Black & Decker Workmate

[wolfcj]

​I don't think I've ever shared my Workmate and it's story, and the recent acquisition of my new replacement dogs has inspired me to.

Speaking of dogs, I noticed recently that the design of these changed at least a couple of times even during the earliest generations of Workmates, not to mention the newer ones that you just bought.

Of course, Black & Decker never called them "dogs". The original British instructions called them "vice pegs", while the U.S. version used both "swivel pegs" and "swivel grips."

The attached photos show three different views of three of the four different styles of pegs that I have had with my 1970's Workmates. I believe the style on the left is the oldest. Its style is very close to that of the blue ones, from the 79-001 type E (not shown). The other two are from a little later in the 1970's. They are all 20mm in diameter. (The 79-001 Type 1 had smaller dog holes than all other models, only 3/4" in diameter, but I have no swivel pegs of that size.)

The oldest one has its part number 975384 molded on the bottom along with "20 MM". The part number matches that on the original B&D part diagram from 1975. The other two are not marked in any way. The parts diagrams available from B&D show at least three different part numbers that are later replacements for the original.

The oldest one has noticeably longer legs compared with the later ones. The legs are long enough that the tabs at the bottom extend below the bottom surface of the vise jaw even when they are used in the double-thick edge. B&D must have realized that wasn't really necessary and shortened them for the later styles, which just barely reach flush to the bottom of the deeper holes.

On the oldest one, the legs and their tabs are on the front and back of the peg, whereas the later pegs have them on the sides. I can't quite figure out whether that has any particular consequence.

The oldest one and the next one have working faces that are identical in size and shape, whereas the later one has a slightly wider (+1/8") and taller (+1/16") face, probably a good idea to spread out the pressure a bit more.

The later one also has little "wings" that protrude from the top edges. They give your fingers a couple of minimal spots to apply some upward force to when you're pulling on a peg to remove it, actually helpful sometimes so you don't have to squeeze so hard. I can't see any other advantage to them.

I have never had any of the newer orange pegs, so I can't say what other changes may have been made later on.

 

[bczygan]

Just got my newest one out and used it today!

 

[Outlawmws]

I've been using my beater type 2 for over a week now working on my mini bench and other things. It's getting closer to a strip down and repaint the steel base, and clean up the aluminum supports...

Wolf, the orange ones I have are same as your third one with the slightly larger head.

 

[Bunk]

Outlawmws - If you get around to doing that stripping I can unfortunately confirm that the steel frame paint comes off very easily. I did some painting on a project last weekend - spraying some primer on an ambient air filter to hang in the shop and I didn't cover the Workmate well enough to prevent overspray getting on it. I got a lot of Zinsser BIN on it.
I tried some lacquer thinner and it worked wonders removing the overspray, but just as quickly wiped the grey frame paint off. Next tried some plain old alcohol - same thing. Holy cow that paint has zero solvent resistance.

 

[ptgarcia]

Just got my first Workmate. Grabbed this one off Craigslist for $15. Only has (2) dogs so I'll have to pick some more up.

 

[Rileysan]

Just got my first Workmate. Grabbed this one off Craigslist for $15. Only has (2) dogs so I'll have to pick some more up.

I don't have any dogs for my two Stanley Workmate benches. I'm curious ... has anyone here made dogs to fit these?

Brian

 

[Vintage Veloce]

You can get replacements on Amazon...
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QE7E4U/?tag=atomicindus08-20

I don't have any dogs for my two Stanley Workmate benches. I'm curious ... has anyone here made dogs to fit these?

Brian

 

[oldmxracer]

Bought Mine on eBay also a set of the gripmate clamps !

 

[BoilermakerFan]

My 550 is still going strong after 20 years...

I made the little plywood sub-top to mount my Lee reloading press to it before I purchased my Inline Fabrication mount.

I primarily use the WorkMate to hold the chop saw or benchtop router table so I can put it out in the driveway to keep dust our of the garage.

 

[wolfcj]

I would love to hear from owners of the 79-001 Type E Workmate or the other similar very earliest original models with the full aluminum "skeleton" frame.

My main question is: do you get severe rusting in the steel sleeves that line the dog holes in these models? Have you found a good way to deal with it?

(Please note, I DON'T want to hijack this thread into a "My favorite rust-prevention method" thread; there are plenty of those already.)

So, very specifically, if you have a Workmate with the steel sleeves, can you please help me out by sharing your experience with them rusting (or not rusting, as the case might be)?

