Black n Decker Workbench - a signature piece of kit

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amatureleccy

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When I was a young lad, I remember my Dad getting a Black n Decker workbench. It was a big moment and that piece of equipment lasted several houses and certainly till I grew up.

Once I bought a house, I too bought my own BnD workbench - bit of a coming of age, a big moment in my own life. It has given me a sterling service. What a phenomenally versatile and essential bit of kit it has been. It just does its job (many of them) and you just take it for granted.

Sadly, its time has come. The deck of the bench has ceased to be what it was.

So, can you get new decks - I couldn't find any anywhere.

If not, and I have to go for a new workbench, is BnD still the go to one. What others do people recommend.

Thanks all.
 
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If you opt for a new one, consider that now days the metal is likely to be 1/2 as thick, the screws/bolts all made of far cheaper metals and life expectancy will be a fraction of the original workmates.

I have one that's at least 30 years old, squeeks a bit, could do with new push in wedges for holding stuff and a little tlc butwill still likely outlast any of the modern cheap rubbish.
 
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Just make a pair, you have the template. Out of ply, or sandwich some mdf and ply, but not mdf on its own

Few new workbenches will match the original ones
 
I have one of the original models, about 35 years old, and coincidentally was using it only an hour ago. Still does the job, having survived (1) about a square metre of brick wall falling on it from a couple of feet above and (2) the deck having had a ~1cm deep cut through half of it, from when I forgot to reset the depth stop on my circular saw between jobs.
 
You must all be shorthouses - every time I ever used a Workmate I ended up with tremendous back or shoulder pain
 
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are the new workmate benches USB or can you bluetooth them to your phone?
 
When I was growing it, my dad was a keen diy'er.
He died young (not from diy!) and I took over.
In his tradition, I continued to rely on old dinning chairs to hold timber.There was hardly a chair in the house that didn't have a saw cut in it.
I saw the workmate adverts and thought that they were daft.
Then I used one in my first job. It was a bloody revelation.
 
Definitely not getting rid of it. The base is in good shape but the deck has totally disintegrated and so will not even make a template.

Reading the various links, everyone agrees that a good solid workmate is an invaluable tool so I think I will just buy the spares.

The stories a good workmate could tell.

Thanks everyone.
 
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amatureleccy said:
so I think I will just buy the spares.
Click to expand...
The original ones were made of ply but, AFAIUI, nowadays they are all just MDF. So I suspect that making your own (as was suggested) out of ply, or a sandwich of MDF and ply is a better option.

the deck has totally disintegrated and so will not even make a template.
Click to expand...
Do you actually need a template? From the metal frame you can see the minimum length & width, to extend beyond the screw holes. However you can choose whatever maximum length & width you want, and the two boards don't even need to be the same.

And for the holes in the deck (for push in wedges), so long as they line up on each half that is all that matters. So if the inside row of holes on one board are an inch from the edge and the corresponding row on the other board are an inch and a half from the edge it will still clamp a piece of wood, you just need to crank them together a bit more (or less).

That is if you want to have holes in them. A mate replaced the boards on his one (MDF - got wet and turned to mush) and did not bother with holes as he uses clamps to hold wood down on the boards.
 
I was always misplacing the orange plastic thingies that acted as pegs.
Possibly if you are making new tops, buy either the plastic dogs that are commonly sold for benches, or/and the clamps that locate in holes? 19mm I think
 
I still have my old Irish made model, part steel, part aluminium. It's dual height, the legs fold up or down. This is the second model of Workmate, the first one was all alloy. This isn't mine but is identical.
 

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