work bench for person in wheel chair
user-3344055
| Posted in General Discussion on
Hello everyone,
I was hoping that some of you have recommendations for ergonomic sizing of a work bench for a person restricted to a wheel chair. I’d gladly take any recommendations about use of such a bench that aren’t obvious to people who don’t have such restrictions. I was thinking about the possibility of it raising or lowering as needed. Again any suggestions would be gladly appreciated.
Thank you,
t.j.
Replies
It would be helpful to know the kind of work you intend to do. Small stuff like boxes or frames? Or big stuff like furniture? Are you more interested in power tools or hand tools?
General rule of thumb is that workbench height is about where the first knuckle on the thumb is when standing relaxed. For you that's a little tricky. To get the best leverage, a bench that is as close to your waist as possible would work best. So one that just clears the arms of the chair. It may be a little high, but many woodworkers have a 34" bench height to match their table saw and they make it work just fine.
Another option to consider is a slight ramp to elevate the back wheels and tilt your center of gravity over the bench. Not sure how to practically execute that, but it may help.
This could be an interesting design challenge, but as Beasley7 stated more in formation would be needed.
Do you want to work beside the bench or roll your chair under it or both depending on the task?
ADA approved kitchen cabinets are at a 32" height is that an acceptable height to clear a wheelchair?
Will this bench be primarily for woodworking or do you have a more general purpose bench in mind?
I imagine a vise would be a challenging element, but a twin screw vise with wagon wheel handles similar to a Benchcrafted vise instead of traditional handles might be helpful.
As for height adjustment, I stumbled across a YouTube channel for someone who designed a height adjustable bench around a motorcycle lift, Jack-Bench I believe it was called, which could be promising for you. Motorcycle lifts are available on Amazon for around a $100 and offer approximately 14" of height adjustment.
My own habit has always been to stand at a bench to work at any task. But seeing many in the pages of FWW and elsewhere perched on a stool to perform various tasks, I thought I'd give it a try. In theory it can alter the height of the bench (actually, alter the height of your upper body) which is good for many WW actions when the "proper" height of a workbench isn't ideal.
However, I've returned to standing as so much of my WW techniques - especially (but not only) with hand tools - involves significant push from the legs. Planing a long plank also means walking up and down the length of the bench as well as imparting leg-thrust to the planing hands.
Here is the crux of the problem for the OP. Many WW techniques will need to be altered if leg-push is lacking or not strong enough. Actions such as hand-planing will be particularly difficult, I imagine. Certainly I find it impossible to plane effectively when sat on a stool.
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I suspect there are a number of woodworkers out there in the OP's position who have developed various techniques for tool use that are uncommon are absent in magazines and other sources of WW information. But where are these folk?
Sad to say, it's another instance of certain groups of people being left out of mainstream media because such media generally prefers "the norm". Here, then, is an opportunity for FWW magazine to redress the balance.
Lataxe
The idea of a feature article on disabled woodworkers would be a fantastic idea and I'm sure there would be practices we all could adapt, especially as we get older. I for one would be very interested in seeing how our disabled woodworkers adapt and overcome their unique challenges. I wonder if anyone is listening.
I briefly worked at a facility where individuals with disabilities affecting movement (including wheelchairs) did some basic woodworking. The first problem was getting them close enough to the bench. After some trial and error we ended up making what many here would consider an assembly table more then the traditional bench. It is important to note if there are other limitations besides the wheelchair. things like reach, grip strength , ability to get in an out to retrieve tools etc. If this is a one off work surface/bench for a particular person rather then for a group or class etc. then I would ask the individual to help build it to their liking for their particular needs and interests and to their particular measurements. It would likely be a great help to request help from an occupational therapist to help assist in the design.We ended up with a bench with multiple slide out tool trays that could be easily reached to make it easier for the class. Disabilities and strengths vary so much from individual to individual that there is no one size fits all bench that is likely to meet all needs. You may want to consult a university occupational therapy program or association, there is a good possibility that they could point you in the right direction or perhaps even take it on as an exercise for students. I wish you the best of luck with this. Occupational /physical therapists do amazing work and are some of the nicest people you will meet. If there is a specific woodworking task in mind, then hospital clinical engineers are brilliant but often way overworked by their hospitals and pretty rare as well. Take advantage of any disability organizations near you. The knowledge is out there and somebody has already done this work, it is a matter of finding the right help/info. Good on you for doing this!
I would recommend looking at a moviaran style of bench with its splayed legs you might have to modify it a little for the work you do. Where their is a need there is a solution
First, I encourage you to pursue woodworking. You can do it. I would start by measuring the distance between the bottom of your elbow to the floor with the arm chair out of the way. This should be a good starting point for sawing and planing. Reaching across the board should not be a problem that way. You should be able to also plane across the board at a diagonal that way with a sharp blade. That combined with using a hand scraper and marking your thickness lines around the wood should yield good results. All of us have to practice and be persistent to improve.
Something that came to my mind: Not one bench, but two.
The first bench would/could be a more or less traditional bench, suitably altered in height, reach, leg positions, and more, for the desired tasks, working around the wheelchair limitations. My guess is that there’d be a need for some trial and error. Given that, I’d look at a combination of a Moravian style bench with other features from other styles as needed. Alternatively, one could build a relatively simple low bench (a la the Saalburg bench in Schwarz’s “The Anarchist’s Workbench”, p. 75.) As I think about this, I think of raising it a bit to match necessary working height, and perhaps introducing an angle to it, such that the top can to some degree “wrap around” the wheelchair bound worker. Also, I’d add a vise. A good vise. Which brings up a whole host of other issues....
The second bench would be a portable bench, a la the Sjöbergs Portable Smart Vise (https://sjobergs.se/en/product/sjobergs-smart-vise/) or the Red Rose Milkman’s Workbench (https://redrosereproductions.com/milkmans-workbench/) [Disclosure statement: I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in Sjöbergs products, Red Rose Reproductions items, or either company, etc.] Something like this that is readily portable and fairly readily fixed to a table top or similar might be very useful for some kinds of work, esp. up-close stuff.
This last idea brings to mind the necessity of stability; it’s very hard to work on moving objects. So, to modify somebody else’s saying: Simplify, then add mass and ability to fix it in place. Of course, mass makes for challenges, too.
Hope some of this might be helpful. Please let us know what you come up with, and how well it works, etc., and if you’ve got more questions, keep throwing ‘em up here.
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