wilbur
Hi Derek,

All things considered, I would love to have the bench in the middle of the room. What the picture doesn't show is what is against the wall opposite the bench. In that spot is a dust collector that I move about for the times that I'm using my bandsaw, lathe, or jointer/planer combo machine. The jointer/planer combo also sits in that area, and I move it out into the middle of the room to use it. My shop is about 11' across, so if I had the bench away from the wall I'd be pretty close to those machines while using the bench, and further away from my hand tools that I plan on moving to the wall area above where the bench sits now. If the bench was in the middle of the room, then I'd have to keep pushing it back against the wall whenever I would need to move the dust collector or the jointer/planer.

I do have plans to relocate the dust collector towards the other end of the room where my lathe will be relocated, and to see if I have the room to park the jointer/planer over there as well. I'd be moving the drill presses at that end of the room to the wall across from my bench as well. That might free up my bench to be in the middle of the room.