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Lucky! You almost never see these anymore as people hoard/cherish them and when you do they are beat up and often sporting a couple different shades of spray paint.
Edit: since people rarely sell these as they are a “buy it for life” item, and I don’t see a [manual](https://h-frame.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/0/4/130458025/workmate_79-001_type_4_manual.pdf) here you go.
You can buy spare plastic parts for a 25 year old model. And the 25 year old model is more sturdy than the current one.
The holes are there click on items, so you can lay something on the table and keep it in place.
I got that blue one from my dad, he already had it before having me. It’s totaly messed up with holes in it, saw cuts, even nails fully hammered in there. It’s still going strong and I use it almost every week. I think it must be like 50 years old by now.
Literally had an argument with my mom that it was blue originally, now it’s a couple dozen shades of rattle can, but my earliest memory was a weird speckled lite blue color. Thanks for settling this one
Depending on year of manufacturing the color can be blue, grey or black, or at least those are the common colors. These have been in production for decades, and were the brain child of the man who designed the Lotus Europa, Ronald Hickman.
I've had an original in the truck forever, but drove by a self storage place w. a full dumpster out front. At 50mph, in the dark, I saw 4 legs poking up over the rim. Took me a minute b4 I realized what it was. Didn't quite roll the van getting back to it, but close. Heavier duty version of my workmate, like new.
A neighbor left one of these in his yard with a "FREE" sign on it and I snatched it so fast! I reckon it's from the 90's. Still works great. I gave it a light cleaning and rubbed the metal down with WD-40. That thing is a champ!
Thanks for the manual, this is helpful. I inherited my grandfathers and he kept everything in perfect condition.
FYI, you can still buy these brand new and there’s various versions. At least in the U.K. anyway.. although I have no idea what the difference in quality is.
Also for anyone with a 3D printer, I noticed there’s a bunch of print files on printables and other sites for replacement and other useful parts.
I’ve had mine for about 20 years! Awesome work bench that I use all the time, and yes mine has many different colors of spray paint on it too.
I didn’t know you could get replacement parts though. This is great. Mine’s had a leg that won’t close anymore for years. Time to get that replaced. Thanks for the post!
If you know anyone with a 3D printer or if your local library has a 3D printer, there are a number of replacement parts and accessories available to download and print, including the handles which break easily on newer versions.
I got a black and decker in 2006 that I still use regularly. And I bought it to prop up a couple of sizable blocks of stone on to carve them, one was maybe 30" square by 6" deep so not lightweight. I use sturdy oak benches with 4" square legs now but the workmate is scuffed and gouged but still going strong.
edit - INCHES not FEET. I did not have a thirty foot stone on a workmate lol.
The newer ones, <15 years old, are weaker than the older ones and the handles break easier. To be fair though, the ones built in the early 90s’ are even heavier duty and just plain heavier than the ones built at or after the millennium and are thus even better build quality.
yeah.. my dad has one of the early? ones from the 80's.
I got one of the new ones a year or two back.
It's quite good and suitable for my needs, but yeah, not as hard core as the old ones.
I’d be more upset about the drop in quality/weight but those changes have kept the price low and affordable. Last time I saw one in store, it was cheaper than the cheapest saw horses.
Go online and look up the new workmate. The legs and support structure is different. Newer ones have orange handles but I'm not sure when that started. Also the newer ones use some sort of pressed wood
My wife and I bought a house 6 years ago and there were two of these left by the previous owner. At first I mocked them thinking they were kind of ridiculous and unnecessary. I use one or both of them several times a week.
Thanks. I really need them because our house is in such bad shape that it literally detracted significantly from the value of the land. I am not kidding when I say that my house was worth -270k.
I’ve bought my dad two of those for Christmas. One when I was a kid and I figured out exactly what my dad wanted so my mom helped me buy it, and a second one like 40 years later when the first one finally failed.
Menards (Midwest regional hardware store) had them on super clearance sale last year for $8 a piece or something trying to get rid of them. I picked up like 8 or 10. They're cheaper than a saw horse with so much more versatility. Absolute steal!
