Black and Decker Workmate - still with dangerously sharp edges?

[alan_m]

Correction Just checking mine which is 30+ years old - it part cast and part pressed steel but substantially more sold than what is now sold as a workmate.

[Murmansk]

My brother, who is now 63, got a Workmate for his 18th birthday soon after they came out I think

It was made of square section tubular steel in blue and rather heavy but it was a lovely thing. I've done a Google image search and not been able to find a picture of one like he had/has.

It was probably too well made to be economic to continue making it

[Bob Eager]

Think that's the same as mine - bought in 1981.

[michael adams]

michael adams

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[newshound]

I had one, but cracked it by dropping a metro engine/gearbox unit on it. It did a great job of shock absorbing, though, no damage at all to the car bits.

[alan_m]

[Andy Burns]

My neighbour has one ...

[Brian Gaff (Sofa)]

Some of those I saw looked like cast ally, but the edges were not deburred. I used to have a steel one, weighed a tone and you could so easily trap a pinky in the two catches either side. It had extra legs for added height, and those were some kind of cast alloy. Brian

[mechanic]

Unfortunately that source doesn't list feet for the model I have (325); I see there are some of these complete models on eBay but collect only! Even the one on offer for a tenner would involve a 250 mile there and 250 back before breaking it for parts.

[michael adams]

Sorry, my mistake. That model has got two piece, strut type legs which I wasn't even aware existed. Whereas subsequent models like mine had one piece legs, pressed out of sheet steel, and I never even checked the model number when buying replacement feet.

You could always contact them and make them an offer for just the feet I suppose. They come off easily enough. Although as they'd then be left with a workmate without any feet that they'd still need to get rid of, the offer would need to take that into account I'd imagine.

michael adams

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[Phil Addison]

I still have mine bought 1975 or 76 for around £25-£30 and is in frequent use. It's an all cast ally frame with galvanised pressed steel step, and sturdy ply jaws-cum-benchtop, and looks much firmer than the modern pressed steel and plastic version.

Two of the cast ally H-crossbars are moulded both sides, one with "Black & Decker", the other with "WORKMATE, and the cast ally crossbar of the height extension legs with "Dual-Height Professional" on the rear face only (so not noticeable from the working position). The lettering is all topped in blue (anodised?).

The instruction label under the bench jaws says "WM 325 ONLY" referring to opening the extension legs. Anyone know the model number of the single-height version?

Details for enthusiasts... Height of top - 825mm legs extended, 585mm legs folded. Worktop made from plywood, believed to be beech.

10 steel-lined stop-peg holes in each half of top. 100mm max parallel jaw opening. Jaws can open different amounts each side to give a clamp angle up to 8.5 degrees. Total worktop area 740x346 opened, 740x247 closed. Worktop thickness 17.6mm (reinforced to double thickness below clamp edges).

Have seen a couple on eBay for £100.

Phil

[michael adams]

[Bob Martin]

Find a friend with a 3D printer. I've made feet for all sorts of things.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

ISTR there were at least two models available. One with one piece legs only. The other with flip up additional ones. To give a choice of working height.

[Halmyre]

I've got my dad's old Workmate, must be 40-odd years old, like yours it's got a square section tubular steel frame and pressed steel(?) fold out legs. Still got a lot of blue paint on it although it's flaking away like mad.

Think it's a 525

[michael adams]

Good point. They still make, or at least did, up until recently a single height model, now called the 1000 I believe. When they started is another matter.

However they seem to have been largely overlooked.

Looking at them, they lack the large footprint and thus the resulting stability which was a big feature of the WM. They were, and are a bit lighter to carry about I suppose; but that lightness might also be a disadvantage stability wise. You're supposed to rest your foot on the crossbar I believe

Just as all pictures of the dual height model only ever show them fully extended, not with the legs folded and resting on the small feet. At a guess many users only ever used them at the lower height as a platform to stand on, rather than as workbench as such..

Having checked the picturesm the all-alloy orignial Mark II 325 already had the extra small feet, which would allow it to used with the legs folded underneath.

But then... looking at the original Mk1 design with the large wooden platform underneath, with a small foot on each corner, this is similar to the mark II but with the feet folded way. So that basically the Mark II was simply the Mark 1 with a foldable leg added to each corner, based on a shorter H frame

michael adams

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[Dave Plowman (News)]

I found the lower height handy on mine. To raise an engine block to a nice working height when installing the crankshaft. And, of course, very useful as a hop up. Well worth the extra cost, I'd say.

[Brian Gaff]

I had one for many years, Made of steel except for the four extension legs with the levelling feet. Its one issue was that the catches under each edge could cause a trapped bit of skin on a finger as the springs were very strong when you needed to fold it flat. Mine was Black and Decker and took some serious abuse and never complained. It had a lot of paint on its wooden bits when I gave it away, but still function fine. I used to spray paint front panels etc, and never bothered to mask the wood. I gave it away as DIY on large scale and soldering was too dangerous as I lost my sight. Brian

[SteveW]

I still have a B&D Workmate (inherited from my F-I-L), but it is rarely used, as I also have a much cheaper and simpler generic version (basically a folding A-frame tressle, with a step across one pair of legs and the guides for the wooden clamping surfaces directly on top). The cheap version is so much quicker, easier and safer to put up and down, that that is the one normally used.

[Brian Gaff]

Mine had a step too, and was easy to put up and down as well. Maybe they over complicated it later on. It was heavy though, being mostly steel, but that made it all the more stable when in use. I'd certainly not want to hang it on the workshop wall like you used to see in the adverts, if it fell off it could do some serious damage!

Brian