work bench/ B&D Work mate

[Fred]

Hello,

Some years ago I bought a cheap and cheerful Black & Decker 301 work bench, as sold by Toolstation but IIRC sold cheaper in Focus. Over the years it has been fine but the bolts have wriggled loose and I'm wondering whether to get out my spanners and build it back together or buy a better model. Time has taken its toll and the work bench now has bits missing that have been drilled or sawn or planed off accidentally!

Toolstation sell a bigger, more sturdy B&D workmate but it is much more expensive. They also sell a model halfway between the two, both in appearance and price. I read a review of this middle model but apparently the downside is that it is a different height to the other models so if you are hoping to use two benches either end of a piece of wood, the wood will slant!

I think the idea of using two this way is good but I don't think my budget will stretch to two of the big models. What would you do? get two cheap ones or one expensive one?

TIA

[Pete C]

I'd consider a pair of trestles:

cheers, Pete.

[Andy Champ]

This is uk.d-i-y. He should *make* a pair of trestles... besides, wooden topped ones are kinder on your tools when you get it wrong.

Andy

[The Medway Handyman]

I bought one of these Draper Compact Magnums a while ago & I am very pleased with it

sturdy, very thin profile when folded, fast clamp system & can be used to guide a saw or router. None of the sites I've found on Google list all the benefits, which are legion & manyfold.

[Dave Liquorice]

How is it's side to side stabilty without any diagonal braces in the legs? Thinking of hand planing along its length.

[Cicero]

================================== Two cheap ones and a few assorted clamps can be very versatile. This is particularly true if you need to plane or rout long pieces of wood. Many of the clever features of the more expensive benches may be so rarely used that they're not really worth the extra cost.

Cic.

[The Medway Handyman]

Very good. It doesn't have any braces true enough, but its built like a brick s*1t house. Very heavy construction.

[Fred]

I already have some trestles; I bought a pair of B&D from B&Q in the Christmas sale. They are plastic, so like wood, they are kind to your tools if you miss, of course, it wouldn't do the trestle any good! The thing with trestles is they are ok for most things but if you have something with an unusual (i.e. not rectangular) profile or something that needs holding in place, they aren't that good. I'm not sure how useful G-clamps would be as there's not that much to clamp to.

[Pete C]

With mine I use a couple of lengths of 5" decking and clamp to that with 6" quick release clamps, or to the trestle as well if need be.

I also have a few 'sawboard' type jigs for use with routers/jigsaws/ circular saws, so it's just a matter of clamping workpiece and jig down.

cheers, Pete.