We may receive a commission when you use our affiliate links. However, this does not impact our recommendations.
Anyone who builds furniture while in a wheelchair is up against serious challenges. Not only are the machines and workbenches too high off the floor, getting the wheelchair close enough to the workbench to actually work is a serious problem.
All the workbenches I built for “Workbenches: From Design & Theory to Construction & Use,” are unsuitable for the wheelchair user. The bench’s bases won’t let a wheelchair user get anywhere near the working surface.
Several wheelchair users have approached me about designing a bench for wheelchair users, but I wasn’t sure where to begin. Sjoberg makes this version that is adjustable in height, which is very similar to Jeff Noden’s Adjust-a-bench , at least in basic form.
Reader Larry Arnold, a wheelchair user, designed and built this workbench, which is quite stout, passes my kitchen door test and is handsome to boot. Here are some of the statistics:
The base is made using Ã?¼” steel tubing. The legs are 3″ square; the other steel rails are 2″ x 3″. The base weighs 106 lbs.
The top is 2-1/4″ thick, 24″ wide and 66″ long. The top is 29″ off the floor and made from Douglas fir. Both the vises are Lee Valley face vises, which Arnold said he chose because they have a low profile under the bench, allowing him clearance to roll under there.
He also has a deadman he bolts to the top, which will allow him to clamp long boards, doors and the like.
“I built it all myself with no help, except for the top which I took to a cabinet shop to run through their wide belt sander,” he says. “I have full access under the bench with no restrictions except for the vertical legs. It’s going to be so much better than what I have been using, wish I would have built one sooner. I know it’s not what you would build for yourself, but for me in my situation I can’t think of much I could add to make it work better for me.”
And here’s the best news about the bench: Arnold is going to put it into service to build two Shaker-style tables from Issue 2.
Congratulations to Arnold on his new bench.
Here are some supplies and tools we find essential in our everyday work around the shop. We may receive a commission from sales referred by our links; however, we have carefully selected these products for their usefulness and quality.
I wonder what the top of the base looks like. The side view is a bit of a tease!
Bravo to Larry. I think this is an area that has been too long overlooked.