A good short article.  Answer: it depends on what you are doing.  My guideline has always been hip, navel, and nipple.

 

mine are about 1" shorter than my TS height.  that way, if needed, i can use them for infeed or outfeed support.

Have to disagree with someone's idea on a lathe. Height should be that the spindle is approximately the height of your bended elbow. Otherwise I find this interesting to have it all in one place.

I usually just make them 36" high as that is a comfortable general purpose height for me.  I keep meaning to build a detail work riser like Steve Latta and others use, those are handy.  First commercial shop I worked for had these, though without the vises and such that make them even handier.

 

Funny that they have no hand tool examples  

On 4/15/2025 at 3:09 PM, DAB said:

mine are about 1" shorter than my TS height.  that way, if needed, i can use them for infeed or outfeed support.

I did the reverse, I made the workbench to the appropriate height then raised my table saw up to meet it.  When I use other table saws, they're always too low.  But I'm a tall guy.

1 hour ago, kmealy said:

I did the reverse, I made the workbench to the appropriate height then raised my table saw up to meet it.  When I use other table saws, they're always too low.  But I'm a tall guy.

 

i'm 6-5, so above average height wise.  i've just learned to bend over as needed to reach things made for shorter mortals.  if i'm at my workbench and need to do fine work, i grab my stool and sit, thus getting closer to the work bench and what is on it.

 

my DeWalt TS didn't really have a height adjustment available.  you could level the feet to fit an uneven floor, but no +/- 4" or so.

 

i do have one work bench that is taller, but i rarely use it for work, as it's full of scraps and stuff and 2 large vises.

 

was just down in the shop, cleaning up my TS a bit, so i measured its height:  34-1/2" above floor.  now you know.

I’m the odd duck out here.  I have an assembly table on wheels that I use.  Without measuring it, I would put the height at about 30 inches.  However my actual bench is much taller. 

When I made my  bench from a Tage Frid plan, I used the guideline to make the top even with your palms flat and at your side.  Once I got ready to assemble, I realized there was an error in the plan.  Fortunately, it just meant cutting some new tenons in the top of the legs.  Then I realized why the bench I'd been using, one that I inherited when a prior apartment tenant left it, always gave me a back ache.  It was way too short.