As very brief background, I will say that I have a basement woodworking shop where I have successfully kept my tools rust-free, yet I can't seem to prevent rust in this one specific area of this particular Workmate. I have in my shop such rust magnets as a table saw and a jointer with cast-iron tops, as well as many, many hand tools (off the top of my head, about 20 hand planes, similar number of chisels, eight or ten hand saws, various vintage drills, and more) and with minimal effort I've been able to keep them pretty much rust-free.

 

[Outlawmws]

Wolf, Are you saying the dog holes in the ply top of yours had a steel sleeve? Pics?

I have a number of older units and none has a steel sleeve?

 

[ptgarcia]

How can I determine with model I have? I don't see a model number stamped or cast into mine.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[Outlawmws]

Its usually ink stamped on the bottom of the jaws.

 

[wolfcj]

Do you have one of the Workmates with the full aluminum "skeleton" frames, such as the 79-001 Type E? As far as I know, they all use a cylindrical steel insert inside each of the 20 dog holes in the top.

When B&D went to the second generation Workmate, the one that still had the aluminum H-frame, but with painted steel for the rest of the base and legs, they eliminated the steel sleeves. I assume they had done some testing by then and realized that the plywood top was plenty strong for the dogs without any reinforcement, and they didn't need the extra expense of installing them.

 

[wolfcj]

Its usually ink stamped on the bottom of the jaws.

In my experience, what you usually find on the bottom of the jaws is the Type number, 1,2,3,4, etc., but not necessarily the model number. The model number, such as 79-001, 79-004, etc. usually appeared only on the label on the top surface of the jaws, and it is often removed or worn off. There are exceptions to this scheme however.

 

[wolfcj]

Wolf, Are you saying the dog holes in the ply top of yours had a steel sleeve? Pics?

I have a number of older units and none has a steel sleeve?

This is what they look like. I'm pretty sure this was unique to the very first made-in-England units.

It's pretty crazy to have a Workmate that should never rust because it is almost 100% aluminum, and then have these unnecessary pieces of what seem like a cheap grade of steel that will rust if you just breathe somewhere near them.

 

[wolfcj]

Here is a photo from the Workmate Type Study site where you can see how rusty the inserts get. When I got mine, it was even worse than this, to the point where it was difficult to get the dogs in and out. This is the view from the bottom side of the jaws.
https://kirkhmb.smugmug.com/Woodworking/Workmate-Type-Study/i-X9kZc9g

 

[Outlawmws]

So a couple of questions and a couple of suggestion to think about on the rusting issue.

Questions:

• Do you have a humidity problem?
• Is the wood sealed on the top only or also on the bottom?
• Does it seem that the rust starts on the wood side, then travels inside the sleeve? or is it surface condensation type rust?
• Is the steel reacting to the wood/glues used ?
• What have you tried so far?

Thoughts:

1. I would think about using a penetrating oil (intended for wood..) on the wood if it seems to be starting there. lemon oil, or regular linseed oil followed by BLO?
2. Have you tried car wax as many use on table saws and such?
3. Maybe beeswax/Door-Ease, which would also lubricate the dogs going in and out?

I like the steel sleeve idea as I know my current "beater" is losing the top layer of ply to the dogs (and PO neglect. I think this top got wet...)

 

[Jim_No_Garage]

I've never seen a workmate with those metal sleeves in the plywood.

Of course I'll find one eventually and HAVE TO HAVE It because it's different . . .

Jim

 

[ptgarcia]

After some poking around I think mine is a Type 2. It has "Lester-1" cast into the H frames if that means anything. This thing is cool.

Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

 

[wolfcj]

So a couple of questions and a couple of suggestion to think about on the rusting issue.

Thanks, but I don't really want to start off on the general topic of rust removal, because that could be never-ending and would hijack this thread.

I do hope someone else here has one of these earliest models and will at least have a comment or two one way or another about the rust problem.

 

[Outlawmws]

Wolf, not one word I wrote was on the topic of rust removal. It was all rust prevention.

 

[wolfcj]

Sorry, a slip of the fingers.

As I said in my original message, I don't want to hijack this thread into one about rust prevention.

 

[Outlawmws]

Yours is the first one with steel sleeves I've seen posted, so asking if anyone has "personal experience" is probably futile.

An appropriate diagnosis of your situation is the only practical recourse. My questions were designed to get answers to the probable CAUSE as that is what matters. Not that this sleeve is somehow different than other steels.