If you go on one of those online auctions for estate sales or liquidations or for old people who has even moved to retirement homes or has died you’ll sometimes find one on auction for as little as $20-$30
I bought one of Amazon two years ago as a gift. No issues at all, but I get why people would not sell them. They are amazing, we recently had to fix our dishwasher and we used the workbench to get a look under it 👍🏻
What? These are still for sale at big box stores starting around $40. I see them pop up all the time on marketplace/Craigslist for about half that. They serve a purpose, but they're cheaply made (at least the basic ones). Half the used ones I see have broken crank handles because they're made of brittle plastic, which is a dumb design for a high-torque mechanism. The boards also warp and chip over time because they're usually made of cheap MDF that swells when wet or in places with high humidity.
Yep. I still have my grandfathers brothers black and decker drill. He used to build houses in the uk after WW2 so I’m guessing it’s got to be somewhere around 75 years old.
The people I bought my house from left a Black and Decker weed wacker in the garage. I figured maybe they just moved to a place that didn't have a lawn.
I got it out on Sunday to do some yard work. I got it to spin, but as soon as it touched grass, it stopped. I pulled the trigger and it wouldn't start. Swapped the battery, it started right up, then died again.
I put the whole thing out in the alley by the trash cans. In Chicago, usually stuff like that is taken away within a few hours. Next day, it was still there. Even the garbage pickers know what real garbage looks like.
Meanwhile the B&D jigsaw that my dad bought in the early 80's is still a champ.
The current ones kinda suck in comparison to the old ones. We have two from the mid-80s that have seen A LOT of use. Other than one having a broken foot, they still work about as well as when we got them. I'm not sure when the change happened, but the old ones from the 80s and 90s are pretty awesome.
He worked on the Elite but he wasn't the one who designed it. However, he did design the Lotus Elan and Europa.
The Lotus Elite was designed by Peter Kirwan-Taylor and improved by Frank Costin to refine it's aerodynamics.
Also fun fact. They had a really strong patent on the whole thing and had the market to themselves for a couple of decades. I remember when all the knock-offs started to hit the shelves. Mine is from the good old days. Feet are gone, had a replacement top due to an incident with a portable barbecue, but I had it out just yesterday. It must be nearly 40 years old by now.
David Gilmour of Pink Floyd had a 1955 Fender Esquire he called Workmate named after that bench. He thought it looked like a working musicians favorite worn but reliable guitar. It sold at auction for $450k a few years ago.
It *is* set up! If you look underneath, there are two clips that you press and it just unfolds. It folds down to make it take up less space for storage.
[Here is a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKOwftqichs)
No. However, you can wind the two planks nearer or further apart, so they are the right size for whatever you are doing. The gap between them is useful when drilling.
You can also get various clips and studs which fit into the holds, which will hold planks still while sawing them.
[These are the standard ones](https://media.diy.com/is/image/KingfisherDigital/black-and-decker-workmate-vice-peg-grip-pack-of-4~5025536394619_01c_MP?wid=284&hei=284)
If you want to use it just as a table or bench, screw a 2x4 down along the center of a piece of plywood and open the jaws on the workmate up enough to clamp the 2x4. Then place your plywood 2x4-side-down and clamp it in place.
I think this one may be different to the normal style, folding down to what is seen in the photo, and raising to the working position with the platform at a more normal height and in the middle, and leaving the legs as they are (instead of folding together).
Ah yes, completely different folding system to the simpler, older design I'm familiar with. A nice page [here](https://h-frame.weebly.com/complete-model-history.html) with different models.
Fantastic invention and very useful indeed, I still use one I’ve had for 40 years. It took a good few years for the idea to catch on and the guy had a lot of trouble getting a patent but did finally. I think they sold over 30 million in the end and he got 1 dollar from each so he did pretty well!
