enough to not cause me to squint my eyes from the reflection off the white side of the sheetrock that lays atop my table. It holds pins and insulates from my covering iron well enough for me to work with it yet is heavy enough to stay put. This was topped by kraftcote glued to foam board for a top but you can get the idea.

foodstick

I have permanent tables... But I am loving my 2 by 8 foot building board with homosoate top. I sit it on a folding table or whatever.. You can lean it against a wall when not using it..or block it up off the table to adjust the height. I think its great to have a straight surface on another table. You can even spin it around if things are hard to reach on the back side without lifting the plane off the building surface. Homosote holds T pins GOOD..

The building surface is nice straight 2 by 4's screwed together with a plywood top and then the homosoate. heck I can even throw it in a van or truck and loan it to friends, If I want to.. (Buddy just bought a 1/3 Fokker D7)

I actually found all the stuff free two blocks from my house on the curb... except the homosoate.

Whats the correct answer? Whatever works well and keeps you enjoying the build.

mgnostic

Well, I picked up a couple of doors at the local auction last night. Two for $5. One door is a full size pocket door that will be the main building table and the other is a narrow door that probably came from a closet. It wil make a bench across the back side of the room.

B314mech

I found at IKEA a base for a table that adjusts from about 28" to 47" by a crank . It will hold 110 lbs.
i am using a hollow core door with a 1/2" sheet rock on to to build on. This saves my back. I work a lot standing, but some times need to sit, so I just adjust it. Way easier trying to adjust me.

mgnostic

Do you have a picture or a product number for the base?

B314mech

The name on the assembly instructions is Skarsta. Here is a photo of the base with out the table installed.

MTK

My benches have been and will continue to be 30" in height. When I was young, I stood up. Now that I'm older, with bad ankles and knee replacements in both knees, I tend to sit much more. The bench height is just right for my office style rolling chair.

two of the three benches are standard butcher block types from the local high school kitchen which I acquired free. The last was my first that I built from high quality plywood and 2x4' s in the early 80s. But my actual building surfaces are glass table tops.

kenh3497

Here is mine.

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/kit-...tos-added.html

It is built for "standing up" height. I can sit on a bar stool height chair if I want to sit down to work. I had it for a while now and I'm happy with it.

Ken

mgnostic

Hi Ken, Those were some helpful pictures. One of the potential table parts I have is the top from a science lab table. It's not quite big enough for a building table and it has a hole in the middle where the sink but it is very heavy and very flat. I think it is 1.25 inch thick bakelite. It would make a very solid stable base to set the hollow core door on.

mgnostic

Just to wrap up I settled on a 32 inch table top height. I built a trestle out of left over 2x6 and 2x4's. The trestle needed to be sturdy because my table top weighs over 200 pounds. The whole thing is very stable and more importantly very flat. I can lay the hollow core door across the top for larger projects.