Even if someone else has one like yours, there situation is likely different than yours, other than the wood and sleeve...

So:

Questions:

• Do you have a humidity problem?
• Is the wood sealed on the top only or also on the bottom?
• Does it seem that the rust starts on the wood side, then travels inside the sleeve? or is it surface condensation type rust?
• Is the steel reacting to the wood/glues used ?
• What have you tried so far?

 

[wolfcj]

Yours is the first one with steel sleeves I've seen posted, so asking if anyone has "personal experience" is probably futile.

I'm more optimistic than you are, for two reasons:

a) As I said, I'm pretty sure that all of the Workmates with the full aluminum base also have the steel sleeves.
b) I'm also quite sure that while I was reading through the 38 pages of Workmate posts here over the last few weeks, I saw comments and photos from a number of owners of that specific style.

So, I suspect that those owners just haven't checked out this thread since I posted my request, and I'm hoping they will come back, see it, and post a reply. If I don't hear from them after a while, I may go back through the old postings, find the owners of that style, and ask them directly.

(By the way, I also asked you directly if you have an all-aluminum model such as the Type E among your collection, but you never answered me. Because a couple of other messages got interspersed between yours and mine, it probably wasn't clear that I was addressing the question to you. If you (or anyone else) do have one of the all-aluminum style AND it does NOT have the steel sleeves, that would be extremely interesting to know. I recognize your name as one who has been very active on this thread, but I simply didn't keep track in my head of who owns which models.)

 

[Outlawmws]

If you won't talk, you won't talk.

Right now you are in the mode of the person that goes into a dealership and says "my car is broke; please fix it" When asked for specifics, says, "I won't talk to any mechanic that doesn't own my particular car..."

It's not a problem with that specific type. Its a rust issue. Rust is rust. Rust has causes. diagnosis of those causes is your issue.

We often go "off topic" at GJ in a just cause, but with your limited time and experience here, you apparently don't know that.

Good luck with your approach to your quest.

 

[wolfcj]

Okay, this seems to be going off the rails here. I'm sure the problem is that I'm not very good at explaining myself, and if you could instead just read my mind we wouldn't be having this covfefe.

First, to me the car analogy would be that I'm sitting around with my friendly group of Subaru SVX owners (not visiting a dealership) and say, "Hey I noticed something weird about my car recently so I wonder if any of you have had the same thing happen on yours. I fixed it up myself, but if you fixed yours, let's compare how we did it."

I was (and am) excited to find this Workmate thread here, because this appears to be the largest number of Workmate owners actively discussing them. I've learned a little from reading the entire thread, and I hope I have contributed something useful to others over the last couple of months. I also intend to continue to contribute.

One thing I would like to do is to take advantage of the forum and this thread to connect with other owners of the original "skeleton frame" models. To do this, I brought up a topic that I thought would be of interest to them, while also mentioning my desire not to veer off onto rust prevention in general.

I understand that you don't mind if a thread veers off, and I accept that. I, however, am the opposite, and I would prefer to see a new thread started if it gets off topic. If, as you claim, I am the only one here with this rust problem, then I would feel very wrong being responsible for diverting the thread off to a problem unique to me that is only very incidentally related to Workmates.

Since I obviously screwed this up entirely from the very beginning, I am going to start over completely in a way that I hope will make sense to everyone. Can we just forget that this happened?

 

[wolfcj]

Hi everybody,

I have owned eight different Workmates so far, but the most interesting one is the oldest, a Model 79-001 Type E. This is part of the very first series of Workmates sold, and I believe they were all made in England. Its main distinguishing feature is the "skeleton" base, which is made up almost entirely of cast aluminum parts. The only steel parts are the step (or footrest) and some miscellaneous hardware.

This is the rarest of the Workmate models, since it was produced for a very short time, but there must be a few members here who own one of these models. If you do, how about replying and maybe posting some photos?

To start if off, here are a few views of mine.

 

[wolfcj]

Following my posting about the bench dogs for the Workmate, perhaps it's time to look at the hold-down clamps. As with the dogs, I only own older models, so I can't comment on "modern" ones, say from the last 20 years.

The original hold-downs were called Gripmates. The part number was 79-011, they were made in Canada, and they were sold singly. The name "Gripmate" and the B&D hexagon logo were embossed in the top metal surface of the clamp. They came in the box shown on the left, which has simple black and white printing and line drawings on white cardboard.

