Depth of workbench, 24 or 36 inches

[Gem99ultra]

I inherited a 48 inch deep workbench that is just too deep for my purposes. I want to cut it down, not sure if 24 inches would be too shallow. I could of course make it 30 or 36 also, any opinions?

I built mine 36" x 96". The 36" depth is too much; ends up as a collect-all area. And, I put peg board behind the workbench, but the 36" depth makes it too far to be useful. My recommendation would be to make it 30" x 96". Much more useful space.

 

[sld]

I've always made my benches 30" deep. The way I frame them the 18" piece of plywood that is left over is perfect for the shelf in the bottom of the bench.

Being 6'3" I never noticed anything being hard to reach but never really thought about it. The 30" depth does allow room for stuff at the back being out of the way while you are working. (disc sander, drill press, band saw, etc....)

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

I made my current reloading benches 24" deep x 8' long, and my gun cleaning/gunsmithing bench is a full 48" across x 8' long. The 2 reloading benches sit against the wall, while the gunsmith bench sits out in the middle of the floor. I made the frames out of 2x6 and the legs are 4x4's. The reloading bench tops are 2 layers of 3/4" plywood, and the gunsmith bench is 1 layer of 3/4" plywood and a top layer of Omega wood (it has an aluminum top layer).

The reloading bench framework

The gunsmith bench framework, the close end is built up with 4x4's as my large bench vice will go on this end.

The mostly finished gunsmith bench (still needs bottom shelf), with the reloading benches in the background.

The vice sitting on bench, before getting bolted down on corner.

Even the narrow 24" benches are heavy enough that they don't budge during use. These were all built in place in my basement, and will stay here if I ever move. I prefer the 24" depth on this type of bench, as any deeper just collects clutter and is inefficient. But with 16' of bench space for reloading, I kind of have room to spare for now. On the gunsmith bench, yes it's 48" across, but being in the center of the floor, I can and do walk and work all the way around it, so the extra width actually comes in handy.

Thanks for looking.

 

[piercedtiger]

I found a pattern online for a 60"x 30" bench and it seems to work well for me so far. Still need to a reloading press or two and a vice, but I want make them interchangeable since they won't been needed all the time. This bench is in my office, so it'll be for lots of little projects in between work meetings (or when I just need to step away to clear my head). Not to mention my basement and barn work areas are not heated. Original design did not have the shelves. I added those and am still playing with organization and what tools/items I want to keep handy.