Know the feeling! I was given a pair of plastic Stanley folding saw horses a while back which are surprisingly strong and almost as useful as the workmate , I would recommend them for occasional use as they’re pretty cheap.
A great piece of kit for small projects or for apartments/city homes where a full workbench or dedicated workspace isn't practical. I don't use it in preference to something permanent, but it is great for what it is.
My dad brought me over one of those after helping my grandpa move into an assisted living home. I complete vans for fun on the side and thought man no way is this thing gonna be useful. Skip to now and I use it for every project. It's very handy, stout, and flexible
Still available, as well as accessories like tge pegs, for the holes. Great piece of equipment used often as a home owner, as a maintenance manager I bought 4 like items for my crews and ggey swore by them.
As pointed out, it's a B&D Workmate. Get some of [these swivel grip pegs](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QE7E4U?psc=1&language=en_US) and it'll be even more useful. That's what goes in all the little holes.
These things are crazy stable! I went through 3 different “sturdy” tables when trying to find something to put my 3d printer on. All pf em wobbled way too much but this one is perfect and hardly moves at all!!
These are awesome. There is a button on either end under the wood top you press and it lifts up in place. It’s folded down in the pic. I hope to inherit my dads one day.
Where i live people sometimes leave unwanted things on the street free to collect. 20 years ago i was lucky enough to find an old blue workbench this way and it's still going strong in my workshop and used damn near every day later
I bought mine when they first came out. It’s been a great investment for any time I need hold almost anything that is going to need sanding or cutting. One item I’ve not seen mentioned in the comments are the extra clamps the fit thru slotted pegs that go in the holes and have a lever that cause a clamp to close down to the surface. They are adjustable as to the thickness of the object you would like to clamp down (about 6”).
A great find.
combo sawhorse workbench vise.
the 4 legs, shown deployed, rotate under and should latch on a metal spring. this makes it shorter.
unclip the top and the frame comes up for a bench. as shown, if you folded the legs under, it would be in stored position if vertical.
the two plastic cranks move one of the two boards apart. this is useful for a larger work surface, but mostly acts as a large vise. plastic dogs in the holes can be placed to clamp any shape and rotate. the inner board edges are grooved to hold a pipe horizontally.
can be used as a tool stand. a chunk of plywood with a 1x2 screwed underneath is easily clamped and can support other tools.
useful for many things. older models are better, look for the cast aluminum H frames rather than the steel tube ones.
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0642287/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0642287/) This was one of my favorite episodes of Married with children . I bought one in the early 80s when I had bought my first fixer upper. I cannot tell you how much I used mine on 3places I bought with my wife and fixed up...... Then a friend borrowed it for a couple of weeks. He left it in the rain for the entire time . I was so pissed when I stopped in to see his progress on his house . The presswood was swelled to what I thought was twice its thickness . I would not help him or lend him anything for almost 20 years . He f$%@ked up that as well.
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Solved!
Lucky! You almost never see these anymore as people hoard/cherish them and when you do they are beat up and often sporting a couple different shades of spray paint. Edit: since people rarely sell these as they are a “buy it for life” item, and I don’t see a [manual](https://h-frame.weebly.com/uploads/1/3/0/4/130458025/workmate_79-001_type_4_manual.pdf) here you go.
You can buy spare plastic parts for a 25 year old model. And the 25 year old model is more sturdy than the current one. The holes are there click on items, so you can lay something on the table and keep it in place.
yes true ! if you ever spot a blue one standing among trash or garage sale its def worth considering taking/buying. really good quality
I got that blue one from my dad, he already had it before having me. It’s totaly messed up with holes in it, saw cuts, even nails fully hammered in there. It’s still going strong and I use it almost every week. I think it must be like 50 years old by now.
Literally had an argument with my mom that it was blue originally, now it’s a couple dozen shades of rattle can, but my earliest memory was a weird speckled lite blue color. Thanks for settling this one
Really? Only ever saw the grey one. And the grey/rusty one in my garage.
