Twenty or thirty years ago, I had some cause to use a workmate. A housemate had one; it seemed to do what I used it for, though I didn't do anything challenging with it. It had a decent plywood top with some fairly dull finish on it.
Something like ten or fifteen years ago, my Dad bought me a workmate as a present. Using it more extensively, like most people one of the first things I noticed was that there isn't enough room between the front of the top and the metal cross-bar to get clamps in. I imagine this fault was present in the old version too (there's a certain amount of irritation with the struts underneath fouling things protruding down from the top, but I think that's an inevitable consequence of a folding design). But I also noticed that the top on this one was made of veneered chipboard (I thought "that's going to fall to bits if it gets damp". I'm careful, so it hasn't got damp yet, but would rather it had been a bit more expensive¹ [or not had the extra "feature" -- a board clamping facility that doesn't work terribly well] and had a proper top). Then I found that the flanged nuts that fit the back top to the rails protruded too far below the plastic runner. This made that part of the top wobbly, which is annoying, but a half-hour or so of boring the plastic got them to fit so that the tops didn't tip up too much when something was clamped between them.
Now, five or so years later, her Dad bought one for my partner. This is ostensibly the same model as mine, but this time the top is made of something that looks more like ply. Alas, on closer inspection it's some sort of premboard, and after only a year or so indoors, it has *warped* so that the top surface is convex. This makes it hard to clamp anything (anything flat, at least), an annoyance compounded by the fact that the finish is now something so glossy that things slip off it at the slightest provocation. I admit that I like shiny things, in their place, but the top of a workbench has no call to be slippery².
I won't hear it said that workmates are useless, though. I have a friend who doesn't do that much DIY, but his workmate sees use at least once a year. With the top opened up just so and those orange plastic pegs positioned in the correct holes (this is the only use I've seen for the slanted side of the peg), it makes a good stand for a firkin of beer.
[1] It would be nice if the "top of the range" model was much the same as the next one down, but built out of better materials. The market doesn't work like this.
[2] There are solutions to this (and the other issues), I know. But if you buy a workbench, you expect it to work as a bench. I suppose shinyness sells.
On 7 Nov, 11:40, Jon Fairbairn <jon.fairba...@cl.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
> [1] It would be nice if the "top of the range" model was much > the same as the next one down, but built out of better > materials. The market doesn't work like this.
It is, but you rarely see the top of the range model offered for sale anywhere - although it does have a NATO stock number. I don't know a local toolshop that has them, but our hotel & restaurant maintenance suppliers (50 different sorts of pipework unblocker!) keeps them on the display floor.
My Workmates are two about 12 years old (no vertical clamps, no chain drive, tops replaced with birch ply) and one old enough to be a silver aluminium H frame. The old cast frames are by far the best, but they have a tendency for the lower pivot pins to eventually crack through the castings. This is a moderate fix, if you've got metalworking kit.
I bought a cheap imitation from Aldi, and it has most of the faults that you mention and others as well, probably. It has, however,been a valuable aid to much of the work that I have done about the house. and for £15.00 I can live with it's composite gripping surfaces and other limitations.
If you pay top price for things it is nice to think that you are getting value for money.
"Jon Fairbairn" <jon.fairba...@cl.cam.ac.uk> wrote in message
> Twenty or thirty years ago, I had some cause to use a workmate. > A housemate had one; it seemed to do what I used it for, though > I didn't do anything challenging with it. It had a decent > plywood top with some fairly dull finish on it.
