I’ve always enjoyed working with wood, regardless of how rough some of my pieces would turn out. I expressed to my lovely wife that wood is a product of nature and as such having a wobbly table was quite within keeping with imperfections in nature. I’m not sure I’ve ever convinced her, however. 

As we know, disability leads us to being creative and adapting everyday items to our situation. The ability to think outside the box and improvise is a common thread for those with disabilities and these traits were definitely required in making a working woodworking setup. 

Upon becoming disabled and a wheelchair user 99% of the time I quickly found that my sturdy old workbench is totally inadequate for me now. Whilst my old workbench was very practical for someone standing, with me in my chair the design was not at all practical for my new sitting situation so I had to give the entire project a new focus. Initially, I discovered a height of 700mm was ideal for me. I could get my legs under it without scraping my knees and a depth of 600mm allowed me to reach the back of the bench. The top I used was 18mm marine ply cut to 1800mm x 600mm.  

The legs had to obviously remain totally out of the way of my wheels but would have to be sturdy enough to stand up to some rough treatment. I made a rectangle of 50mm x 100mm pine studs for each end and bolted them through the top. The final part was another 50mm x 100mm stud running the length of the bench under the bench top to give it extra support. 

For pieces that I work on that are too high for me to reach I’ve built a multipurpose stool. It can be used for sitting on or laid down at 2 different heights to allow me to work from my wheelchair.  

Overall, I’ve found that my setup works fairly well. It allows me to create timber items with a minimal amount of frustration. I hope the measurements that I’ve included are of assistance to anyone thinking of making a woodwork setup and while others may require different considerations, I hope this has got you thinking that – YES YOU CAN! 

ABOUT ME

Bill is a husband, father and grandfather who lives in the central Queensland town of Maryborough. Bill is an ambulant wheelchair user following two failed surgeries. He is very passionate about disability rights and is a member of the Fraser Coast Council’s Inclusive Access Advisory Committee. Bill enjoys wheelchair basketball, photography, woodwork and spending time with his family. You can find Bill on twitter @bilfulaAU