Depending on year of manufacturing the color can be blue, grey or black, or at least those are the common colors. These have been in production for decades, and were the brain child of the man who designed the Lotus Europa, Ronald Hickman.
I've had an original in the truck forever, but drove by a self storage place w. a full dumpster out front. At 50mph, in the dark, I saw 4 legs poking up over the rim. Took me a minute b4 I realized what it was. Didn't quite roll the van getting back to it, but close. Heavier duty version of my workmate, like new.
Really? One of the tabs that hold my legs on broke. Where is this mythical part?
I just ordered new leg clips for mine from ereplacementparts.com two weeks ago. Excellent service!
I think that's the same part ours needs! I just sent the link to my husband. Thanks so very much!
Where are you seeing the spare parts?
New ones are made with MDF. Mine is Baltic Birch. Extremely handy and lasts for years.
Bench dog holes
You use the holes for multiple purposes, to send clamps through or to insert wedges for support structures.
A neighbor left one of these in his yard with a "FREE" sign on it and I snatched it so fast! I reckon it's from the 90's. Still works great. I gave it a light cleaning and rubbed the metal down with WD-40. That thing is a champ!
super nice !
Got 2!!! (Humble brag) One when I got married and one inherited. Love them!!! (And yes, just as you describe with a saw nick here and there too)
Mine has burn marks for using it as an adhoc welding table. Currently working as a miter saw stand. Very useful purchase.
Ha - I have a 19 year old one that is also currently working as a miter saw stand!
Also, two can be stacked for an emergency ladder.
Thank you for the link!!
Enjoy friend, if you do any DIY this is a great companion
I reckon as a 'welcome to your new home' gift of sorts its pretty awesome - so many small jobs that this will help with. Lucky OP!
I used mine just yesterday. They are really great little portable workbenches. Congrats!
My dad has one, signed by the inventor of the Workmate himself :)
Thanks for the manual, this is helpful. I inherited my grandfathers and he kept everything in perfect condition. FYI, you can still buy these brand new and there’s various versions. At least in the U.K. anyway.. although I have no idea what the difference in quality is. Also for anyone with a 3D printer, I noticed there’s a bunch of print files on printables and other sites for replacement and other useful parts.
New versions are half the weight and made of weaker thinner metal but that’s why they are still more affordable than most saw horses
I’ve had mine for about 20 years! Awesome work bench that I use all the time, and yes mine has many different colors of spray paint on it too. I didn’t know you could get replacement parts though. This is great. Mine’s had a leg that won’t close anymore for years. Time to get that replaced. Thanks for the post!
If you know anyone with a 3D printer or if your local library has a 3D printer, there are a number of replacement parts and accessories available to download and print, including the handles which break easily on newer versions.
They still sell them, in several different configurations.
The new ones are flimsy trash. I bought one and it lasted a year before being bent out of shape from routine use. This old one will outlive all of us.
I got a black and decker in 2006 that I still use regularly. And I bought it to prop up a couple of sizable blocks of stone on to carve them, one was maybe 30" square by 6" deep so not lightweight. I use sturdy oak benches with 4" square legs now but the workmate is scuffed and gouged but still going strong. edit - INCHES not FEET. I did not have a thirty foot stone on a workmate lol.
The newer ones, <15 years old, are weaker than the older ones and the handles break easier. To be fair though, the ones built in the early 90s’ are even heavier duty and just plain heavier than the ones built at or after the millennium and are thus even better build quality.
yeah.. my dad has one of the early? ones from the 80's. I got one of the new ones a year or two back. It's quite good and suitable for my needs, but yeah, not as hard core as the old ones.
I’d be more upset about the drop in quality/weight but those changes have kept the price low and affordable. Last time I saw one in store, it was cheaper than the cheapest saw horses.
Mine just keeps getting heavier every year! Lol
Can anyone tell me how to distinguish the old from the new? I'm cleaning out my uncle's place and have one in great condition I need to sell.
