Any advice on the best "Workmate" (e.g B&D WM825, Wolfcraft Master 800 etc) available for under £100. I've read a few reviews and they seem to be a mixed bag. Basically - they don't make them like they used make them.
coughed up some electrons that declared:
I took some comments on board when I enquired about the Wolfcraft Master
1000 a could of weeks back. The pros are as satted - it is versatile. The cons listed included being infirm. But being able to mount saws and routers on it is about to become imminently very useful, as is the fact that I need to loose my old kitchen cabinets and worktop into the old mould unlit shed which will make them considerably less useful.Anyway - I ordered one from Screwfix and it should come tomorrow. It's a tad over 100 quid, but I'm happy to give some feedback after I've assembled it.
Cheers
Tim
My son got a Wolfcraft Master 800 a few years ago. Overall I was quite impressed. The foot operated clamping arrangement is more convenient than the screw down handles in my old Workmate, on the other hand it doesn't have the dual height feature of the Workmate's folding legs. Also the Wolfcraft is much more bulky than the Workmate when folded which could be a problem if storage space is a problem or if you need to pop it in the boot of a car.
The Wolfcraft came as a flat-pack kit and was a bit tedious to assemble, but that's just a one-off task.
Check out the Draper Expert Magnum 850. Built like a tank, very sturdy, fast clamping action.
In message , Tim S writes
I bought one on eBay a couple of years ago for GBP90, BNIB. As Mike Clarke said, they're a bit of a pain to assemble, but pretty good once you've finished. Bloody heavy. Only used it once so far as illness has stopped most activities for the last 15 months. Hadn't noticed any lack of stability, though..
Tim S wrote in news:h6rmib$bgl$ snipped-for-privacy@news.eternal-september.org:
Probably a bit late now but the Amazon feedback on the Wolfcraft 1000 is damming but amusing: 'Sorry folks, this bench is a mess, and it starts with a dramatc reduction in Wolfcraft's build quality. I will explain this with reference to my old Wolfcraft sawbench which just expired after a full
16 years of use and abuse.The old bench was made of steel and alluminium throughout, and that is why it lasted and lasted and lasted. I use to leave it outside for weeks on end in all weathers with the tool still on it, and no problems at all. But not so in the case of this bench becuase they have made part of the table out of MDF! Groan! This means it absolutely will not stand even an hour in the rain! And I am not exagerating, in places the MDF is not even sealed! It's edges are ABSORBENT! as are the holes for the stops! This is truly abysmal. Many people will use the bench outside - AFTER ALL THE THING IS PORTABLE, THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! but it is now so vulnerable to weather and to any kind of rough treatment that if you fail to get it inside and into a covered area within an hour, your table will begin a very short run to being dead.
But there is worse to come. I have tried 7 times to make a parrallel cut on a long narrow peice, and the bench cannot do it. The reason is simple, as you push the material the parrallel fence flexes in its silly little plastic housing. There is absolutely no means available to stop this from happening. To do it the bench would need a removeable fence and it would need to be capable locking at both the top and the bottom - and it doesn't, the fence is secured with a soppy little peice of plastic.
Yes, steel and aluminium have been replaced with mdf and plastic and the bench simply does not work anymore.
Honestly folks, after 20 years of doing DIY and having used many, many tools, some of which were of very dodgy quality, I have NEVER used a more failed and comromised peice of kit. Do yourself a a favour and find something else.
Wolfcraft, you are idiots - whichever director saw to it that MDF and plastic are your new build materials has never used a tool in his life
- sack him. All your customers will leave in droves. Some costs cannot be cut. If you do you are no longer selling a tool you are selling a toy!'
Has it arrived? Any feedback?
cheers DAvy
Davy coughed up some electrons that declared:
It's arrived and I haven't even had time to unpack it. That's the trouble - everything is bloody plastic and MDF these days. My old workmate was a chip top and that was equally as bad.
One can make allowances by not working in the rain. I agree an ali top would be 100 times more useful, but I suppose that would make the tool cost 3x as much.
I'm not expecting "engineering grade" - if I did I'd buy a real router table, as real saw table etc - needs must...
Cheers
Tim
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