BLACK+DECKER Portable Workbench, Workmate Folding Workbench, 550 lb. Capacity with Clamps for Woodworking (WM425-A)

There are only 3 workmates widely available in the UK, and they are all basic or compact models. So I ordered 2 of these and had them shipped from the US (kinda expensive)Do yourself a favour and throw away the assembly instructions. They are the usual cryptic diagram nonsense with no text. Would it really be so much trouble to provide multi-lingual instructions with actual text, how many of these do B&D sell a year, yet cant be bothered to hire a one-off translator?Anyway, search youtube for "how to assemble your workmate 425" by "workmateguy" and this will help you lotsThe wooden surfaces are nice, made from compressed bamboo, kinda shiny and rigid like laminate floor boards. No warping for me, although other users have had this problem.The metal frame feels quite cheaply machined with lots of sharp edges, although seems sturdy enough. The rubber caps simply refuse to stay gripped onto the feet, so will either have to be glued on, or drilled and then bolted.The two vice handles are connected in tandem with a cheap plastic belt. It doesn't work very well and also removes the ability to close the vice at an angle. You can fix this by either cutting the belt, or digging around and trying to remove it altogether, but the workmate provides no easy way to just disengage it temporarily. People have been complaining for years about how stupid this design is, but B&D do nothing.Worst of all, the crank shafts and handles are attached by having to hammer a metal pin. For me the metal pin simply would not go into the hole no matter how gentle or hard I hammered. Not sure whether the pins I got were malformed, but I ended up having to use a nut and bolt to secure it.Overall, I'll get some good use of out these workmates, but I can't say I'm that impressed with the build quality, and even the design is not that clever, with obvious improvements even to a non-designer. Ultimately they've cheaped out on a lot of things which they shouldn't have

Way too much money for what you get, and requires too much effort on the part of the purchaser to get it to work anywhere near correctly.Problems:1. The first board is the only board that moves when you turn the handle. This is to be screwed onto two nylon brackets that are on long screw threads attached to the turning handles. Unfortunately, one of these brackets was out of position on the screw thread and meant the board was not at the correct angle. This meant the board did not sit flush with the other board - and the result was you could not properly clamp anything in the jaws. It took me some time to figure out how to adjust it, and more time to adjust it. Something I should invoice Black and Decker for my labour.2. The boards are made of bamboo plywood, and one of them is warped and about half a centimetre below the other boards. Therefore, the overall surface is not flat. Others have had this problem. Time to go back to wooden plywood, Black & Decker!3. The frame is held together by rivets. This makes the frame less rigid than if it was held together by nuts and bolts, and it twists and moves... lot!4. Some of the holes on one of the boards are too small for the orange pegs. I had to file them to make them usable. Something else I should invoice B&D for my labour.If you already have an old Workmate and want one with a larger surface area like the 450, you are better off getting some plywood and making your own top pieces. It's what I should have done - 10% of the price and about the same time it takes to assemble this overpriced product.Summary: Made of cheap components and poorly manufactured, it is not worth the purchase price.

I don’t have room for a typical shop table but the Workmate fills the need! It is a great area to assemble small projects and also wood very well that needs to be cut. It is also light but super sturdy so I can move it around the garage for larger work.

En el poco tiempo de uso esta mesa me ha servico como mil, excelente mesa y buen soporte, me ayuda mucho en los trabajos con madera y corte.

They sure don't make WorkMates they they used to. This unit is poorly manufactured, the jaws doesn't open and close parallel and everything is loose and wobbly. Will be returning.

Was looking for a table to do some home projects with this is the perfect size not too heavy to lift and set up and easy to put together.

La descripción corta de este banco debiera ser: Sólido y Funcional.Muy útil para trabajar sin problemas con tablones de triplay de 19mm de 1m x 50cm, quizá con tablones de más de 1 metro pueda resultar pequeño, sobretodo si no cuentas con las herramientas de fijación adecuadas para el tamaño de tablas que utilices. Aún para material más grande puede ser útil si se complementa con un burro que permita dar soporte adicional al material trabajado.Hay cosas que se pueden trabajar muy rápido gracias a sus múltiples posiciones, que sirven a manera de prensas aunque la presión de estas no permita trabajar con material muy grande o muy pesado.En particular he podido trabajar sin dificultades con la cierra circular y utilizandolo como base para la mesa de un router. Es muy conveniente además el poderlo plegar cuando no es utilizado.Me parece una muy buena opción para quienes se inician en la carpintería de forma seria y que además no tienen mucho espacio para trabajar.