Replies

1. 
   cjing | Aug 13, 2003 12:40am | #1

   Hello, fit is a common problem. Safety says you should insist on a stable platform to stand up on when using tools in the school. No reason not to use a helper, people use binoculars to see distance and pulleys to lift bigger weights. Get a portable step of some sort. Keep it handy. Use it when needed. You can contact the department head at the school so you're more comfortable the next time you take a class there. Try to make them aware that more women will probably be showing up, since it's the only part of the woodworking community that's growing. Boomer women especially are the biggest new tool buying demographic. Most companies now try hard to accommodate this new market. Boomer men have already bought most of the Unisaws they will ever buy. Women are just starting. They're starting to show up on magazine and catalog covers using tools now, not just standing there in a bikini holding them.

   As to your home workshop, build it to suit yourself. I personally think women should experiment with heights of work stations, due to a differing center of gravity. Women's balance is typically better than men's in some configurations. List what type of work you are likely to use the surface for and build for that.

   Be flexible, a lot of these measurements could change over time. This year, you might be using a hand plane 50% of the time, next year, you could be using a Woodrat instead and want a whole new setup.

2. 
   Jamie_Buxton | Aug 13, 2003 02:05am | #2

   Rob ---

   Yeah, set up your shop to fit you.   Me, I'm a little skeptical about design rules of thumb.   Maybe what fits "most of the world" doesn't fit you -- and that's what counts.   Instead, I like real measurements.  You might try using 2x4s and a sheet of plywood to temporarily raise the floor near your bench or machines, and see what feels right to you as you work.

   If you find that shorter-than-usual machine heights fit you best, you might have to be a little creative in choosing machines.   For instance, most cabinet saws are 34" tall, and they're built in a way that will be difficult to cut down.  However, you can buy a contractors saw, which has legs.  You discard the legs and build a shorter box for the saw to sit on.  If you buy a high-end contractors saw, you get almost what you get with a standard cabinet saw, except that its height fits you.

   One strategy I've found useful is to make all the table heights in the shop the same.  That way, the workbench can function as a push-off table for the tablesaw, or the bandsaw can support the end of a long board that is mostly sitting on the bench.  I also like putting wheels on all the major tools and the bench, so that I can move things around depending on what I'm doing.

   As to working while standing on a footstool, I'd say "maybe".   For some operations at the bench, a footstool would be okay.  But for things like operating the tablesaw, you're moving around so much that the footstool would need to be so wide that you'd be better off if you raised the entire floor and dropped the tablesaw into a short well.  All in all, I prefer the approach of buying/building your machine to be the right height for you.

             Jamie

3. 
   BG | Aug 13, 2003 03:00am | #3

   Rob,

   From the ergonomic viewpoint, there are generalities which can help but only with repetitive activities.  In general, its best to have the object your working on about 2" below your elbow....this pertains to things like typing, preparing dinner on a counter top, etc.  With a workbench, the key depends on what your doing ...with planing you want to get your weight over the plane and have a relatively stiff front arm. 

   If I were a you I'd definitely make the workbench shorter and build a platform from 1x3's" and half inch ply for the TS and other tools.

4. 
   RANGERP75R | Aug 13, 2003 03:00am | #4

   Rob

      Build it for you. On the machines that you don't have any choice, you'll have to get creative to come up with a way to get on top of things an remain safe. You have a degree from the U of M. I bet you can if you try. ha..ha..

   sarge..jt

1. 
   BBrady | Aug 13, 2003 03:58am | #5

   Rob,

   An old industrial engineer I used to work with in a factory setting once stumbled across what I thought was a pretty ingenious way for people of different heights to use the same machine. It seems that a plant had taken different thicknesses of rigid foam (like the blue or pink insulation boards) and wrapped them in a thin layers of aluminum. They then attached a handle to one of the edges and anti-skid tape to both sides. These "suitcase steps" could be easily moved to the job and stacked if necessary to allow shorter employees work on taller machines.

   A similar tact could be taken for your workshop. Use the thinnest hardboard or plywood you can get and skin it over some layers of rigid insulation board. It would really only need to be on the top for you. In front of a table saw or bench, make it big enough to maneuver on. If someone else wants to use your tools or bench, simply lift the riser and lean against a wall or something. Also, if you can use your bench for different purposes comfortably simply by using or not using your platform. Or build several benches to perform differnt types of tasks on. The platform might be cheeper and easier.

   Brian Brady

   "If you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting." - Unknown

1. 
   ian | Aug 14, 2003 03:10pm | #10

   Brian

   That is a brilliant adaptation.  You should send the idea to Methods of Work.

1. 
   BBrady | Aug 14, 2003 07:47pm | #11

   Ian,

   Maybe I should.  Since my wife is a foot shorter than I, I have a way to test if it works.

   Brian Brady

   "If you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting." - Unknown

5. 
   jwaterbury | Aug 13, 2003 05:07am | #6

   I just dropped the lath 5 inches for the wife. I hardly use it but the companship is great when she turns pens and small bowls.

6. 
   Manchild | Aug 13, 2003 05:48am | #7

   I think the height is dictated by the operation also. My tablesaw is going to be used for ripping and other uses. Ripping being first. With the new incra jig some people are using the tablesaw in more intricate repetitive ways. While I rip I need to be over the saw so I can push work through. If you were doing the other it would seem to be better with the table surface highter so you wouldn't have to bend over as much. 

1. 
   Robin | Aug 13, 2003 05:31pm | #8

   Thanks for all the great input - what a helpful group.  BTW - I don't have a degree from the Uof M - started as an art major there in the early 70's but just REALLY wanted to get out and make some money!! (ah, the stupidity of youth) - the woodworking classes were CEUs classes and now that I have my own shop I may not be making the drive to take additional classes - the only one I haven't taken is Woodworking III - a lab class that meets on Saturday mornings for 9 weeks - 3 hours a morning - total of 27 hours.  You get to make what you want and use their "stuff" for $150.00 - not a bad deal if you don't have tools AND I may consider going and taking it just to get additional input sometime.  Also, may retake II just to improve my skills under the tutelage of a very good instructor.

   I really do plan to use my table saw mainly for ripping so I'll definitely have to make some kind of height adjustment for this one.

1. 
   johnnyd | Aug 13, 2003 05:51pm | #9

   I experimented with several different hieghts for a SCMS table I just finished....the one inch rule of thumb didn't work for me (longer than normal arms) so I just kept experimenting until I could stand at the table without bending my back. Works great.