I have finally begun my workbench, after allowing the wood to acclimatize in my shop for about 20 months now (due to many work trips and other distractions). I purchased a salvaged laminated beam that was 18 feet long by 6 3/4" by 14 3/4". I cut it in half and have it on sawhorses in the shop, and have begun planing the surfaces to expose the grain so I can see what I really have.
My Benchcrafted hardware has also been acclimatizing (languishing) in my shop. I am adapting the Benchcrafted plans for a split-top Roubo.
Chris Schwarz, in one of his books, discusses workbench sizing. Regarding width, he recommends not less than 20 inches due to stability issues, and says that a bench too wide can be a problem because tools can roll out of reach; he recommends 24", if I remember. I have a hard time believing that being 6'4", he can only reach across a 24" top.
I'm a bit shorter at 6'1", but my arms are long. Can someone explain why a wide-topped bench is a bad idea? I need to trim to remove some damage, but I would like to do it only once. I would hate to go to the effort of trimming this beast of a top only to find out that I needed that surface.
Any other discussion on length and width is welcome. I have tentatively settled on 34" for the total height.
Thanks,
Brent