This model was supplied with two different sizes of plastic adaptor bushings. The 3/4" black one was for the 79-001 Type 1 Workmate (which I have never run across). The 20mm orange one was for all other Workmates. Both bushings have "GRIPMATE" and "Black & Decker" embossed on their top surface.

After a very short time, they dropped the black 3/4" adapter bushing as a standard part of the 79-011, changing the instruction manual to advise owners of the Type 1 Workmate to contact their dealer for the right part.

Three other changes were made somewhere in this period; I'm not sure of the exact sequence. The adaptor bushings were modified to add tabs at the bottom of the post to lock them into the table top. The embossed text was eliminated from the top surface of the adaptor bushings. The bottom corners of the metal post for the Gripmate itself were chamfered to make it go into the bushing a little more smoothly.

Next, for some strange reason, they changed the part number to 79-016. They still called it the Gripmate, they were still made in Canada, and there was no change in the construction of it. The one change I know of was that they were now sold in pairs. The box also changed, with a glossy finish and full color photographs.

The last change I know of during this period happened some time around 1990 or so. They dropped the name Gripmate on the clamp, and in the instruction manual. The new moniker was the much less appealing "Workmate Portable Work Center & Vise Attachment Clamp". Instead of the embossed "Gripmate" in the metal surface, these models have a glossy black-and-white label applied to the side of the clamp displaying the full new name and, for the first time, the model number. For some odd reason, the box continued to use the name "Gripmate", and I'm not sure if that eventually changed or not. Perhaps they had an excess inventory of boxes and didn't want to waste them.

That's pretty much all I know (and probably more than anyone really needs to know). However, if anyone has additions or corrections, jump right in!

 

[trijeff]

Finally. Knew I wanted a WM so came to this thread to find out which one to get. Cast aluminum, ok pretty straight forward. Then the waiting/CL scouring began.

The waiting continued. And continued. Boy, these don't come up too often in my area.

Finally, $40 and 1.5 hour drive. Doable. Not the real wood tops (or is it veneer?) I was hoping for but does have remnants of the original sticker.

How do you guys figure out what "Type" it is if not indicated on bottom of jaws? How many Types are there and what are the diffs? Sorry if this has already been posted, only about halfway thru the thread so far.

 

[wolfcj]

You got a good one. It's a 79-001 Type 2. About the top -- none of them ever had a solid wood top. Yours is the unfinished plywood top, which is better than the veneered particle board version. There were also some that had an orange-stained top with a protective finish on it, but they aren't necessarily better.

 

[wolfcj]

You asked about the types and differences.

Here's a photo of a 79-001 Type 4 that I had for a while. It also has the aluminum H-braces, but the photo shows two of the differences from your Type 2: a) the particle-board-core top, and b) the plastic handles.

However, if you try to sort out all the variations B&D sold, it can drive you crazy. One of the premier examples is that there was a late 1970's model also called the 79-001 Type 4, the same designation as the one in the attached photo, but it had the all-steel frame, plastic handles, and the orange-stained top. I still have one of these. And then, to confuse things more, there was also a 79-004 Type 1. And lots more ...

 

[Outlawmws]

Picked up a Free WM 550 off of Freecycle, plus a couple of 36" PRO-Grip™ Twin Clamps

 

[trijeff]

wolfcj, REALLY appreciate the timely and informative replies. Glad I got a good one, thanks to this thread. This thing is going to see a lot of work, already getting the plywood/2x4 tool holders going for four grinders.

 

[joseywales]

I just bought one the other day for $20. Used, but most of the paper label was still on the table top. I cut my finger the week before hacksawing through some laminate. Figured a bench might help next time ; )

 

[txusa03]

Many of your workmate looks like it has not been used much. Anyone know where I can get the adjustable leg with plastic cup for type 2?

Ereplacement parts don't have it.

 

[wolfcj]

The exact originals don't seem to be available, so you have to pick a near substitute. They should be a 5/16-18, which is not hard to find in all sorts of generic varieties, such as these from Lee Valley:
http://www.leevalley.com/us/wood/page.aspx?p=40041&cat=3,40993,41283&ap=1

 

[Outlawmws]

You can also use feet from appliances (Stoves, washers and dryers, some refrigerators...), with the same thread, and most use the same thread...

 

[y'sguy]

I just bought a second WM 79-001 Type 2 this morning as soon as it popped up on CL. $30 and 25 mins away. No pics loaded as yet. But now I have a pair! Will this stop me from searching for more??

 

[Outlawmws]

Probably not...