Customer Reviews
Don't waste your money 
2009-01-06
I picked one up last year, and it broke on it's first use. Unbelievable that it uses hard plastic parts in it's clamping. They won't last five minutes.
Get past the poor quality and make it work. 
2009-01-01
On occasion, I will assemble things in the house. Furniture, toys, Christmas trees; I fix everything in the house from toys to outlets to the boiler (not really). I see all kinds of build quality, and this is an exemplary instance of great design poorly implemented.
My neighbor has a twenty-year old version of this, in the 550-lb capacity size. Durable, solid, and well-used. He lent it to me when I was building my firewood rack this summer, and it made the job easy. I immediately told my wife, "This is all I want for Christmas".
Well, I got more than this, but I did get it, a 350-lb version from a big box. I had some molding to install, so I decided I'd take ten minutes to assemble it and see if I could use it.
A half-hour later, I discovered it would not open wide enough to fit the miter box and hold it between the boards. I could have used the plastic stoppers, but one of the legs was broken on shipment. And, I was already frustrated with the assembly process.
The instruction pictures are too small. Skip the four languages of useless text, just ship bigger pictures next time. I did figure out which cross plate went where, after doing it wrong. And the edges and bends of the metal were not clean or precisely angled on one side. In short, a cheap and poorly-made version of a well-designed tool.
I'll use it, and make it work, but I have little expectations of it lasting very long. Twenty years might be out of the question. Still, if it helps me on my 2009 projects, it'll be well worth it. And I still appreciate the gift!
-C
Ain't what it used to be??? 
2008-12-06
It seems the reviewers who have had this work beanch for years love it. The disappointed customers are those of us who purchased it recently. I bought two recently at a sale plus rebate that brought the price down to $10 each, primarily to use as saw horses. They seem to be ok for that purpose, but I was very disappointed with the quality.
When I went to assemble the first one, it was excruciatingly slow because, although the process is not complicated, the instructions are poorly written and printed in type so small as to be unreadable even with a magnifying glass. I finally had to find the tech doc at B & D's website, enlarge it and print it to begin to decipher it.
Well, I figure the second one would be a piece of cake. Wrong! The parts were so poorly matched and out of alignment that I spent hours putting two screws in place, and finally had to force the pieces into alignment with c-clamps and a hammer. Absurd.
Finally, with libertal application of WD40 I have two folding saw horses that are probable woth $10 each, but certainly not full reatil.
I don't think I have to tell you where it was made. Deosn't anyone in the Free World make stuff anymore?
outstanding 
2008-11-16
I got what I ordered , I got it fast, and I got it cheaper. an exceptional pleasing experience.
Great portable stand 2008-11-13
I have used this stand for about a year on many jobsites in a variety of ways e.g. clamping,miter stand, table saw stand, etc. If you looking for light weight stand that gives solid performance.
David
Complete junk 2008-07-24
Sold as each. 350 lb. weight capacity provides sturdy work surface. Jaws resist warping & swelling. Includes swivel pegs and integral retention grooves in jaws for versatility and holding reliability in clamping difficult materials. Folds flat for easy storage and portability. Rubber feet prevent unit from slipping. Dual clamp cranks. Boxed. Manufacturer's number: WM125. Buy Hardware Supplies SKU #: 2105138. Country of origin: China. Distributed by Black & Decker.
Good product depending on your needs 2008-07-14
This may not be the best, most equipped or heaviest workmate on the market, but depending on your actual needs, this could be the best one for you. I looked at all the workmate benches, but figured for my basic needs, this one would do. After using it quite a lot, for about $20, I am going to buy another one to use them as saw horses or for working with long product. This is a solid bench that folds very flat, taking up very little space. It comes with four of the orange pegs and the vise is grooved for holding pipe under 2". For an active DIY guy, this one does the job for me, and when I am done, I will be able to hang both on the same set of wall pegs. The only con for me, is that you have to watch your fingers carefully when folding this unit flat.
Doen't work as a steady table 
2008-04-03
I bought this item and found the set up to be ok until they tell you to hammer in metal pieces to hold the handles in. There is no easy angle to hit them in and it seemed to take forever to get them in while trying to not damage the wood parts. After deciding to return the item I could not fit the item back in the box because I could not get the handles off again.
The main problem was that it does not work as a table, just as a vice. The problem is that there is about 1-2 cm left in between the handles and the edge of the table. This means that the movable part of the table jiggles. So if one puts a clamp on the movable side of the table to hold a piece of wood steady, it will jiggle too. A good part of the reason why I bought it was to use it with a circular saw, but if the wood I am clamping down jiggles, there isn't going to be much precision in my cuts. I returned it and got a Stanley workbench instead. It does not jiggle at all. And yes, I did screw all screws and bolts in very tightly. It is a flaw in design.
Nice little workmate for the money 2008-03-06
Very confusing instructions but I got the tables (bought two) put together just fine. The parts fit perfectly but you must put it together correctly (hard to do from the instructions). The leg braces are of different widths so they must go on the correct legs (the widest brace - the one with the B&D label - goes on the widest set of legs). The roll pins to secure the handles to the screw shafts are too big. So, either compress them to a smaller size or better yet, replace them with 8-32 x 1-1/4 inch machine screws with nylon insert lock nuts. The machine screw route is a perfect fit and leaves no slack (play) so the handles will last longer. It took a while to get the tables together due to the confusing instructions but in the end it was well worth it. They are very nice tables for the price.
Works well, but is difficult to assemble. 2008-03-01
The WM125 works well. It's most important feature for me is that it really does fold up small. (I live in an apartment.)
It's strong and stable enough to support a Dremel 220-01 Rotary Tool Work Station without shaking.
The only completely negative thing I have to say is that the assembly directions were terrible. I'm an engineer, and I had to completely start over three times before I got it right. The directions are so bad that at one point, I thought one of the clamping jaws (wood panels) was drilled wrong at the factory and was preparing to redrill it myself. Fortunately, I realized that I just had the other one backwords, because the directions showed it that way.
I also have one concern that isn't certain yet, but I expect to become a problem: The locking nuts are slowly collapsing the steel square tube legs. Basically, the locking screws and nuts, which prevent the work station from collapsing while you use it, are much tougher than the tubing in the legs. (This is good from a safety point of view: Better that the leg gets squashed over time than that the work station collapses while you are working with a power tool.)
Both of those issues to the side, I still consider it an excellent buy. If it does fail on me, I'll probably just buy the next better version. The basic design is excellent.
