Workmate (B&D) warped . Advice please

[sarabande]

My WM825 was stored overwinter in a shed which has leaked rainwater upon it. The MDF tops are warped, and two new replacements will be nearly £60.


Before I go and spend the sale price of one whole lamb on something which I use twenty times a year, can anyone recommend an alternative, or if not, which of the current models is best suited to a hard rural life, please ?


TIA

 

[Wansworth]

I replaced the mdf with a nice bit of pine.

 

[Cliveshep]

£60 for two tops for a B & D Workmate?

Stroll on mate - my MDF topped basic one cost me £11 in B & Q although admittedly a few years ago. But that was for the whole thing.

What you need is some 22mm hardwood plywood - can't you scrounge some from a boat builder near you?

£60 - bloody hell!

 

[Wansworth]

My WM825 was stored overwinter in a shed which has leaked rainwater upon it. The MDF tops are warped, and two new replacements will be nearly £60.


Before I go and spend the sale price of one whole lamb on something which I use twenty times a year, can anyone recommend an alternative, or if not, which of the current models is best suited to a hard rural life, please ?


TIA

On reflection....is this a trick question as you are a leading light in ybw forums I am a little shocked...this is problem has an eay answer for a practised bodger!!!

 

[Topcat47]

I have an original aluminium workmate. I replaced the jaws myself as they are no longer sold as Spares. I used exterior ply capped with Ramin. I used the old battered ones as templates for the holes (the new plastic wedges fit fine). Hardwood ply is probably a bit of overkill.

 

[Topcat47]

BTW, B&D say the current jaws are made from bamboo.

 

[Wunja]

I replaced the mdf with a nice bit of pine.

+1 (MDF was charred after using the workmate as a disposable BBQ stand! )

 

[Wansworth]

+1 (MDF was charred after using the workmate as a disposable BBQ stand! )

I stood on mine(as youdo) and it broke....the shop considered it unreasonable treatment!

 

[sarabande]

not a trick question, honestly. I don't do fine bits of woodworking. Even sharpening a pencil for me, is fraught with hazards.


I'll remove the wooden pieces, use them as a template for some slab oak or other hardwood, and then spend a few days drilling and fixing them to the frame. All I needed was the encouragement that it was not a one-off problem and could be considered a fixable problem.

Cheers one and all.

 

[VicS]

Originals on mine ( WM750) are 20 mm ply. I guess they will easily see me out but if not I have some (teak?) laboratory bench top to make new ones.

The rubber feet cost an arm and a leg .. Advisable to glue them on.

 

[sarabande]

I do like the idea of a Workmate with a teak surface, Vic ! Appeals to the visual humour


I could always post a question asking the best way to clean it I suppose....

 

[VicS]

I do like the idea of a Workmate with a teak surface, Vic ! Appeals to the visual humour


I could always post a question asking the best way to clean it I suppose....

This "teak" has been wax polished thrice yearly for many years. The top surface is as hard as iron ... I know I have tried to plane some of it!

I dont think it is actually teak. Its gone a very dark brown colour and so have some bits I've used and oiled on the boat .. quite quickly.

 

[boguing]

Same happened to my Wolfcraft one.

Replacing with 1" ply was easy, and gave me the opportunity to put the peg holes in more sensible places.

Except that they weren't more sensible at all. Might do it again this year.

 

[Lakesailor]

not a trick question, honestly. I don't do fine bits of woodworking. Even sharpening a pencil for me, is fraught with hazards.

And you, a farmer?
I would expect a ready repair to be made using a bit of sleeper for one side and some plank from an old trailer at the other; held on with some fencing wire.

Job's a gud 'n'

 

[sarabande]

Billhooks, Lakey, billhooks.


Very useful things.

 

[Norman_E]

How anyone could consider MDF as a suitable material for vice jaws is beyond me. Plywood was used on the early ones, and MDF was just cheaper, not better. Replacement with decent plywood is the way to go. I have a couple of cheap ones from a DIY store, which have bamboo tops, which are quite acceptable. Two cheapies like that are a great idea, as fitted with extension arms a pair of them will hold a door securely, something a single one can never do.

 

[VO5]

I have a workmate that I have to do work on too.
The wooden whatsits are not dead flat when you close the jaws.
This is because they are fixed with self tapping screws to the brackets underneath which are out of level.
So I am going to take them off, bed them down properly so they are level when closed. Instead of replacing the self tappers I am going to fasten them with countersunk 6 mm bolts and nuts and washers.
The trouble is the perisher has a low work surface and if I am not mindful of this shortcoming I easily get the most awful backache using it if I overdo the bending over it bit.
I glued in the rubber feet with a good dollop of contact adhesive because they kept coming off.
Make is TUV. Jerry ? Dunno.

 

[Ariadne]

I bought mine when I was 17 and an apprentice (30 years ago!), still has the original tops on after years of hard work - no rubber feet lost those and couldn't be bothered to replace them.

Do the newer ones have the folding legs to make them taller?

I also made a 75mm thick solid pine extended (600mm x 1200mm) work top for mine so I had a 'proper' portable joiners bench with a vice attached. Heavy though, but worth it.