> Something like ten or fifteen years ago, my Dad bought me a > workmate as a present. Using it more extensively, like most > people one of the first things I noticed was that there isn't > enough room between the front of the top and the metal cross-bar > to get clamps in. I imagine this fault was present in the old > version too (there's a certain amount of irritation with the > struts underneath fouling things protruding down from the top, > but I think that's an inevitable consequence of a folding > design). But I also noticed that the top on this one was made of > veneered chipboard (I thought "that's going to fall to bits if > it gets damp". I'm careful, so it hasn't got damp yet, but would > rather it had been a bit more expensive¹ [or not had the extra > "feature" -- a board clamping facility that doesn't work > terribly well] and had a proper top). Then I found that the > flanged nuts that fit the back top to the rails protruded too > far below the plastic runner. This made that part of the top > wobbly, which is annoying, but a half-hour or so of boring the > plastic got them to fit so that the tops didn't tip up too much > when something was clamped between them.
> Now, five or so years later, her Dad bought one for my partner. > This is ostensibly the same model as mine, but this time the top > is made of something that looks more like ply. Alas, on closer > inspection it's some sort of premboard, and after only a year or > so indoors, it has *warped* so that the top surface is convex. > This makes it hard to clamp anything (anything flat, at least), > an annoyance compounded by the fact that the finish is now > something so glossy that things slip off it at the slightest > provocation. I admit that I like shiny things, in their place, > but the top of a workbench has no call to be slippery².
> I won't hear it said that workmates are useless, though. I have > a friend who doesn't do that much DIY, but his workmate sees use > at least once a year. With the top opened up just so and those > orange plastic pegs positioned in the correct holes (this is the > only use I've seen for the slanted side of the peg), it makes a > good stand for a firkin of beer.
> [1] It would be nice if the "top of the range" model was much > the same as the next one down, but built out of better > materials. The market doesn't work like this.
> [2] There are solutions to this (and the other issues), I know. > But if you buy a workbench, you expect it to work as a bench. I > suppose shinyness sells.
> [1] It would be nice if the "top of the range" model was much > the same as the next one down, but built out of better > materials. The market doesn't work like this.
> [2] There are solutions to this (and the other issues), I know. > But if you buy a workbench, you expect it to work as a bench. I > suppose shinyness sells.
I bought a Draper Magmun 800 a yaer or so ago, which seems to fulfill all your requirements. Its built like a brick sh*thouse, would prolly support half a ton & clamps like you wouldn't believe.
>> [1] It would be nice if the "top of the range" model was much >> the same as the next one down, but built out of better >> materials. The market doesn't work like this.
>> [2] There are solutions to this (and the other issues), I know. >> But if you buy a workbench, you expect it to work as a bench. I >> suppose shinyness sells.
> I bought a Draper Magmun 800 a yaer or so ago, which seems to fulfill all > your requirements. Its built like a brick sh*thouse, would prolly support > half a ton & clamps like you wouldn't believe.
My ancient 1971'ish Workmate has been absolutely excellent and has all the scars to prove it. About 18 months ago I saw a 'bargain offer' in Wickes, and thought maybe a shiny new one would do as a standby. I seem to remember a price of about £8.99, but it might have been cheaper. I assembled it, offered up a piece of wood to clamp between the jaws, and wound the handles up tight. The jaws rose on each side of the wood which proceeded to fly upwards and out. A few attempts to stabilise the thing later, I'd stood on and bent the lower 'bent tin' cross struts. It features the Wickes name in huge letters on the wobbly, bent crossbar. I keep that part clean as a warning to others. -- Bill
Andy Dingley <ding...@codesmiths.com> writes: > On 7 Nov, 11:40, Jon Fairbairn <jon.fairba...@cl.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
>> [1] It would be nice if the "top of the range" model was much >> the same as the next one down, but built out of better >> materials. The market doesn't work like this.
> It is, but you rarely see the top of the range model offered for sale > anywhere - although it does have a NATO stock number. I don't know a > local toolshop that has them, but our hotel & restaurant maintenance > suppliers (50 different sorts of pipework unblocker!) keeps them on > the display floor.
That's interesting to know, though the ones I have are (only just) well built enough that I'll be doing things like replacing the top and so on rather than replace them.
Out of curiosity, I tried googling for NATO workmate and your post was the top hit. Nothing more useful I could see, though.
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