Better Workmate

Paddington

Member
Location
Soggy Shropshire
I have an old and much abused and repaired, B&D Workmate, used most days and thinking of a replacement. Problems with my present one are
1) the working height is lower than other benches (I think the later ones had two heights)
2) the jaws don't open wide enough for some jobs, I could use sash cramps underneath, but there is no way of holding them in place
3) lack of sturdiness when working on say 6ft lengths of timber, the whole thing starts moving around the floor

Are there better, stronger portable benches out there ?
The ones I have seen on YouTube only seem to be used for small DIY jobs not farm level work.
 

Alchad

Member
Not really answering your question for a better one, but if you can put up with the B &D's faults again - grab a bargain


Alternatively, the Bosh one looks a bit more quality - but at a price.

Alchad

Checking....I suspect that the above a much cheaper version to the one I, and probably you have, which is this one?

 

ian33a

Member
I have one which is 40 years old. I have a second one which is about 5 years old. By comparison, the 5 year old one is poor quality junk.

Very little portable (ie. not heavy) will be sturdy - certainly for large stuff. Even a Festool MFT, costing a fortune, is rickety - albeit, not designed for quite the same job as a Workmate.

I built my own MFT bench and it is rock solid - but it needs three people to move it, so hardly portable!
 

Paddington

Member
Location
Soggy Shropshire
I have one which is 40 years old. I have a second one which is about 5 years old. By comparison, the 5 year old one is poor quality junk.

Very little portable (ie. not heavy) will be sturdy - certainly for large stuff. Even a Festool MFT, costing a fortune, is rickety - albeit, not designed for quite the same job as a Workmate.

I built my own MFT bench and it is rock solid - but it needs three people to move it, so hardly portable!
Why not put a piccy on here, I'm sure there would be some interest. This has got me thinking about something more sturdy mounted on locking castors...
 

ian33a

Member
Why not put a piccy on here, I'm sure there would be some interest. This has got me thinking about something more sturdy mounted on locking castors...

It would need soddingly heavy duty castors !
 

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Flatlander

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lorette Manitoba
The benefit of being retired, time to keep it clean. Mind you, with a move on the cards, the workshop is piled high with boxes at the moment.
I’m always in so much of a hurry to get things done that keeping the workshop clean isn’t a priority. Should be but I always say it’s a rain day job but wife finds jobs as soon as it rains
 

ian33a

Member
I’m always in so much of a hurry to get things done that keeping the workshop clean isn’t a priority. Should be but I always say it’s a rain day job but wife finds jobs as soon as it rains

Up until retirement my workshop was always a mess. There was never the time, inclination and discipline to keep it tidy. When I decided to make that bench I decided that it was vital that I cleaned up as I went. Even with decent dust extraction, as I built it from rough sawn douglas fir and valchromat, there was a lot of dust and waste - that and tools which could be strewn randomly everywhere. The bench took me three months to make and, pretty well every evening, I cleaned up and put the tools largely away.

When I was working, and I often spent much of the working week away, I was only able to do jobs at the weekend and, yes, like you, it was a rush to get them done and, all too often, they dragged on and I lost patience. This bench was probably the first job where I forced myself to take my time and try to do it right. Easy when you have lots of spare time, I know. I am, I must admit, delighted with the outcome.
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

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Red Tractor drops launch of green farming scheme amid anger from farmers

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As reported in Independent


quote: “Red Tractor has confirmed it is dropping plans to launch its green farming assurance standard in April“

read the TFF thread here: https://thefarmingforum.co.uk/index.php?threads/gfc-was-to-go-ahead-now-not-going-ahead.405234/
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