87. Making my Black & Decker workmate more stable - part 1

Подписаться 7 тыс.

Просмотров 6 тыс.

50% 1

I have had a Black & Decker workmate for years and years. If you follow my channel, you have seen a few videos about my workmate.
In this video, I'm going to show you the easiest way that I have found to make your workmate more stable. My solution is very easy and inexpensive to implement and I think it works pretty well.
I look forward to any of your comments. If you prefer, you can email me at : ImagineThenMAKE@gmail.com . And as always, thanks for watching!
-------------------
Music from filmmusic.io
"Aces High" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)
Music from filmmusic.io
"Backbay Lounge" by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (creativecommons.org/licenses/b...)
---------------
All video content was written, shot and edited by Matt Ancona. Music provided by the source listed above. This video was edited using Power Director version 17 (running on Windows 10).
---------------

Опубликовано:

15 мар 2020

Ссылка:

Скачать:

Готовим ссылку...

Добавить в:

Мой плейлист

Посмотреть позже

Комментарии : 29

@kisarader 3 месяца назад

All I need to do is put my foot on the step and it is as stable as a rock

@ImaginethenMake 3 месяца назад

Yes, others have said that as well. That feels awkward to me so I prefer adding the concrete blocks to make the Workmate more stable. Thanks for your comment and for watching.

@alfredomarquez9777 4 года назад

Good simple and effective idea... when you are cutting across that kind of piece. BUT, What happens when you try to plane a piece of wood with a hand plane (not having an electric hand plane, that is!) ? You will find that the Workmate is even more flexible when pushing sideways. So it needs additional diagonal braces added to get sufficiently rigid for that kind od work, (unless you put the edge of the table or workpiece agains a solid wall!). In my case, with the larger and (unfortunately newer) Workmate-1000, those have MUCH LESS rigidity in a lateral direction, so much as to render them USELESS for hand planning. My solution was to add several matal tube diagonal braces, installed with rivnuts and attached with wingnuts to the legs, so removal is easy and fast. Those diagonals were made from half inch diam steel tube, with flattened ends. And once rigidized, I added four small lugs to the lower extreme of the legs to firmly attach them to the concrete floor with some anchor screws. Installed two sets of anchors, one outdoor in my backyard flush with the floor, and another inside my workshop. Now I can get a truly solid removable workbench. Best regards.

@ImaginethenMake 4 года назад

Hello Alfredo. Thanks for your extensive comment! I actually have a follow-up video about the stability of the workmate scheduled to go online in a few days. Since you took the time to write to me, here's the link in case you'd like to check it out early: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ahq5QYAKZhg.html All my efforts to understand and then try to address the wobbliness of the workmate has inspired me to take a crack at designing and building my own small workmate-like bench. If I come up with anything worthy of sharing, I'll make a video(s). Thanks for watching.

@alfredomarquez9777 4 года назад

@@ImaginethenMake Thaks for replying to my comment! I tried to accsess the video, but my phone keeps displaying a message telling me that the video is "Privaye", so I couldn't look at it... but if you find your Workmate too flimsy, probably because it has developed too much play at the bearings, you could still.add rigidity by adding removable steel tube braces. Mine were added by use of large rivnuts, but if you have accsess to a good welder (a preson, not only the equipment!) he could weld studs to the Workmate structure, and then the braces are attached with wingnuts, so you can still disassemble them and fold the Workmate. Those braces must be diagonally placed to remove any pkay or "give", and render a truly firm and solid bench that can still be portable and compact when folded. Please post any suggestion as how could we see your other video. Very Best Wishes and good luck with your design. Sometimes you can improve a commercial design enough... but other times you will be forced to start with a clean sheet of paper!

@alfredomarquez9777 4 года назад

Sorry, this extra small phone "keyboard" is too difficult fot my finger... I meant "Private" video, and other mis-typing mistakes!

@ImaginethenMake 4 года назад

You should be able to watch the video from the link I provided now. Sorry about any confusion. The video was "private" before, but now it's not. Thanks for your comments and for watching.

@mickblock 3 года назад

I like the idea of this. I just hate that it takes away from the portability. Say have you tried to put a foot up on the crossmember? I just verified by cutting a couple boards like that while leaning a bit forward. Still I was able to focus on my cut.

