In general, work benches have 40-48" table heights to allow the use of a tall stool OR standing, both comfortably, which allows you to get up and out and in and down much easier and faster. It's also easier to get down "eye level" and scope things out when the bench is raised. It also gives you the option to integrate storage vertically much more easily. At a tall bench, things on a bench back or overhead shelves is still within reach, as are items on the bottom of the bench or in drawers beneath it, so you get use of nearly the full vertical space. In a low table, you can reach drawers fairly well (although your chair and knees will likely be in the way of every drawer you need to open), but it's a bear to reach things over head, so you'll end up standing up - especially if you have overhead, wall/ceiling mounted shelves. You lose a lot of vertical storage options.
If you build a 28-32" bench, where a chair would be comfortable, you're SOL if you want to stand up, and when you have to get up and retrieve a tool, it's more effort to fully stand up out of a low chair than it is to simply step off of a stool.
One of my current benches is a low top, so I have to sit down. I'm on a rolling chair with it, so I don't ever get up, I just roll over to the cabinet to get things. My other bench is a taller top, MUCH nicer for loading and working. I end up positioning myself wrong almost EVERY time I run the press, so I'll hit the seat of my chair or my leg with the arm on my press. That has NEVER happened on my tall bench. Just a matter of scooting up closer and being bent more sitting in a chair (bent legs = forward length = @ss back = arms back = less reach = scoot forward = hit legs or chair with press handle) That's even worse when I screw up and switch my chairs around for one with arms - I might get clear so my legs and seat miss the handle, but the d@mned arms end up catching the press handle - I'll get clear, then eventually swivel and grab something else, then inadvertently swivel the arm back under the handle. Super annoying. If I wasn't on hard flooring and could roll, and if I didn't have the tall bench to do most of my work from, I'd have scrapped this low bench years ago.
If my house burned down and I did it all over again, I'd still have 2 benches, but both would be tall. If I wasn't loading as much and only had one bench, it'd be a tall bench. I use a soft-top barstool seat for my tall bench, it works out very nicely.
