I highly recommend this book as a great guide to deciding what works for you, whether a fine piece of woodworking, or a true WORKbench.
You don’t mention if you are contemplating a freestanding bench or a wall bench. My freestanding bench is roughly 3ft by 6 ft, and stands about 39” high. The height was determined by the height of my table saw ( my bench servers as an extended runout) and the runout of my power miter saw, the complementary heights having been useful at times.
The other characteristic I’d highly recommend is build it really ROBUST! Mine is made of pressure treated 6x6’s and 4x4’s. The top is a series of laminated 2x4’s, with a 1x6 oak skirt run around the top. With the exception of the top ( which has three threaded steel rod running thru the laminations), all joinery is held together by mortise and tenon and half dovetail joints, wooden pegs and wedges. Pressure treated lumber is 50% heavier than kiln dried, and shrinks very little. The bench is heavy, and without being bolted down, doesn’t move.
I generally build solid hull models, several have been large half-hulls, and when attacking a stack of glued together laminations with planes, rasps, gouges and chisels it is nice to have all your effort go thru the tool and into the wood, and not into moving the bench or fighting wobbly joints.
As mine is a WORKbench and not furniture, I don’t hesitate cutting right into the top, or drilling holes into it to secure a piece or an auxiliary light source … I fill and refinish the top every couple of years.
While I love my shop, I envy anyone who is setting up a new one.
