# Anyone use a workmate?



## Phaedrus (Jan 18, 2012)

Anyone here use a B&D Workmate with hand tools? I have been been trying to plane on mine (something that I am novice at to begin with) and have been fighting to keep it stationary. At first I had the tail end of the board clamped to my TS, but I have since shortened it. I have a couple boxes of mechanics tools keeping it planted now with pretty good success (one on the shelf of the Workmate, another on the floor ahead of it). Has anyone else run into this? Any other solutions out there?


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

Mine holds up my TV. It's too light for handplaning. Ok for sawing in a pinch, but good benches weigh A LOT. Maybe throw some 100 # sandbags on the legs if you keep using it.


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## Dave Paine (May 30, 2012)

I have two B&D workmates. One normally houses my Flatmaster drum sander which I remove when I need to use it for other tasks.

I have used the workmate with hand tools, including hand planes, but for smaller pieces than in your picture.

As the other reply mentioned, it does not have enough weight to withstand the forces we apply with a hand plane.

I have had to put one foot on the workmate whilst attempting to plane. Not good ergonomics, and not easy to work.

Sandbags or other weight on the base may help. Can you place the workmate against a wall or some other immovable object?

Another potential solution is to install anchor bolts in the concrete floor and bolt the workmake to the anchor. Rather an extreme solution, but it may work.


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## Shop Dad (May 3, 2011)

I have two and find them very useful as utility tables, occasionally using the clamping feature. That's simply not the workbench you need for hand planing. That requires mass and weight as others have said. You might get it to work by bolting it to the floor but I think the structural rigidity will not be enough for this task. Use mine all the time for other things though.


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## Fastback (Sep 2, 2012)

I agree with the others. I've had a Workmate for just about 30 years. A good deal of the time it sits in the corner waiting to for a project. I use it mostly as a stand for one of my chop saws when I do work outside the shop. I use the clamping part at times, but not all that often.

It sounds like you need a good solid bench with some weight. 

When you use the plane make sure you turn it at about 15 to 25 degrees. You want to slice not plow. Also take a very lite cut, very thin curl.


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## Phaedrus (Jan 18, 2012)

I think I pretty well suspected the answers that I have gotten. Bolting a workmate to the floor would pretty well defeat the purpose of the portable, lightweight project workbench. I also don't want to put any concrete anchors in the floor of my rented garage. I'd like a proper workbench, but the wife isn't keen on me buying/building anything big since we may be moving in the next year. I use this as an excuse to only buy smaller, portable tools and hand tools :laughing:. So far so good.


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## HandToolGuy (Dec 10, 2011)

Phaedrus said:


> I think I pretty well suspected the answers that I have gotten. Bolting a workmate to the floor would pretty well defeat the purpose of the portable, lightweight project workbench. I also don't want to put any concrete anchors in the floor of my rented garage. I'd like a proper workbench, but the wife isn't keen on me buying/building anything big since we may be moving in the next year. I use this as an excuse to only buy smaller, portable tools and hand tools :laughing:. So far so good.


So build a medium sized knockdown work bench. I can pull mine apart in about 30 min (20 of that to stow all the tools that accumulate) by pulling 8 bolts to release the top and knocking out 4 pegs to break down the base, and this is probably a 300 lb bench fully loaded with plenty of junk in the trunk.

Edit: added: 

BTW, the best way to buy a new tool is to tie it into some project that the wife wants.

Also, a work stand that might handle heavy abuse a bit better than a work mate is a Rockwell JawHorse. Heavier and easier to back into a corner and the vise is outstanding. I use one to hold landscape timbers while I cut, glue, auger holes and drive ginormous screws to make borders for my wife's flower beds. Some of those assemblies prolly weigh over 100 pounds when I am done, yet I support the work with a JawHorse and two tall sawhorses.


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## gideon (May 26, 2010)

I have two and I love them for what they are. I do plane material on them but I have to put a foot on the table to hold it down.

I use the the clamp to hold projects down while routing things into them - like keyhole hangers and things like that.


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## firemedic (Dec 26, 2010)

Practically speaking a bench should be about twice your own weight and have a height where your knuckles drag the top while standing erect. 

That's the most ideal set-up. It can get very frustrating to chase a bench around the shop. Another reason it really should not have wheels either. 

As a compromise though you could build a lighter bench with a shelf on the stretcher and place removable weight to... bags of concrete, gym weights, etc. 

A single sheet of 3/4" ply ripped and doubled over is a decent work top provided there is sufficient support under it. 

...just a bit of food for thought.


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## MT Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

My work bench serves as an outfeed table for my table saw, and an assembly table. It was made out of 2x10 #2 southern yellow pine that I ripped down to size. I made the legs 3 inches (x2).

The table is also doubled up 2x material with a couple of crossmembers. It is screwed and glue together. Solid as a rock. The top is a solid core door I cut down to 30 x 50 inches and laminated a piece of Formica on top and put an oak edge band around it. The bottom shelf was made from reclaimed pallet boards I cleaned up with the planer.

Hope you get some ideas out of this.
Mike


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## Gilgaron (Mar 16, 2012)

I have a jawhorse, which while not awesome for planing, works okay since it has loops for your feet. I clamp a piece of whatever big enough to hold my workpieces, clamp a few 1x4s to that to make a plane stop and go to town. Overall I quite like the jawhorse, although I still want to build a proper hand tool bench.


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