How I built a 60"x 39" worktop attachment for my Black and Decker Workmate 300.. Not a new idea just my version.. Same concept but smaller: • Black & Decker Workmat...
Good job! I have an old Workmate that has been in my family since sometime in the 1970s. Such a great product. I still use it regularly. That table top looks nice enough to eat off of. A person can never have too much work area.
As a possible extra safety feature perhaps add a hinged drop down leg on each end with a small locking device to stop it folding up on you should the weight at one end get to much.
Great work, I did almost the same to mine (stayed with the 2x4 though) but put two small cleats on both sides of the 2x4 that are about 3/4 inch in width. When the top is clamped down, the cleats are captured under the workmates clamp boards. Now if I press down on the outer edge, the top is actually pulling up from under the clamping boards
So after having this in my attic for the last 10 years or more. I needed a stand for my portable table saw The 300 was not deep enough to support the front and rear feet. So I was going to screw a piece of plywood to it, YOU saved me from doing that and making it quick, simple. I will use the same or plane the wood to the deck thickness though, so the plywood lays on the rest of the table. Thanks!!
Just a thought..... if one made the piece underneath the top wider it could be held between the dogs allowing the original wooden slats to be wider. This in theory would give the original top more depth and should make it even more stable. Thanks - great video.
Even simpler if you don't need as wide a top as 39inch is to use a normal ply flat panelled door (30" wide X 78" long). A little more tricky for screwing due to the panel thinness but a combination of screws and glue works great. Also a quick and easy solution for a full time garage/shed work bench!
I have a mid aged WorkMate model 200 and two recent model 1000 ones. The older and smaller one is way firmer and sturdier... That speaks how low they have gone down in quality, plus their Bamboo tops are cupped and dished, and their frames are too flexible in one direction, requiring strenghtening modifications! (added diagonals). But I have found that employing the two model 1000 at the ends of a slightly longer than yours top, I get much more stability, strenght and rigidity at still a reasonable cost and just a little less practicity. My table top houses three separable inserts that can support an inverted 8 1/4" circular saw, an inverted Router and an inverted jigsaw, and made three blank plates that fit flush when I need a flat surface. It started as a single Workmate table top, but quickly found it unstable, so I left my older model 200 alone for small jobs, and the full top on the two model 1000 when I need to use my hand power tools as bench tools. In that way I have the best combo. I also made a smaller top for the model 200 as it is very practical compared to the extremely small area of the Workmate 200 alone, which is similar to yours but smaller. Best Wishes.
@@JoeAnshien It is completely removable. The top is a plywood door, which is held to the Workmates with four C clamps, quick and easy to disassemble. When I need more firmness, such as when planning wood with my old Stanley-Bailey hand plane, the legs of the Workmates are attached to concrete anchors in my backyard cement floor, but then my bench top (the plywood door) becomes too flimsy, so I still need to improve it. For the moment, I'm too busy and close to retirement, but with some luck, I'll be able to have full time for my hobbies in a couple of months... One limitation is that all Workmates are just too low to work comfortably, specially when working for more than an hour long. Thus, the Workmate-based dismountable bench is practical only for quick jobs or when you can be seated at one side, but it is not a good solution as a proper bench.
@@alfredomarquez9777Thanks but I meant a video of the "three separable inserts that can support an inverted 8 1/4" circular saw, an inverted Router and an inverted jigsaw, and made three blank plates that fit flush when I need a flat surface" I don't see that anyone has done one of those yet.
@@JoeAnshien Sorry, but at this moment I cannot make a video, but the concept is quite simple and straightforward: make a rectangular plank baseplate slightly larger than the base of each one of the saws and another for the router, rout a step around, you can make a "rabbet" or step about half the benchtop thickness, and use plastic playcards to shim each plank in order to place them flush with the table top. In my case, the planks go underside, and are held in place with rotating pieces of wood, rotating on a single screw, so that I can adjust the freeplay to a minimum. As I had to cope with the wood battens inside the plywood door that I used as the bench top, the placement of the saws and router planks was not optimum, and I'll correct it in the future, when I remake another top, for which I haven´t decided yet the material, probably a sandwich of MDF and melamine cover, I don't know yet. At this moment I have to finish a lot of office work (I'm an engineer), so that I can go into retirement, but in a couple of months I hope to be free of tasks and be able to go full time into my hobbies. This portable workbech has served me more or less well for home repairs, but it is not what I would say will be a definitive one. It is practical for say, working in the kitchen for two or three hours, and then quickly dismount it and put it to the side wall when needed, and easy to restart work the next day.
This is a great idea have done this before myself. My top exceeded the original width by 2 ft each side. This is only good for light loads. I was standing on one side of my top. The extra width gives added leverage. Me standing on one side of my add on top bent the shit out of the metal frame. I weigh 220# alot less than 450# rating. Beware with extra wide top add on's with what you put on them.
The rated capacity is the TOTAL weight it will safely withstand... Obviously, if you load all the weight on one side plus the added leverage of a larger top, it will fail. Not the device fault! Still. a very good design considering the folding capability. Older than 15 years ago Work Mates were much better than newer ones, because the greedy company has sent all the production to China, and are lazy enough to avoid any quality control work... I have two recently made model 1000, and their steel gage and steel grade are inferior to my old model 200 with more than 25 years on it. Shame on Stanley B&D!
@@alfredomarquez9777 it is not china's fault. The b&d engineers try to cut cost n increase profit by changing the design to use cheaper materials. You see that in all products so to increase 'corporate profit.'
Moin/Hello It was cheap, i think an workmate about 10-30eur? An old douglaspherplate , little bit wood from garage, screws 5eur? A piece of sandpaper.... 0,5l clear coat... What does it kost? 50eur? Very good idea!!😀 We have to look about materials !! Gruss Willy (German)
Looks like a dining room table! Nice! Don't scratch it. Don't put that lawnmower on there! My gosh. REALLY nice job. I have one of those workmates..so guess what...
