Workmate

[HowardM]

Hi,
I was looking at the B&D Workmate.
It looks really plastic these days.
I was wondering if anyone had found an alternative.?
Or maybe a professional version.?

thx
Howard

 

[Racers]

Hi,

You need to go to car boots and look for an old one, I picked one up for £8 in fantastic condition.
The old ones with the cast cross pieces are twice as heavy an the new ones, and the cross poece dosen't get in the way so you can stick a boatd right down to the floor.

http://www.realhomesmagazine.co.uk/deco ... ack-decker

Mines like the first blue one



Pete

 

[Paul Chapman]

I was looking at the B&D Workmate.
It looks really plastic these days.

Yes, Black & Decker are the kiss of death to everything they touch. When Ron Hickman designed and produced it, the Workmate was a fantastic piece of kit. But then Black & Decker bought it and it's gone downhill ever since.

As Pete suggests, look for an old one at car boots and second-hand shops.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Dodge]

Triton Superjaws are far better quality - bigger vice facility etc - Just a thought

 

[matt]

I have three

One of these which is great, albeit repaired a few times over the years:

One of these - also very good and sturdy:

And finally one of these (which is supposed to be the same as the one above but is nowhere near as good):

The older the better. Ply not fibreboard top. The newer the get the thinner the tops seem to get.

 

[Henning]

Have a look at Walko benches. They will be the pro version with a cost to reflect that, but I am very happy with mine, which is a Walko 3.

 

[thomvic]

Have a look at Walko benches. They will be the pro version with a cost to reflect that, but I am very happy with mine, which is a Walko 3.

I'd never heard of them before. What a brilliant system! Not for the hobbyist though at that price.

Richard

 

[Henning]

Have a look at Walko benches. They will be the pro version with a cost to reflect that, but I am very happy with mine, which is a Walko 3.

I'd never heard of them before. What a brilliant system! Not for the hobbyist though at that price.

Richard

Pretty expensive but as always, you get what you pay for. Although one could probably argue it's a little OTT for the hobbyist...

 

[DeanN]

Also take a look at the Framex system
Framex

 

[jimi43]

I have three old ones from bootfairs and they are fantastic.

One of my summer jobs is to restore the last one...they are well worth it. Never paid more than a tenner for one.

Jim

 

[HowardM]

Thanks guys,
The al wifey wouldn't let me have a Wako, much as I like them.
It will have to be self-made knocked up outdoor workbbench then.
No more space in the garage.!

Howard

 

[Mike Wingate]

I was going to turn mine into a router table, but it is too good for that.

 

[Racers]

Hi,

I also have a couple of the £10 ones they are the same height as the B&D. One I turn in to a router table by replacing the jaws with a price of MFC.

Pete

 

[bugbear]

I was looking at the B&D Workmate.
It looks really plastic these days.

Yes, Black & Decker are the kiss of death to everything they touch. When Ron Hickman designed and produced it, the Workmate was a fantastic piece of kit. But then Black & Decker bought it and it's gone downhill ever since.

As Pete suggests, look for an old one at car boots and second-hand shops.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

Disagree - the original workmate was heavy and ugly, with two sodding great beams on top. The first model for B&S was vastly superior.

BugBear

 

[Paul Chapman]

Disagree - the original workmate was heavy and ugly, with two sodding great beams on top.

Well, I've been using my original Wormate for 40 years and reckon it's great

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[bugbear]

Disagree - the original workmate was heavy and ugly, with two sodding great beams on top.

Well, I've been using my original Wormate for 40 years and reckon it's great

Cheers :wink:

Paul

It's always struck me as too much like a "proper" workbench, compared to its successors.

I'll heartily agree that the later B&D innovations and build quality have been downhill all the way, but I've got an alloy frame, steel legs model, and find it very handy (for everything bar planing, at which it's RUBBISH).

BugBear

 

[Paul Chapman]

Disagree - the original workmate was heavy and ugly, with two sodding great beams on top.

Well, I've been using my original Wormate for 40 years and reckon it's great

Cheers :wink:

Paul

It's always struck me as too much like a "proper" workbench, compared to its successors.

I'll heartily agree that the later B&D innovations and build quality have been downhill all the way, but I've got an alloy frame, steel legs model, and find it very handy (for everything bar planing, at which it's RUBBISH).

BugBear

The only problem with the original Workmate, in my view, was that it was saw bench height but this was solved with the next, dual height version. Nevertheless, I built loads of stuff using my original one.

The build quality of the original one was superb. The only thing that recently broke on mine was one of the plastic knobs for tightening it up but I solved that by replacing it with a bolt and nut. I suppose it was inevitable that B&D would keep on reducing the quality to keep the price down but I think it's now reached a point where it's no longer fit for purpose.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[barkwindjammer]

I can vouch for the quality of the 'modern version', I bought my 'Owl yin' one of these in the early eighties, he worked for Catterpillar and rebuilt transmissions and track motors (homers) on his, its still solid as a rock, I bought one last year, from e-bay, a reconditioned model WM825-its got the front vice jaw that tilts verticaly into a 90' position, its a laminated top (bamboo? possibly) butt, its every bit as solid as one I bought in the early eighties, I don't have the invoice-but the company had a warrant from B&D to re-sell repaired or re-conditioned models-well worth the money even at mid range prices-it will last a lifetime

dunno if it got any kind of design award-it bloody should have (hammer)

 

[Paul Chapman]

dunno if it got any kind of design award-it bloody should have (hammer)

I seem to remember that the original version was exhibited at the Design Centre in London in the early 1970s.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Shane]

I've got a couple of B+D workmates for site, both from the early 2000's, and they are very very useful. The smaller of the two I've replaced the tops with beech, the bigger tilt top one also had a handle come lose which was sorted by a nut and bolt.

I also have the FrameX, which I thought was great in the beginning, but have since fallen out of love with, it is awkward to use, surprisingly limited in application as the worktop fixings protude, and although I thought it would be good for working on doors, it isn't. Also the clamps are terrible and mine broke in no time.

I carry in the back of my van - fold up hop up step to use as a saw horse, 2 x B+D workmates, and a fold up ladder from scerwfix with pse cross rails for working on doors etc, all cheap as chips and there isn't much I can't handle with this set up.