My brother, who is now 63, got a Workmate for his 18th birthday soon after they came out I think

It was made of square section tubular steel in blue and rather heavy but it was a lovely thing. I've done a Google image search and not been able to find a picture of one like he had/has.

It was probably too well made to be economic to continue making it

On Sun, 31 May 2020 19:10:07 +0100, alan_m wrote:

On 31/05/2020 19:04, alan_m wrote:
On 31/05/2020 11:00, MM wrote:
A cast alloy Workmate? Never heard of one. Are you sure it's a Black &
D ecker?


The originals were cast iron - I have one.
It was only later that the legs became angle iron.



Correction Just checking mine which is 30+ years old - it part cast and
part pressed steel but substantially more sold than what is now sold as
a workmate.

Think that's the same as mine - bought in 1981.




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"mechanic" wrote in message
...

So have I, but one of the feet got lost during a move and I've been
unable to find a replacement - usual eBay sources no use.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o...+feet&_sacat=0


michael adams

....

On 31/05/2020 11:35, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:
In article ,
Adrian wrote:
In message , MM
writes
A cast alloy Workmate? Never heard of one. Are you sure it's a Black & D
ecker?

The original Workmate had cast alloy frames. B&D bought them out.

Still got my original with cast ally frame. Although earlier ones had even
more cast ally.

I had one, but cracked it by dropping a metro engine/gearbox unit on it.
It did a great job of shock absorbing, though, no damage at all to the
car bits.

On 31/05/2020 19:30, Murmansk wrote:
My brother, who is now 63, got a Workmate for his 18th birthday soon after they came out I think

It was made of square section tubular steel in blue and rather heavy but it was a lovely thing. I've done a Google image search and not been able to find a picture of one like he had/has.

It was probably too well made to be economic to continue making it



https://toolsfirst.com/workmate-workbench-history/

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Adrian wrote:

MM writes

A cast alloy Workmate? Never heard of one. Are you sure it's a Black & Decker?

The original Workmate had cast alloy frames.Â* B&D bought them out.

My neighbour has one ...

Some of those I saw looked like cast ally, but the edges were not deburred.
I used to have a steel one, weighed a tone and you could so easily trap a
pinky in the two catches either side. It had extra legs for added height,
and those were some kind of cast alloy.
Brian

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"MM" wrote in message
...
A cast alloy Workmate? Never heard of one. Are you sure it's a Black & D
ecker?

On Sun, 31 May 2020 20:40:01 +0100, michael adams wrote:

"mechanic" wrote in message
...

So have I, but one of the feet got lost during a move and I've been
unable to find a replacement - usual eBay sources no use.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o...+feet&_sacat=0

michael adams

...

Unfortunately that source doesn't list feet for the model I have
(325); I see there are some of these complete models on eBay but
collect only! Even the one on offer for a tenner would involve a 250
mile there and 250 back before breaking it for parts.

"mechanic" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 31 May 2020 20:40:01 +0100, michael adams wrote:

"mechanic" wrote in message
...

So have I, but one of the feet got lost during a move and I've been
unable to find a replacement - usual eBay sources no use.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o...+feet&_sacat=0

michael adams

...

Unfortunately that source doesn't list feet for the model I have
(325);

Sorry, my mistake. That model has got two piece, strut type legs which
I wasn't even aware existed. Whereas subsequent models like mine had
one piece legs, pressed out of sheet steel, and I never even checked
the model number when buying replacement feet.


I see there are some of these complete models on eBay but
collect only! Even the one on offer for a tenner would involve a 250
mile there and 250 back before breaking it for parts.

You could always contact them and make them an offer for just the
feet I suppose. They come off easily enough. Although as they'd then
be left with a workmate without any feet that they'd still need to
get rid of, the offer would need to take that into account I'd
imagine.


michael adams

....

On Sun, 31 May 2020 03:00:51 -0700 (PDT), in uk.d-i-y MM wrote:

A cast alloy Workmate? Never heard of one. Are you sure it's a Black & Decker?

I still have mine bought 1975 or 76 for around £25-£30 and is in frequent use. It's an all cast ally frame with galvanised pressed steel step, and sturdy ply jaws-cum-benchtop, and looks much firmer than the modern pressed steel and plastic version.

Two of the cast ally H-crossbars are moulded both sides, one with "Black & Decker", the other with "WORKMATE, and the cast ally crossbar of the height extension legs with "Dual-Height Professional" on the rear face only (so not noticeable from the working position). The lettering is all topped in blue (anodised?).

The instruction label under the bench jaws says "WM 325 ONLY" referring to opening the extension legs. Anyone know the model number of the single-height version?

Details for enthusiasts...
Height of top - 825mm legs extended, 585mm legs folded.
Worktop made from plywood, believed to be beech.
10 steel-lined stop-peg holes in each half of top.
100mm max parallel jaw opening.
Jaws can open different amounts each side to give a clamp angle up to 8.5 degrees.
Total worktop area 740x346 opened, 740x247 closed.
Worktop thickness 17.6mm (reinforced to double thickness below clamp edges).

Have seen a couple on eBay for £100.

Phil

"Phil Addison" wrote in message
news
On Sun, 31 May 2020 03:00:51 -0700 (PDT), in uk.d-i-y MM wrote:

A cast alloy Workmate? Never heard of one. Are you sure it's a Black & Decker?

I still have mine bought 1975 or 76 for around £25-£30 and is in frequent use. It's an
all cast ally frame with galvanised pressed steel step, and sturdy ply
jaws-cum-benchtop, and looks much firmer than the modern pressed steel and plastic
version.

