TIL from a retired woodworker that my bench was way too tall

Been using my workbench for about 5 years and always had shoulder pain after an hour. An old guy at the local hardware store in Nashville watched me sand something and said your elbows shouldn't be at 90 degrees when you're planing. Lowered it by 4 inches using some simple leg cuts and a pipe clamp trick. Has anyone else realized their bench height was off after getting feedback from someone with more experience?

2 comments

2 Comments

jamienguyen18d ago

Oh man, is your shoulder still mad at you even after the fix? I had almost the exact same thing happen, except it was my grandpa who finally broke the news to me. I'd been hunched over like a gargoyle for two years, convinced my back pain was just "part of the hobby." Turns out my bench was so high I was basically doing planks every time I tried to sand something. I lopped off 3 inches and honestly, it felt like I discovered a whole new way to stand. Now my only regret is all those hours I spent complaining about my "bad posture" instead of just cutting the stupid legs shorter.

oliviahenderson18d ago

Part of me disagrees on that "just cut the legs shorter" approach. I've seen people hack up furniture to fix posture and end up with new problems in their knees or hips because they didn't also adjust how they stand at the bench. Sometimes the real fix is learning to move better, not just changing the height.