BLACK+DECKER WM425-A Portable Workbench, Project Center, and Vise - The Ultimate Multifunctional Tool

Donna: My husband has an old one he’s had for many years and he needed a second one. Aside from the top getting worn from a lot of use, it still works well. It’ll take years for the writing on the top to wear off if you keep it out of the weather.

United States on Dec 12, 2023

THOMAS A HIDAY: The table itself seems okay. I am using it to replace a twenty year old model that I have more or less worn out. It is a bit complicated to put together and operate. All the verbiage in the owner's manual is in Spanish. There are some pictures that are too small and not always self explanatory. I was able to find on-line videos that show the process. The same goes for operating the table.

The first table-top slat is the one that operates like a vice and moves forward and back on a traveler when a crank is turned. The two travelers, left and right, were not aligned and it is difficult to align them. If they are no aligned, the vice slat will be out of alignment and won't clamp things square. Plus, it is hard to get things lined up to be fastened in place. The crank handles are connected so that if you turn one, say on the left, both handles turn, freeing one hand to hold your project in place while you clamp it. This feature only sort of works. The handle you are turning moves more than the other side.

When fully put together and ready for use the table weighs about 40 pounds, which is heavy, but also why it is rated to hold up to 550...

United States on Sep 18, 2023

J. D.: To all those who wrote comments on how difficult this was to assemble and how the directions were worthless… they should not be doing anything that requires a work bench. I do wood work part time and the assembly took 15 minutes and was super easy to follow. My shop is in the garage and don’t have a lot of space. This bench is perfect and very sturdy. Love that it folds up for quick storage. And the price is very reasonable. Very happy with this.

United States on Sep 17, 2023

NickNC100: Heavier than expected, but quite sturdy. Had to turn it on its side to fold it up. Lots of options for holding items in place. Allow an hour for assembly, not counting the time it takes to watch a YouTube video on how to do it.

United States on Sep 13, 2023

Simon J Harris: They sure don't make WorkMates they they used to. This unit is poorly manufactured, the jaws doesn't open and close parallel and everything is loose and wobbly. Will be returning.

Australia on Jun 22, 2022

PawPaw: This is a good sturdy bench for the homeowner. It is not intended to be commercial grade. I like it because I can move it around by myself and it has a lot of options to hold projects you are working on. I am 63 and don't bend in the middle well anymore lol and this keeps work easy to reach. Folds up to be stowed away out of the way.

United States on Apr 07, 2022

Bellevoir: There are only 3 workmates widely available in the UK, and they are all basic or compact models. So I ordered 2 of these and had them shipped from the US (kinda expensive)

Do yourself a favour and throw away the assembly instructions. They are the usual cryptic diagram nonsense with no text. Would it really be so much trouble to provide multi-lingual instructions with actual text, how many of these do B&D sell a year, yet cant be bothered to hire a one-off translator?

Anyway, search youtube for "how to assemble your workmate 425" by "workmateguy" and this will help you lots

The wooden surfaces are nice, made from compressed bamboo, kinda shiny and rigid like laminate floor boards. No warping for me, although other users have had this problem.

The metal frame feels quite cheaply machined with lots of sharp edges, although seems sturdy enough. The rubber caps simply refuse to stay gripped onto the feet, so will either have to be glued on, or drilled and then bolted.

The two vice handles are connected in tandem with a cheap plastic belt. It doesn't work very well and also removes the ability to close the vice at an angle. You...

United Kingdom on Jan 16, 2022

mikmik: Used this a few times now, a handy table to have, I do for the vice function, it's quite useless for what I need and the edges of Ave gone mouldy, so going to have this clean that up and varnish the edges. It hasn't been outside only in the garage and none of my other wood has gone mouldy.

Australia on Jul 27, 2021

Frank Tovar: En el poco tiempo de uso esta mesa me ha servico como mil, excelente mesa y buen soporte, me ayuda mucho en los trabajos con madera y corte.

Mexico on Dec 04, 2020

Alvaro Hernandez: La descripción corta de este banco debiera ser: Sólido y Funcional.

Muy útil para trabajar sin problemas con tablones de triplay de 19mm de 1m x 50cm, quizá con tablones de más de 1 metro pueda resultar pequeño, sobretodo si no cuentas con las herramientas de fijación adecuadas para el tamaño de tablas que utilices. Aún para material más grande puede ser útil si se complementa con un burro que permita dar soporte adicional al material trabajado.

Hay cosas que se pueden trabajar muy rápido gracias a sus múltiples posiciones, que sirven a manera de prensas aunque la presión de estas no permita trabajar con material muy grande o muy pesado.

En particular he podido trabajar sin dificultades con la cierra circular y utilizandolo como base para la mesa de un router. Es muy conveniente además el poderlo plegar cuando no es utilizado.

Me parece una muy buena opción para quienes se inician en la carpintería de forma seria y que además no tienen mucho espacio para trabajar.

Mexico on Jun 12, 2017