On Sat, 02 Jul 2005 09:57:55 -0700, in @õ "Michael"
wrote:

What is the ideal height for a Jewellers table? My estimate is about 750mm
(29.5 inches) from the floow to the top of the work surface.

Any opinions?



The jewelers benches sold commercially in the U.S. generally have top heights of
from 34 to 39 inches, with the cheaper benches, those with fewer trays and drawers
and the like under the bench pin, being the lower tops, while the more costly or
complex benches usually are closer to the 39 inch height. But if you're building
your own, you can make it to fit. My own bench is slightly higher, at 41 inches,
but that was a decision that was more based on the dimensions of the lumber I had
at hand when I built the thing in my student apartment living room with nothing
but a portable circular saw, router, and electric drill. (It's not the best
bench, but it's sturdy, has lots of only slightly skewed drawers, disassembles
when needed to move, and is, at 8 feet wide (the length of the plywood) a lot
bigger than commercial benches, so I still use the thing. I'm used to it. Some
day when I'm rich (my next life) I'll trade it for one of John Frei's (Frei and
Borel, http://www.ottofrei.com/store/home.php?cat=358 ) wonderful benches... Go
study their web site. it's not a bad image to start with for examples, if
building a bench)

Start, however, with the height of your lap when you're sitting in a chair with
your feet comfortably flat on the ground and your theighs level and relaxed and
all that jazz. The pull out lap drawer for filings and tools, cannot be lower
than this for you to sit comfortably. (not a precise measurement, of course, if
you're building the traditional european style, which uses a leather catch, rather
than the metal lined tray type. But anyway. Then, your workbench top needs to be
high enough so that no only can you comfortably saw things on the bench pin (work
at a comfortable distance to see clearly without hunching over too much), but
there should be enough distance between a catch drawer and the bench pin to allow
for the size of your saw frame or other tools that, in use, will extend below the
bench pin, along with your hand. Most commercial benches seem to aim for a top
height at about the level of the bottom edge of your sternum, or so it's seemed
to me. But you can vary this to your needs. If you will do a lot of very tiny
work, and will need to be closer to it, such as some types of stone setting work,
then you may wish the bench top to be heigher. If you're doing larger work like
silver holloware, and will be using larger files and tools on larger work, then
perhaps a lower bench may be better for you. Once built, you can always if you
need, put the bench up on wood blocks to raise it a bit, or cut a bit off the legs
to lower it, but you won't be so easily able to change the distance between the
top and the catch tray, so be careful to give yourself enough clearance here for
comfort, keeping in mind that it's common to have some tools (often sharp) sitting
in that tray while working, and it's annoying to work with a bench that's got so
little clearance between bench pin and catch tray that your hand is bouncing off
sharp tools while you saw something out.

cheers

Peter Rowe