Best Workmate?

[Will]

Any advice on the best "Workmate" (e.g B&D WM825, Wolfcraft Master 800 etc)
available for under �100. I've read a few reviews and they seem to be a
mixed bag. Basically - they don't make them like they used make them.

[Tim S]

<Will> coughed up some electrons that declared:

> Any advice on the best "Workmate" (e.g B&D WM825, Wolfcraft Master 800
> etc) available for under �100. I've read a few reviews and they seem to be
> a mixed bag. Basically - they don't make them like they used make them.

I took some comments on board when I enquired about the Wolfcraft Master
1000 a could of weeks back. The pros are as satted - it is versatile. The
cons listed included being infirm. But being able to mount saws and routers
on it is about to become imminently very useful, as is the fact that I need
to loose my old kitchen cabinets and worktop into the old mould unlit shed
which will make them considerably less useful.

Anyway - I ordered one from Screwfix and it should come tomorrow. It's a tad
over 100 quid, but I'm happy to give some feedback after I've assembled it.

Cheers

Tim

[Mike Clarke]

<Will> wrote:

My son got a Wolfcraft Master 800 a few years ago. Overall I was quite
impressed. The foot operated clamping arrangement is more convenient than
the screw down handles in my old Workmate, on the other hand it doesn't
have the dual height feature of the Workmate's folding legs. Also the
Wolfcraft is much more bulky than the Workmate when folded which could be a
problem if storage space is a problem or if you need to pop it in the boot
of a car.

The Wolfcraft came as a flat-pack kit and was a bit tedious to assemble, but
that's just a one-off task.

--
Mike Clarke

[The Medway Handyman]

Check out the Draper Expert Magnum 850. Built like a tank, very sturdy,
fast clamping action.

--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

[Will]

Thanks - also spotted the Draper 1000 - looks very nice

http://www.atsite.co.uk/p-6392-draper-expert-magnum-1000-multi-purpose-workstation-workbench.aspx

"The Medway Handyman" <davi...@nospamblueyonder.co.uk> wrote in message
news:8Rgkm.71208$OO7....@text.news.virginmedia.com...

[Peter Twydell]

In message <h6rmib$bgl$1...@news.eternal-september.org>, Tim S
<t...@dionic.net> writes

I bought one on eBay a couple of years ago for GBP90, BNIB. As Mike
Clarke said, they're a bit of a pain to assemble, but pretty good once
you've finished. Bloody heavy. Only used it once so far as illness has
stopped most activities for the last 15 months. Hadn't noticed any lack
of stability, though..
--
Peter

Ying tong iddle-i po!

[Davy]

Tim S <t...@dionic.net> wrote in
news:h6rmib$bgl$1...@news.eternal-september.org:

> I took some comments on board when I enquired about the Wolfcraft
> Master 1000 a could of weeks back.
>

> Anyway - I ordered one from Screwfix and it should come tomorrow.
It's
> a tad over 100 quid, but I'm happy to give some feedback after I've
> assembled it.

Probably a bit late now but the Amazon feedback on the Wolfcraft 1000
is damming but amusing:
'Sorry folks, this bench is a mess, and it starts with a dramatc
reduction in Wolfcraft's build quality. I will explain this with
reference to my old Wolfcraft sawbench which just expired after a full
16 years of use and abuse.

The old bench was made of steel and alluminium throughout, and that is
why it lasted and lasted and lasted. I use to leave it outside for
weeks on end in all weathers with the tool still on it, and no
problems at all. But not so in the case of this bench becuase they
have made part of the table out of MDF! Groan! This means it
absolutely will not stand even an hour in the rain! And I am not
exagerating, in places the MDF is not even sealed! It's edges are
ABSORBENT! as are the holes for the stops! This is truly abysmal. Many
people will use the bench outside - AFTER ALL THE THING IS PORTABLE,
THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT! but it is now so vulnerable to weather and to
any kind of rough treatment that if you fail to get it inside and into
a covered area within an hour, your table will begin a very short run
to being dead.

But there is worse to come. I have tried 7 times to make a parrallel
cut on a long narrow peice, and the bench cannot do it. The reason is
simple, as you push the material the parrallel fence flexes in its
silly little plastic housing. There is absolutely no means available
to stop this from happening. To do it the bench would need a
removeable fence and it would need to be capable locking at both the
top and the bottom - and it doesn't, the fence is secured with a soppy
little peice of plastic.

Yes, steel and aluminium have been replaced with mdf and plastic and
the bench simply does not work anymore.

Honestly folks, after 20 years of doing DIY and having used many, many
tools, some of which were of very dodgy quality, I have NEVER used a
more failed and comromised peice of kit. Do yourself a a favour and
find something else.

Wolfcraft, you are idiots - whichever director saw to it that MDF and
plastic are your new build materials has never used a tool in his life
- sack him. All your customers will leave in droves. Some costs cannot
be cut. If you do you are no longer selling a tool you are selling a
toy!'

Has it arrived? Any feedback?

cheers
DAvy

[Tim S]

Davy coughed up some electrons that declared:

<snip>

> Has it arrived? Any feedback?
>
> cheers
> DAvy

It's arrived and I haven't even had time to unpack it. That's the trouble -
everything is bloody plastic and MDF these days. My old workmate was a chip
top and that was equally as bad.

One can make allowances by not working in the rain. I agree an ali top would
be 100 times more useful, but I suppose that would make the tool cost 3x as
much.

I'm not expecting "engineering grade" - if I did I'd buy a real router
table, as real saw table etc - needs must...

Cheers

Tim