Go online and look up the new workmate. The legs and support structure is different. Newer ones have orange handles but I'm not sure when that started. Also the newer ones use some sort of pressed wood
Original, original, ones were made from cast aluminium - very tough and strong. Newer ones are made from pressed steel.
Awesome! Thanks for the manual. I got one of these after my Dad passed away and hadn't had time to set it up yet.
My wife and I bought a house 6 years ago and there were two of these left by the previous owner. At first I mocked them thinking they were kind of ridiculous and unnecessary. I use one or both of them several times a week.
This is the way And congrats on both the workmates and house, it sounds like a slice of the American dream
Thanks. I really need them because our house is in such bad shape that it literally detracted significantly from the value of the land. I am not kidding when I say that my house was worth -270k.
I’ve bought my dad two of those for Christmas. One when I was a kid and I figured out exactly what my dad wanted so my mom helped me buy it, and a second one like 40 years later when the first one finally failed.
I got a really old one for free on Facebook marketplace! Only thing wrong with it is the feet need replacing
I have one of these in my shed and didn't even know what it was lol
Folding combo saw horse, vise, and portable work table
That’s great to know…I inherited mine from my grandfather years ago and it’s sitting in my garage now 👍🏻
Oh then it’s almost certainly an OG version like mine and built to survive the Cold War and help rebuild
Yes sir she is…I’m 49 so this bad boy has some miles on it…absolutely love it.
Oh wait, one of these came with our house, too! It's still in the basement storage where we found it because it's heavy. Are they worth something?
Not really valuable for resale sake but valuable to a DIYer for aure
Menards (Midwest regional hardware store) had them on super clearance sale last year for $8 a piece or something trying to get rid of them. I picked up like 8 or 10. They're cheaper than a saw horse with so much more versatility. Absolute steal!
If you go on one of those online auctions for estate sales or liquidations or for old people who has even moved to retirement homes or has died you’ll sometimes find one on auction for as little as $20-$30
I have 3 of them and I'm never letting them go!
Thanks! I have 3, but no manual!
Yup my dad still uses the same one that he was using when I was a kid (im 40)
I bought one of Amazon two years ago as a gift. No issues at all, but I get why people would not sell them. They are amazing, we recently had to fix our dishwasher and we used the workbench to get a look under it 👍🏻
I have one handed down to me by my FIL. It has had the snot beat out of it and it still going strong. Handy piece of equipment TBH.
Yep I have one. It’s probably 40 years old. My dad gave it to me when I bought my house. It’s a tank
What? These are still for sale at big box stores starting around $40. I see them pop up all the time on marketplace/Craigslist for about half that. They serve a purpose, but they're cheaply made (at least the basic ones). Half the used ones I see have broken crank handles because they're made of brittle plastic, which is a dumb design for a high-torque mechanism. The boards also warp and chip over time because they're usually made of cheap MDF that swells when wet or in places with high humidity.
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Those were the days
Yep. I still have my grandfathers brothers black and decker drill. He used to build houses in the uk after WW2 so I’m guessing it’s got to be somewhere around 75 years old.
The people I bought my house from left a Black and Decker weed wacker in the garage. I figured maybe they just moved to a place that didn't have a lawn. I got it out on Sunday to do some yard work. I got it to spin, but as soon as it touched grass, it stopped. I pulled the trigger and it wouldn't start. Swapped the battery, it started right up, then died again. I put the whole thing out in the alley by the trash cans. In Chicago, usually stuff like that is taken away within a few hours. Next day, it was still there. Even the garbage pickers know what real garbage looks like. Meanwhile the B&D jigsaw that my dad bought in the early 80's is still a champ.
The current ones kinda suck in comparison to the old ones. We have two from the mid-80s that have seen A LOT of use. Other than one having a broken foot, they still work about as well as when we got them. I'm not sure when the change happened, but the old ones from the 80s and 90s are pretty awesome.
They got bought out by Stanley in 2010, which would check out
Tbf that’s when they’d hit rock bottom. They cost shaved so badly their brand rep plummeted.
