When you have a small space it's tempting to not kill the floor space with a work bench, but I have found having a good work surface is better than fighting with stuff by holding it on the floor. A work bench was the very first thing I did in my shop. What you end up doing for a work bench is going to be dependent on what you are spending the most time doing on it. A place for staging parts will be different than a surface you need to wail on. I'll go into a few details on my bench since I built it to be multi-functional.
First step for me was determining where the work bench is going to live. Since my shop is deeper than it is wide by a large margin (25+ feet deep, but only 11.5 feet wide) it makes the most sense to have my bench against the front wall opposite the garage door. This picture was taken about 1 week after we bought the house while I figured out how on earth I was going to run my race operation out of this tiny space.
Then I needed to come up with dimensions for the bench. First determine the height of the bench. You want it tall enough so you're not stooping over to work on it, but not so tall you feel the need to stand on a step stool to use it. Try working with a couple different heights in your buddy's shops or the like to figure out what you like. Being 6'0" tall, I have found the perfect height for me to be around 38-39" tall.
Next is the depth. Lets face it, we're in a real small space and this bench is going to be against a wall somewhere. No way will this bench be an "island" where you can walk around. Since you'll only ever use it from 1 side, it's a good idea to make it deep enough to have a usable space, but not so deep that you can't easily reach stuff at the back. Also, too big of a work bench will lend to clutter, and that's not something you can afford in a small space. I like mine to be about 29-30" deep, or so. Again this dimension may be dependent on your physical size.
Lastly of course will be length. My bench is 8' long because that's how long a sheet of plywood is. By pure happenstance, the space between the end of my work bench and the adjacent wall is exactly correct for my 20 ton shop press.
A few other items I've found as critical when making a work bench. Make sure it's stout enough that you can wail on the surface with a mini-sledge and not risk tearing up the bench itself. the top of my bench is 3/4" Birch plywood, the legs are 4x4, and the framing is all 2x6. One side of my bench is open so I can put my lower tool chest under it while the other side is a shelf for storage of things I use often.
Make sure you have a good 4-6" vice on the bench.
The last thing I found is absolutely critical for my bench is a steel top. I got an 11ga drop from my local steel supplier for about 40 bucks. They then cut it for me to exact dimensions for free. Not only will the steel topper help keep increase the durability of the workbench top, it's a great grounding point so the whole bench can be used as a welding table.
The other problem I found was no parts staging when the work bench was covered with work pieces. Currently I have 2 smaller parts staging tables on one side of the garage. 1 is a folding table and the other is a piece of OSB on top of a pair of saw horses. I did this so that the tables can be broken down and moved in a matter of minutes. It works well enough in this particular spot that i'd like to do something a little more permanent.
Jimmy of Rule G Motorsports sent me the idea of a folding table that is permanently attached to the wall. The pictures below are from his 20x20 work space that he runs his racing operation out of. i'll be adding something like this asap!
This is all I have for this installment. Please leave some comments about some of your favorite work surfaces! Modular or mobile pieces are appreciated! Also any comments about things you'd like to see me talk about in upcoming posts would be great!