Hello Doug,
The better bench to make is a Robo bench with face vise and tail vise. There's a lot of vises on the market, use care in your choice.
I am tall, 6'-2", therefore my bench is 39" high. 36' is OK. Old benches are about 30" high, you'll break your back at that height. THINK OF A WORKBENCH AS A TOOL. THE QUALITY OF YOUR WORK IS PROPORTIONAL TO HOW WELL YOU HOLD IT. And it's not a storage shelf for tools. Only tools while in use are on the bench. I use a bench for working wood and putting together small items, accessories as in drawers. Otherwise, I use sawhorses as an assembly devise. If a surface is required, place 2 boards, such as 2x4's, across the sawhorses for holding a carcass in place. The 2x4's are useful to clamp to and apply pressure to the item in the necessary places. You may place a 2 ft. deep item on 2 ft. hgt. sawhorses and the total top hgt. is 4 ft., workable. A 1 ft. deep cabinet on 3 ft. hgt. sawhorses is at a convenient hgt. Far more flexible than a workbench surface. I've made my bench with 2 boards for a top surface and with a 2-3" space between those 2 boards. You can drop a clamp thru the space for clamping requirements. 24" is a good width since you used the front 12-16" edge most of the time, and sawhorses fills in for other needs. Just an oil finish is good for the bench surface. I occasionally add paste wax on the top. Glue doesn't stick to wax, but it makes for a slippery surface, sometimes inconvenient. My first good bench made was about 38-40 years ago. I scavenged cutoff oak flooring, while on a job site, for the work surface. I like it ! Material is optional and hardwood is preferable. The surface should be flat.
WES