I'm in the process of putting together a bench for woodworking. I do a bit of carving so initially I thought I'd go for a height of 38", but I've found (while making my new bench) that I'm more comfortable with a low height for planing and grunt work. The bench I'm currently using is about 33" and even with that I think I'd better with a lower height for planing. Despite being a young bloke I have dicky shoulders and going lower should help me because I can use more lower body for planing. In my mind it's easier to temporarily add to a workbenches height than take from it, either by adding a bench-on-bench or chocking the legs.
I have Chris Schwarz' book and I notice his English workbench design is a few inches higher than the Roubo design. I'm not sure why that it is but it correlates with Paul Sellers English workbench design that is quite high vs. the standard Roubo which is fairly low.
I'm considering a height of 30" because this is a good planing height for me. For fine work, I can add height to the top or use a stool. I'm 5'8" btw.
Just want to hear some experiences other people have had with optimum planing heights before I cut the legs.