A Word of Warning

I had a little mishap today, which I thought pass on a word of warning. I was at my club where I was making foot boards for a driving skate that we are building. To saw the foot boards I was using one the club's workmates that we bought from Wickes. Whilst having a discussion other club members I half sat on the top of workmate and to my (and the other club members) the workmate top broke in two. OK, I may be a little overweight but at 15 stone I am not that heavy.

These workmates were cheap, but even so I was suprised how easy it broke. The tops in this case were made from MDF rather than ply. So if you have on of these cheap workmates I would be careful how much weight you put on them, definiteley, I would NOT recommend that you stand on them

Regards Luigi

Clumsy bastard.

Forewarned or forearmed thanks Luigi

Mine is an original Black & Decker with plywood tops and I'm a bit lighter !

I think they have always said they were not for standing on. Even the originals.

Martin

I made new tops for mine out of pine. Really sturdy.

Hi there, Luigi,

Was it a proper WorkMate (by Black & Decker) or one of the look-alikes?

If the former, was it the type with aluminium alloy frame members or one of the later 'value-engineered' models with the folded steel square tube frame?

Was it the frame that broke or the wooden top?

I have two of the original aluminium frame types and find them very satisfactory. However, the pivots and slliding joints DO need regular lubrication. If neglected, the pivots can seize which can cause the frame to break elsewhere when excessive force is applied in an effort to unfold or fold the WorkMate. That hasn't happened to mine (so far) but it does happen to others often enough for me to have 'harvested' a good assortment of spare parts from our local tip (Oops, sorry, 'Household Waste Re-Cycling Centre'!!!).

Best regards,

Swarf, Mostly!

I've had 2 of these Xmas cracker workmate things for years, bought from different high street DIY shops. One has the MDF top and the other is made of "engineered"(?) bamboo. The MDF is battered and fibrous, the bamboo is scratched but otherwise almost as new. They both cost the same handful of peanuts (a tenner?). Look out for the bamboo ones - it's an excellent material, being tough, springy and non-porous and I seriously doubt you would be able to snap it in the same way as MDF.

Murray

Interestingly, or perhaps not, there is a bloke who sells new plywood tops for the original B&D workmates - WM750 etc. The price is twice that of a Wickes Workmate.

The difference I suspect between chipboard, MDF and ply is not only price - the first two give way with little warning as more pressure is applied, whilst plywood is more robust and also gives gives more warning.

Isn't the solution not to use a workmate as a stepladder? (I know, we all do naughty things sometimes!). If you buy cheap you have to respect the limitations. In other words, you get what you pay for. IMHO of course.

Interesting that contributors refer to the "original B&D Workmates".The original Workmate (I have had one since the 60s) was NOT bodged by B&D!! It was properly constructed, had 2 x 4 beech clamps, was INTENDED to be stood on and the instruction book carried a safety warning something like "Do not sit astride the worktop while closing the clamps!" (brings tears to the eyes)

I've a number of the slightly smaller folding benches sold by most DIY sheds with minor variations. They are a useful aid to getting stuff of the floor which gets increasingly far off. Their weakness is the MDF/Cardboard tops. They tend to delaminate (without request) and Screwfix supplied a total replacement for one - no quibble - so not uncommon? Don't leave out in rain either!. The solution, one applied to the 'spare' base unit, is to replace the MDF with 16/20 mm Birch plywood. If I had the energy I would do this with the other 3 ,tailoring the new tops to mount specific tools as well as the standard plastic dogs.. I found it necessary to grind down a cheapo Forstner bit to cut tight fitting holes for the dogs. A flat bit would be easier to modify but more difficult to use.

Still wouldn't use them as climbing frames!

John

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Excellent point, Bill

Ron Hickman must be turning in his grave, if he knows what "progress" has done to his concept.

MichaelG.

Edited By Michael Gilligan on 05/02/2015 11:05:42

Is that the original one made by Mate Tools and distributed by B & D? I have one of the steel tube ones from the mid 1970s and that is certainly stronger than the later aluminium framed ones. Agreed some of the modern steel framed ones are a load of ****.

The instructions with mine said to only stand on it with the jaws firmly closed so it was made for standing on.

Russell.

Edited By Russell Eberhardt on 05/02/2015 11:12:23

The original workmate could take the weight of a human

I don't know if mine is original or not. I bought back about 1970. It is made of steel , mostly pressings, with a ply top. It is currently the base for a work platform. I've used it so much the ply is just disappearing by little cuts. Does get oiled tho'.

@Swarf,

The workmate that broke was not a Black & Decker model but a cheap version that bought at Wickes. It was the fixed top that broke (into three sections, two short sections at the ends still attached to frames and the remaining middle section).

I do personally own a proper dual height Black & Decker workmate that I have had since the 70s and it been well used/abused during that time and regularly used it as a seat during tea breaks. The suprising thing about the that broke was how quickly and easily it broke, it went almost immediately when I start to sit on it and I still had a portion of my weight in my legs.

I too have an original Black & Decker WM400 workmate bought in the 1970's, possibly from House of Holland, remember them?

It has rectangular tubular steel legs, something like 15 ply 20mm thick plywood tops, cast aluminium handles and steel elsewhere. It has been used, abused, sat on, stood on, hammered on sawed on, welded on, you name it, it's been done. So far, I've had to replace & repair some of the pivots, including new star washers, add sticky tape around the bottom of the legs to make a tighter fit for the feet, and repair one of the handles. I've also repainted it. I've never had a problem with it.

In short, as an original genuine article, it has been well worth every penny it cost, and is more or less just as sturdy today as it was when I first bought it.

I think, as people have said, the problem with the modern equivalents is that MDF, chipboard, and even pine boards, simply are not as strong as properly made plywood hence the breakages. (I've included pine boards because whilst they may be as strong in one direction, they definitely are not in the other direction.)

I have to say that I have looked at some of the modern equivalents, especially when I repainted & overhauled mine, and was not impressed.

Regards,

Peter G. Shaw

Well, if its this one **LINK** its rated at 120 Kg max load so I would be looking at making some steps toward wickes

MDF!

I had a cheap one, kept in the shed and rained on regularly, but it had a solid wood top which lasted beyond when the base rusted up and the plastic handles went brittle with age and broke.

Neil

Bit confused with all these "original" versions that are referred to.

For my money, the genuine original was the version that had the main structure from die-cast aluminum with pressed steel for other parts. The wood pieces were decent 3/4 plywood. Orange holders for the toggle-clamps and black workpiece stops.

This version didn't last long (probably not beyond the first production run) before they cheapened it with a pressed steel main structure. This is in Canada and it's my impression (memory's not that good these days) that the aluminum version came from the UK and the cheapened version was the B&D US response but I can't be sure. The sizes of the fittings for the toggle-clamps and stops were also changed around this time making the originals as scarce as hen's teeth.

Still got my original in generally good nick. Built like a brick shirt house. You could probably park a car on it - certainly you can stand on it. It's been used as a short ladder any number of times. But it is heavy .... particularly as muscles recede in these later years.

Edited By Bandersnatch on 05/02/2015 17:26:52

An early B&D publicity picture showed a Workmate with a complete Mini engine and gearbox on it. So that would be at least 350lbs. My 30year old one is battered but unbroken.