Workmate--what is it good for?

[Carl Beckett]

Well, its a moot point as there must have been a weak spot or crack in one of the H-castings which broke last night when I got it back to the shop.

I had to chuckle when I read this Matt. Not because I wish you ill will of the tool. Just that two pages of posts on different ways to use it - you decide to dig it out and give it a shot, and .... ummm... broken.

Now you are going to have to be looking for one to trash pic or buy off CL.......

[Matt Meiser]

Yeah, and this thing has been banging around in my garage for 8 years on top of it!

One popped up on CL nearby in almost new shape for $20, but its 30 minutes away.

[HANK METZ]

Well, its a moot point as there must have been a weak spot or crack in one of the H-castings which broke last night when I got it back to the shop.

Just what the engineers at Skil predicted, best to just retire it.

- Beachside Hank
Improvise, adapt, overcome; the essence of true craftsmanship.

[Mike Heidrick]

Mine holds my attic fan/box/filter assembly behind my 3" closed cell foam knock down spray booth.

[Myk Rian]

Mine holds my attic fan/box/filter assembly behind my 3" closed cell foam knock down spray booth.

That's something I need to do.

[John Gornall]

Mine is one of the first prototypes that came over from England 40 or so years ago. Had a lot of use. I keep my Langdon Acme attached to it, folded and hanging on the wall. Don't have to clear bench space to saw. And when a tree falls on a fence I've got the repairs done before the neighbour has an extension cord laid out.

[Harvey Melvin Richards]

The 2nd Workmate I acquired was in bad shape, the top was MDF with a veneer and it had been left in the rain. I made a new top out of a double layer of 1/2" Baltic Birch. I also made it longer and I made new stretchers that were longer. Both of mine have a stamped and tubular steel base.

When I was in college 30+ years ago, I used my original Workmate as a temporary drafting stool. It worked very well, so I built myself a stool based on the Workmate dimensions. I was a house framer, and had never tried my hand at furniture. The stool is very robust and still gets used in my shop.

[Gary Herrmann]

Absolutely nuthin'
Say it again.

Can't believe nobody else thought of that.

My wife uses ours as a bench when she carves.

[John Coloccia]

Absolutely nuthin'
Say it again.

Can't believe nobody else thought of that.

My wife uses ours as a bench when she carves.

I thought of it a few days ago, but I was too lazy to search the thread to see if anyone else had used it. LOL.

[Art Mulder]

I picked up an old Workmate (so old that the H-frames are cast aluminum) probably 8 years ago at a garage sale. I think I've used it maybe twice.

If *you* have no use for it, then melt that sucker down.... I wonder how much aluminum you'd get.


(My shop is in the basement, so my workmate stays in the garage, and use it occasionally when doing outdoor stuff like working on my bike, or other DIY stuff outside or sometimes in the house. It takes up almost no space folded and hanging on the wall by the minivan.)

[Jeff Morton]

I have three of them. One is setup as an outfeed table. The second I've put on a casters and use it as a router stand with a MDF top. The third is a sawhorse/auxiliary table that folds up nicely. They are handy to have in my shop.

[Curt Harms]

I have a B&D and a HF one. THe B&D is much sturdier and lives in my basement. It sees all linds of work as I am re modeling the inside of the house a room at a time. It will end up in the room I am working on for a little work bench for little tasks. Beets running to the basement all the time. The HF one stays in the shed and I basically pull it out and use it if I need to work on the chain saw or lawn mower or other out door task. If is flimsy but gets the job done. My bench top spent a long time on top of the two of them and it worked but was not very stable. Plus the HF is shorter so I had to stick a 2x4 in it t get it to the correct hight.

Precisely. Having a project on the 2nd or 3rd floor and shop in the basement can get tiresome. Nobody's going to mistake the jaws & clamping mechanism for Lee Valley quality but they mostly work, or you can mount a better vise to a board and fasten the board to the workmate. Mine is heavy enough to be stable for most purposes.

[Todd Brewer]

Are you kidding me? I have one that is at least 20 years old. Great for holding boards for sanding/glueing etc. I use it for all kinds of things. Easy to move around and folds up in to a compact shape. I love mine!

I'm starting a home for unloved workmates, please send me your outcasts, I promise I will take good care of them.

[Frank Drew]

I used to make fun of them.... until I got one for on site work and then never wanted to be without it when I worked away from the shop. I think it's a great design for what it's intended to do; I especially like the fold-up feature, which makes them easy to transport.

The early ones had baltic birch (or equivalent multi-ply) tops; mine, from the early '80s has the thick veneered particle board, but it's held up extremely well.

[Matt Meiser]

They'd have to do a LOT of upgrades to even the early versions to get the build quality there.