Two of the cast ally H-crossbars are moulded both sides, one with "Black & Decker", the
other with "WORKMATE, and the cast ally crossbar of the height extension legs with
"Dual-Height Professional" on the rear face only (so not noticeable from the working
position). The lettering is all topped in blue (anodised?).

The instruction label under the bench jaws says "WM 325 ONLY" referring to opening the
extension legs. Anyone know the model number of the single-height version?

Details for enthusiasts...
Height of top - 825mm legs extended, 585mm legs folded.
Worktop made from plywood, believed to be beech.
10 steel-lined stop-peg holes in each half of top.
100mm max parallel jaw opening.
Jaws can open different amounts each side to give a clamp angle up to 8.5 degrees.
Total worktop area 740x346 opened, 740x247 closed.
Worktop thickness 17.6mm (reinforced to double thickness below clamp edges).

Have seen a couple on eBay for £100.

Phil

Thanks for that information. Yours is the same model, 325, as is owned
by mechanic for which he can't source a spare foot.

The 325 is intermediate between Ron Hickman's first design which had
a wooden base with feet on the corners and thick jaws, and the much
more common 79-001 where all the components apart from the alloy H frames
are made from pressed steel.

What's maybe surprising is that B&D persisted for so long with the all
cast design which presumably was much more expensive to produce than the
pressed steel version.

What's equally surprising, given that all this is relatively recent. is the
lack of any authoritative or definitive history of the Workmate and its
development; either online or in terms of written sources referenced
by the online "histories", so-called. Although presumably checking
sufficient back issues of old DIY and trade magazines would probably
provide all the answers.

I believe the single height version is (nowadays at least) called the
Workmate 1000


michael adams

....

On 1 Jun 2020 at 13:29:27, "michael adams" wrote:
"mechanic" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 31 May 2020 20:40:01 +0100, michael adams wrote:

"mechanic" wrote in message
...

So have I, but one of the feet got lost during a move and I've been
unable to find a replacement - usual eBay sources no use.


https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_o...+feet&_sacat=0


michael adams

...

Unfortunately that source doesn't list feet for the model I have
(325);

Sorry, my mistake. That model has got two piece, strut type legs which
I wasn't even aware existed. Whereas subsequent models like mine had
one piece legs, pressed out of sheet steel, and I never even checked
the model number when buying replacement feet.


I see there are some of these complete models on eBay but
collect only! Even the one on offer for a tenner would involve a 250
mile there and 250 back before breaking it for parts.

You could always contact them and make them an offer for just the
feet I suppose. They come off easily enough. Although as they'd then
be left with a workmate without any feet that they'd still need to
get rid of, the offer would need to take that into account I'd
imagine.

Find a friend with a 3D printer.
I've made feet for all sorts of things.

In article ,
michael adams wrote:
Sorry, my mistake. That model has got two piece, strut type legs which
I wasn't even aware existed. Whereas subsequent models like mine had
one piece legs, pressed out of sheet steel, and I never even checked
the model number when buying replacement feet.

ISTR there were at least two models available. One with one piece legs
only. The other with flip up additional ones. To give a choice of working
height.

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Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

On Sunday, May 31, 2020 at 7:30:28 PM UTC+1, Murmansk wrote:
My brother, who is now 63, got a Workmate for his 18th birthday soon after they came out I think

It was made of square section tubular steel in blue and rather heavy but it was a lovely thing. I've done a Google image search and not been able to find a picture of one like he had/has.

It was probably too well made to be economic to continue making it

I've got my dad's old Workmate, must be 40-odd years old, like yours it's got a square section tubular steel frame and pressed steel(?) fold out legs. Still got a lot of blue paint on it although it's flaking away like mad.

Think it's a 525

https://picclick.co.uk/Black-and-Dec...510234029.html

--
Halmyre

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
michael adams wrote:
Sorry, my mistake. That model has got two piece, strut type legs which
I wasn't even aware existed. Whereas subsequent models like mine had
one piece legs, pressed out of sheet steel, and I never even checked
the model number when buying replacement feet.

ISTR there were at least two models available. One with one piece legs
only. The other with flip up additional ones. To give a choice of working
height.

Good point. They still make, or at least did, up until recently a single
height model, now called the 1000 I believe. When they started is another
matter.

However they seem to have been largely overlooked.

Looking at them, they lack the large footprint and thus the resulting
stability which was a big feature of the WM. They were, and are
a bit lighter to carry about I suppose; but that lightness might
also be a disadvantage stability wise. You're supposed to rest
your foot on the crossbar I believe

Just as all pictures of the dual height model only ever show
them fully extended, not with the legs folded and resting on
the small feet. At a guess many users only ever used them at the
lower height as a platform to stand on, rather than as
workbench as such..

Having checked the picturesm the all-alloy orignial Mark II 325
already had the extra small feet, which would allow it to used
with the legs folded underneath.

But then... looking at the original Mk1 design with the large wooden
platform underneath, with a small foot on each corner, this is similar
to the mark II but with the feet folded way. So that basically the
Mark II was simply the Mark 1 with a foldable leg added to each
corner, based on a shorter H frame


michael adams

....

In article ,
michael adams wrote:
Just as all pictures of the dual height model only ever show
them fully extended, not with the legs folded and resting on
the small feet. At a guess many users only ever used them at the
lower height as a platform to stand on, rather than as
workbench as such..

I found the lower height handy on mine. To raise an engine block to a nice
working height when installing the crankshaft. And, of course, very useful
as a hop up. Well worth the extra cost, I'd say.

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Dave Plowman London SW
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