@ImaginethenMake 3 года назад

Hi Michael. No, I haven't tried putting a foot on the crossmember while sawing; I'm guessing that would feel too awkward for me. I did try adding a plywood foot to the workmate; here's the video link in case you missed it: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EU03vb0tL0U.html . The plywood foot actually worked pretty well. The downside is that it takes up floor space. Thanks for your question and for watching.

@gharr1405 Год назад

Just put your left foot & left hand on the workmate to hold it steady

@ImaginethenMake Год назад

In the first scene where I was cutting the steel piece, I did have my left hand on the workmate (but both of my feet were on the floor) and I could not hold the workmate steady. After I added the concrete blocks, the workmate got a lot more stable (and I still had both feet on the floor). Thanks for your comment and for watching.

@tube3249 2 года назад

Why didn't you just put your foot on the step, that's what it's there for. Alternatively, add a non slip base under the legs. That's what I did to mine. When I retract the wheels, it sits solid to the floor.

@ImaginethenMake 2 года назад

Hi Ian. When you watched me cutting the piece of steel, you saw that I'm right handed so for balance, I place my left foot more forward. Placing my left foot on the step feels more awkward to me because that's where more of my body weight is. Using the concrete blocks creates the same sort of effect but allows me to keep both feet on the floor. Also, I hope you saw that with the concrete blocks in place, the workmate was much more stable and didn't slide on the floor so I think the rubber feet on the angled legs grip the floor pretty well. I'm not sure what you mean about retracting the wheels since my workmate doesn't have wheels. Thanks for your comment and for watching.

@leslierhodes5467 3 года назад

This is a portable piece of equipment are you going to take those cinderblocks with you everywhere you go to apply your fix that’s just crazy

@ImaginethenMake 3 года назад

Taking cinderblocks around with me would be crazy! In all of the years I have owned and used this workmate, the only time I have moved it is when I have moved my whole household. This workmate is used only in my garage. When I have used it, I have often wished it was more stable and didn't wiggle or move around as much. If you watch my channel, you've seen me try a few different things. As I write this (June 2021), the workmate is set up with the concrete blocks right next to the bench I built over 1 year ago ( ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-osaXlpIFK7Q.html ) ; and I use both. Thanks for your comment and for watching.

@luemoonba 4 года назад

WoW! Makes since though. Thanks

@ImaginethenMake 4 года назад

Thanks for watching.

@BobBlarneystone 3 года назад

Instead of concrete blocks- a loaded toolchest

@ImaginethenMake 3 года назад

I did think about using a heavy tool cabinet instead of the concrete blocks. I decided against it (for now) because I thought accessing the tools under the bench would be too inconvenient. Thanks for your comment and for watching.

@30smsuperstrat 3 года назад

The feet were more stable but the table top was still flexing and had the same amount of movement. I'd suggest a sharper blade and some wd40 would stabilize the table quite a bit 😄.

@ImaginethenMake 3 года назад

Thanks for your suggestion and for watching.

@Alexander-dt8sk 3 года назад

My first thought was: Dude, get a sharper blade!

@ImaginethenMake 3 года назад

Having a sharp blade definitely helps. Thanks for your comment and for watching.

@jonathanlloyd2306 3 месяца назад

Haha, it was worse! 😜

@ImaginethenMake 2 месяца назад

Ha-ha. I hope everyone can see in the video that adding the concrete blocks to the Workmate made it much more stable. Thanks for your comment and for watching.

@jonathanlloyd2306 2 месяца назад

Just buy a small angle grinder!

@ImaginethenMake 2 месяца назад

Why?

@kevinohara8671 2 года назад

The difference is that you had to muck around putting bits of wood and bricks on the work mate and it made a tiny bit of difference was a waste of time and effort sorry

@ImaginethenMake 2 года назад

Hi Kevin. The video was to show some of the experiments I did trying to make the B&D Workmate more stable. B&D sold a lot of these so I figured there might be a few out there that would like to see what I tried. In the end, I decided to design and build my own workbench. There are some videos on my channel about the bench starting with this one if your are interested: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-osaXlpIFK7Q.html . Thanks for your comment and for watching.