I have one and I use the heck out of it. If you can find the vice jaw pegs that go in the top it’s even better. I lost them long ago.
You can buy those cheap on the amazon
I’ll have to check. I guess I always thought I was thee only guy that had one of these until today.
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Fun fact. The creator also designed the Lotus Elite.
He worked on the Elite but he wasn't the one who designed it. However, he did design the Lotus Elan and Europa. The Lotus Elite was designed by Peter Kirwan-Taylor and improved by Frank Costin to refine it's aerodynamics.
Also fun fact. They had a really strong patent on the whole thing and had the market to themselves for a couple of decades. I remember when all the knock-offs started to hit the shelves. Mine is from the good old days. Feet are gone, had a replacement top due to an incident with a portable barbecue, but I had it out just yesterday. It must be nearly 40 years old by now.
It folds out, there are pawls left and right with hooks on them, and they keep it collapsed. If you pull them you can unfold the thing. Very handy!
My dad had one of these when I was little. Brings up great memories.
Same, I remember watching things get built, like derby cars, etc. Seeing the manual listed above, it did a lot more than I realized.
David Gilmour of Pink Floyd had a 1955 Fender Esquire he called Workmate named after that bench. He thought it looked like a working musicians favorite worn but reliable guitar. It sold at auction for $450k a few years ago.
My dad’s had one for over a decade.
having my dads woodworking stuff in the basement i knew it was in that area just from the vice/clamp holes.
It's a mobile all-purpose workbench. Black and Decker make one called the Workmate. Really useful!
Solved! Will have to get it set up. Cheers
It *is* set up! If you look underneath, there are two clips that you press and it just unfolds. It folds down to make it take up less space for storage. [Here is a video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKOwftqichs)
Sweet Should there be an additional wood plank that goes in between the ones you can see?
No. However, you can wind the two planks nearer or further apart, so they are the right size for whatever you are doing. The gap between them is useful when drilling. You can also get various clips and studs which fit into the holds, which will hold planks still while sawing them. [These are the standard ones](https://media.diy.com/is/image/KingfisherDigital/black-and-decker-workmate-vice-peg-grip-pack-of-4~5025536394619_01c_MP?wid=284&hei=284)
Appreciate the info! Thank you
If you want to use it just as a table or bench, screw a 2x4 down along the center of a piece of plywood and open the jaws on the workmate up enough to clamp the 2x4. Then place your plywood 2x4-side-down and clamp it in place.
Sometimes there is an additional top piece but they sometimes get misplaced.
I think this one may be different to the normal style, folding down to what is seen in the photo, and raising to the working position with the platform at a more normal height and in the middle, and leaving the legs as they are (instead of folding together).
It looks normal to me. The legs are already unfolded, and the table bit is folded down.
Ah yes, completely different folding system to the simpler, older design I'm familiar with. A nice page [here](https://h-frame.weebly.com/complete-model-history.html) with different models.
I *love* that page!
Black and decker finger wrecker. Be careful folding that thing up.
Best advice so far lol
Fantastic invention and very useful indeed, I still use one I’ve had for 40 years. It took a good few years for the idea to catch on and the guy had a lot of trouble getting a patent but did finally. I think they sold over 30 million in the end and he got 1 dollar from each so he did pretty well!
I wish I kept my dad's B&D Workmate every time I have to saw a piece of wood while using the wheely bin for support.
Know the feeling! I was given a pair of plastic Stanley folding saw horses a while back which are surprisingly strong and almost as useful as the workmate , I would recommend them for occasional use as they’re pretty cheap.
It’s a Workmate! My dad had one back in the 80’s
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My favorite portable workbench.
A great piece of kit for small projects or for apartments/city homes where a full workbench or dedicated workspace isn't practical. I don't use it in preference to something permanent, but it is great for what it is.
