Disabiled Wood worker

I suffer from stenosis of the spine, caused from injury. I have had back surgery, but unfortunately it was only temporary. I have several high stools in the shop, so I can take the load off of my back from standing. For me, this helps. I can only stand for about 5 to 7 minutes before I have to sit. But the interruptions help keep me focused on the task. I don’t know if that helps, by the way, the stools I got at Bass Pro, the padded bar stool type.

-- Methods are many,Principles are few.Methods change often,Principles never do.

You might try a wheelchair. I don’t know the exact problem with your back, but I find that sometimes at night I have to get up and set up to relieve my discomfort. I can stand for short periods like union label, but I can’t walk.
Sometimes a standing frame is the answer, it holds you up in a standing position.
Experiment with different things. Where there is a will there is a way.
Even if I can not do anything, I still try to go to the shop everyday.
If you want to talk about it, my Lumberjocks home page has my phone number. Call me anytime.
Good luck and best wishes, Rand

-- Yesterday I could not spell welder; Today I are one.

Ditto on the bad back, two surgeries, three fused discs and they want to do more!
You might have to experiment some, (pay close attention to posture and how it affects you) but you will likely gain some relief by adjusting the height of your work table and machines.
Variety is important for me, so I change up on the projects or process (standing too long OR sitting to long causes me pain). Keep moving! If I need to sit for longer periods I use a backless chair that lets me put my knees on a padded support, this changes the angle of my lower back and relieves some of the pressure so that I can sit for longer periods.
I took an old office chair, removed the back, changed the seat angle to slope forward a little (about 25 deg.) and mounted the removed back so that I could rest my knees on it.
Here is a picture of the concept.
Kneeling Chair

I also have a back that seems to complain way too much. The ritus brothers(Art and Osteo) have been hard at work all over this old body. I have raised all my machines to a consistent 45” so that I do not lean over to work, I also have numerous stools, and a very comfortable desk chair to sit in when I must. Also I have found that I can now tell when I must sit, or the pain will only last much longer.

Dez: I also have very poor knees, and the kneeling chair worked for 20 minutes, and it went back out the door!

I hope that each of you have taken a course in exercising the back from a Physical Therapist. There is much to gain from better posture and exercises that strengthen the back.

Best of luck, Hope some of this helps.

-- chas

My back is just fine, but it hurts just listening to all you guys.

Hey Pabull, you can always rub our backs. lol Rand

-- Yesterday I could not spell welder; Today I are one.