If you have the room to choose... do you prefer a Freestanding Workbench or against a wall?
Freestanding
Against Wall
[OP]
Contributor
If you have the room to choose... do you prefer a Freestanding Workbench or against a wall?
I have had both. The free standing is much more versatile/useful to me.
"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg".
– Samuel Butler
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I wish I could find out whether a freestanding bench worked better than my bench up against the wall; but my shoplet is too small, so it must be against the wall, where it's firmly bolted in place. It at least has the virtue of rigidity.
Member
Same here, against the wall benches work best as a flat storage surface. I currently have two freestanding, two against the wall but one of those is a sharpening bench and the other against the wall bench ends up being a storage surface. I guess you could say I have three against the wall benches because right now a Moravian bench is apart and standing in a corner and is not much useOriginally Posted by glenn bradley
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ken
Contributor
My woodworking bench is free standing. Until recently it did have a bunch of boxes blocking the area behind it. Moving the items stored behind the bench was done to work on some larger timbers recently. It has helped me to decide on making my new bench to be somewhat ambidextrous in design.
There are three other benches in my shop that were there when we moved here and another built by me to hold my power sharpening equipment. All of these are against the wall. Only the benches used for sharpening have not become horizontal storage facilities.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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I prefer freestanding, but I agree with Bill about rigidity. My first choice would be freestanding and rigid. Second choice against the wall and rigid, last choice not rigid.
Member
Definitely free-standing. I have 2 large workbenches and they are placed away from walls to be able to work on both sides of the benches. If your workbench is designed to be against a wall however, this might not be a good option. I have seen workbenches with a tool well running the length of one side which defeats any use of that side. My workbenches have a small tool well running along the center with dog holes on either side. The versatility of having such a workbench away from the wall cannot be emphasized enough. So definitely in the "away from a wall" camp.
Norman
WOODSKILLS
Member
Ain't necessarily so. A well designed tool tray will not interfere with most operations, about the only one that is a problem is clamping something to that edge. That said, I can use both hands for most operations and that could also have an effect. BTW, the "stuff" workbench that is against the wall had a double slab of equal size, both 280mm (11") which is not optimum. The next bench had an asymmetrical split slab with the main work side 381mm ~ 15" that is almost perfect. With each build the benches get better with fewer thangs that make you howl at the moon. Only two of the benches have split slabs, the last three builds have tool trays.
ken
Contributor
I like freestanding because of 360 access. Unfortunately that also makes 4 sides things can fall off.
Member
I currently have mine against a wall. I hope to clear out more space in the garage at some point to make a freestanding one. I should honestly get rid of some of my powertools, they take up a lot of space and I don't use them much.
Contributor
The tool tray along one side of my bench IS the use of that side. Very easy to argue that a small tool well in the centre mucks up the main bench by reducing the work area. You can only stand on one side at a time so trying to do different operations on each side at the same time seems pointless. A lot of moving and tools. It is easy to have a second row of dog holes on the far side for large panel work. A second freestanding bench behind you makes more sense so you only have to turn around to do something totally different, not many of us have that kind of room however. My aim for a deep tool tray is keeping the main bench work surface clear to maneuver things.
You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!
Contributor
There is a wondrous variety in benches with or without a tool well. There is also different reasonings behind the placement of a tool well. Many folks do different types of projects in many different ways. Often there is more than one project taking place at the same time. Sometimes mid project one sees a need for a modification and needs some open bench space to work on it. If one is cutting a lot of parts for a project, the space on the other side of the well can be a great space to store them or other work in progress.
Your point on a tool tray deep enough to have it clear for maneuvering the work also has me thinking on making it wide enough or tall enough so any one of my planes can be in the well but not get whacked if something slides over the well.
As far as standing on both sides at the same time, part of my planning is to have one side a right hand bench and the other side a left hand oriented bench.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Contributor
So you are ambidextrous Jim?
My tool tray is just over 6” deep so any plane will stand up if needed, that was my aim. It does complicate the top stretcher which became very large but that just adds weight where you appreciate it as part of the top.
From left to right I have shoulder vise wracking fillers, blue tape, squares, ruler, plane mats, block plane, marking knives pencils and plane screwdriver. That is when the rest of my tools are not being used.
All our preferences are as individual as our work projects. Most of them are designed to enhance our productivity.
You can do a lot with very little! You can do a little more with a lot!
Contributor
I plan to have both. A joinery bench against a wall and a free standing main bench in the middle of the shop.
Member
If you have a large enough shop to consider both options, the next question is whether you have a window. If you put the bench against the wall under the window, you can work in natural light.
If you must work with a lightweight bench, you can brace it against the wall for stability. Otherwise, free standing is nice.
One reason I like to get at both sides of mine is that I use it for various kinds of work. For working with lots of small parts, I have one side of the bench without dog holes or holdfast holes -- just a clear surface so nothing will fall through. The other side has both.
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