Mill & MerchantLearn · Plan · Build

Project tools

Workbench Designer

Configure bench dimensions and get practical top-board and leg cut quantities.

Related guidesSpecies data
Think in finished sizes. Height includes top thickness fudge (60 mm knockdown); tweak if your actual top build differs drastically.

Quick start

  1. Set overall footprint length × width imagining user standing clearance—narrow width might feel cramped at vice side.
  2. Working height adjusts leg blank length indirectly—preset standard kitchen-ish 870-ish starting point tweakable ±.
  3. Top boards count splits tabletop width logically — fewer boards means wider planks, more boards means thinner rip strips.
  4. Waste boosts linear metres for laminating butt joints—you can drop to 5% if purchasing exact ripping yield.

What each thing means

Length & width
Bench top nominal outer rectangle; tool doesn't draw aprons—you mentally add edging overhang externally.
Height
Finished floor-to-top nominal; subtracts heuristic top pack thickness for inferred leg cutoff length.
Top boards
Integer count ripping full width—even division approximated—you still detail lamination sequencing.
Waste %
Scales summed top board linear metres fudge for mis-cuts—you still buy stock longer than summed cut length.

Type numbers—you will not break anything.

Cut list snapshot

4 legs

Leg length: 810mm

Top board width

200mm

Top timber

5.9m

Get better results

  • Order leg timber longer than cutoff to allow angled chop & leveling feet.
  • Overhang dictates clamping clearance—widening top later changes balance load path.
  • Vises & dog holes asymmetrically load—grain direction & laminations resist racking—not computed.
  • Add shelf stretchers manually—snippet omits lateral bracing qty.
  • Mobile bases need ply riser subtraction—overall height interacts with casters externally.

Reading the numbers

Displayed leg length is blank target before leveling; top board width is rounded integer split; top timber metres aggregate board strips along length multiplying waste—not optimisation for widths available at yard.

Not a substitute for structural sign-off

Rough maker sketchpad—omit joinery allowances, laminating glue squeeze-out, fasteners, apron moulding deductions, leveling feet stack height variance. Inspect grain & structure before loading heavy machinery.