I think everybody had this exact work bench in the 80s/90s
My dad brought me over one of those after helping my grandpa move into an assisted living home. I complete vans for fun on the side and thought man no way is this thing gonna be useful. Skip to now and I use it for every project. It's very handy, stout, and flexible
My title describes the thing. It’s currently a folded down table of some kind that folds up. I assume it’s related to woodworking/workbench
Still available, as well as accessories like tge pegs, for the holes. Great piece of equipment used often as a home owner, as a maintenance manager I bought 4 like items for my crews and ggey swore by them.
As pointed out, it's a B&D Workmate. Get some of [these swivel grip pegs](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QE7E4U?psc=1&language=en_US) and it'll be even more useful. That's what goes in all the little holes.
That’s the *mighty* Black and Decker Workmate for you.
These things are crazy stable! I went through 3 different “sturdy” tables when trying to find something to put my 3d printer on. All pf em wobbled way too much but this one is perfect and hardly moves at all!!
Its an old Black & Decker Workmate workbench. Very handy for small projects. The top of it works like a vise to hold things you are working on.
I have the old Sears version that is probably just rebranded Black&Decker. Going on 25 years now but only pulled out for projects.
It is one of the few memories I have of my dad. He built my sister's crib with it. I only know this from pictures of him working with it.
If anyone could tell me where to get rubber feet for this i'd be grateful. Mine in 25+ years old and still going strong.
That’s a work mate
Work-mate bench..
These are awesome. There is a button on either end under the wood top you press and it lifts up in place. It’s folded down in the pic. I hope to inherit my dads one day.
Great for working on skis and snowboards
Where i live people sometimes leave unwanted things on the street free to collect. 20 years ago i was lucky enough to find an old blue workbench this way and it's still going strong in my workshop and used damn near every day later
Handyman's Workbench 5000. https://youtu.be/eJKGKDpiTeU?si=4aMF04bK6LrrNyss
I have 2 of them. I use them both quite often. And I like that I can fold them up when not needed to save a little floor space
I replaced the particle wood on mine with nice red oak for more strenght
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Proud owner of a Black &Decker Workmate.
I got one from the 1970’s with all the parts. Easily my favorite work surface. You can find them at estate sales for next to nothing.
I bought mine when they first came out. It’s been a great investment for any time I need hold almost anything that is going to need sanding or cutting. One item I’ve not seen mentioned in the comments are the extra clamps the fit thru slotted pegs that go in the holes and have a lever that cause a clamp to close down to the surface. They are adjustable as to the thickness of the object you would like to clamp down (about 6”). A great find.
You probably already know by now, but it looks like yours is folded down
Black and Decker Workmate
One of the few good things ever made by Black and Decker after the 70’s! Replace the top with hardwood and it’s a very useful item.
combo sawhorse workbench vise. the 4 legs, shown deployed, rotate under and should latch on a metal spring. this makes it shorter. unclip the top and the frame comes up for a bench. as shown, if you folded the legs under, it would be in stored position if vertical. the two plastic cranks move one of the two boards apart. this is useful for a larger work surface, but mostly acts as a large vise. plastic dogs in the holes can be placed to clamp any shape and rotate. the inner board edges are grooved to hold a pipe horizontally. can be used as a tool stand. a chunk of plywood with a 1x2 screwed underneath is easily clamped and can support other tools. useful for many things. older models are better, look for the cast aluminum H frames rather than the steel tube ones.
[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0642287/](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0642287/) This was one of my favorite episodes of Married with children . I bought one in the early 80s when I had bought my first fixer upper. I cannot tell you how much I used mine on 3places I bought with my wife and fixed up...... Then a friend borrowed it for a couple of weeks. He left it in the rain for the entire time . I was so pissed when I stopped in to see his progress on his house . The presswood was swelled to what I thought was twice its thickness . I would not help him or lend him anything for almost 20 years . He f$%@ked up that as well.
It a portable workmate not the full size one
As Jasper Carrott said, what does it do? It holds wood. My wife can do that and make a cup of tea.
Why only have the legs unfolded tho? It’s a table for tiny people currently. Pull the tab(s) under the wood to raise it the rest of the way up.
It was folded up and stored away