BLACK+DECKER Workmate 825 Dual-Height Workbench, WM825-XJ

Ok putting this thing together should have taken a few minutes, but after looking at the instruction for 5 minutes I just threw them away and watched a youtube video. The instructions have no bearing on assembling the workmate and may as well be written in Ancient Greek for all the use they were. Sort it out black and decker. As for the item itself it is nice and sturdy. Although the handles seem very wobbly and loose compared to my old workmate. Just another example of using cheaper materials/ fixings I suppose that we`ve come to expect in modern day life. I did have one issue when it was assembled, the plastic strip that runs from one handle to the other (to help with tightening both handles when only one is being turned) was all twisted and not connected underneath. So had to fiddle about with that to get it all lines up and reconnected. Not the end of the world but 5 minutes of fiddling about with a new item which I shouldn't have needed to do.

I spent some time reading these fairly mixed reviews before deciding to purchase the Workmate. It arrived on time, well packaged and well built. The stand is probably much lighter than the originals but it's made from pressed steel with dished stiffeners. As soon as I erected it I knew it would easily deal with anything I could throw at it. The dual height option is great since the lower height is ideal for acting as a stand for my router table. The instructions are terrible... but hey... if your buying it you're probably interested in DIY therefore sure to have at least some "mechanical aptitude". I ditched the instructions and just figured it out, I quite enjoyed the challenge. There's only 8 parts and 4 bolts for heavens sake. The top is thick level and clearly marked. I don't suppose the marked on angles and measurements are accurate to a micron, but as a guide they're great. The much criticised plastic belt that connects the two clamping handles is "clearly" designed for quickly spinning the jaws to the clamping position, and then tightening with one hand on each handle to nip it up. Anyone who expects to put all their weight on one handle and have it transferred to the other by the belt without breaking it is, in my opinion, expecting far too much. It folds impressively flat for its size. Finally two little niggles, but neither hamper its operation. Folding the feet back down relies on a bit of a "plasticy" clicky catch. The release bar that is pulled for the 90 degree clamping option is a bit "rickety" All in all a great purchase! Would easily recommend.

This is a sturdy workbench; dual height and very flexible when in use. However, there are a few niggles! Firstly, the assembly instructions are AWFUL. I had looked at other reviews so i suspected they were poor, but wow, for an established brand leader, this is unacceptable. I suggest you watch youtube videos to help with assembly. Once assembled, it all works well, but the 825 deluxe has handles that rotate together so you can adjust one-handed. A useful feature you would assume, but you can't tighten up properly unless you use both handles. What I can't suss out is the disengagement of this feature to adjust angled jaws. These a spring underneath but unless you pull these back by hand on each side, the drive belt just 'skips' the holes. I don't hold out much hope for the longevity of this bit, TBH. I think I'll disengage the belt and not use the one-handed adjustment at all. Will it last years? Well I hope so; my previous one was the earliest version and still going strong (albeit with replacement wooden jaws). It's good, but the instructions make for a bad first impression. Come on B&D, sort it out!!

Well made, easy to assemble and sturdy when in use

These are a great workbench, the last one I had over 20 years, (and left it when moving house, stupid !) This model WM825 Plus, dual height is very sturdy, just fold the legs out, move two spring release levers and up she comes, very practical. The only slight problem I am having is the left side table top jaw screw is slipping a bit, like a slightly stripped thread, to save a lot of time, effort and money I contacted B & D Support Department and asked if they would just send the item 125 as shown in the booklet. But as it is in the 30 day u/g period they will NOT help, they want me to return it to Amazon, and get a replacement, even though Amazon say contact B & D for help. "They were very unhelpful." I can get the part from partshopdirect.co.uk for £2.99 plus postage ! what would be the cost of a carrier return etc. after all, it is for DIY use, and an easy part to replace. The world has gone mad ! But at the end of the day a great fold down workbench, and now I know I can get all the parts without trying to get any sense out of Black & Decker Support Department, and I say to myself, what was the point of registering this product anyway ! Mike B.

** Updated after receiving a replacement unit for the one described in the original review below. I have added one star to reflect three things. First, everything was attached to the new unit and the wooden tops were not damaged. Second, after researching what I might get instead for under £100 I struggled to find anything that jumped out as obviously better or as flexible in clamping options. Lastly, it hadn't occurred to me that the unit's top can be repaired (hopefully not needed any time soon), upgraded and customised by knocking up your own wooden work surfaces to suit. It would get another star if the one handed operation worked (the plastic belt and slipping cog mechanism are still bobbins - perhaps grease will help but I suspect that I will just detach the belt and use two hands) and another if it were a little sturdier. It's not flimsy but there is some movement when in saw-horse use. Photos are from the original review.** This Workmate 825 Deluxe may be stable enough if you get as far as using it but mine never made it that far for a few reasons. The most obvious is that the plastic belt that supposedly allows one-handed adjustment of both sides at once, whilst also allowing diagonal clamping through it deliberately slipping, is useless. For work on the angle it looks like the cogs should slip over pins in the shafts by pushing against a spring but what actually happens is that the belt stretches and slips over the teeth on one or the other of the cogs. This invariably means that either the belt slips off a cog entirely or one end of the clamp moves away from the material being clamped when you release the handle because of tension in the belt material. When you return to one-handed adjustment of both sides the belt regularly slips over the cog teeth or off the cog entirely even when just adjusting the empty clamp. Secondly, the handle that allows 90 degree operation was bent on arrival and so did not engage properly in the frame on one side without some adjustment, risking it falling back flat. There were also two random loose springs in the box which I think should hold the handle in its engaged state, assuming it’s straight enough to engage at all. Without them in place you must remember to push the handle back in to lock it in the upright position. Lastly, out of the box some of the surface of the wood with the instructions and measurements on was lifting away. It may or may not last more than a few light jobs before deteriorating further. If this had been the only issue I might have been willing to suck it and see but the other issues make it a non-starter. As others have mentioned (along with the belt issue) the instructions are beyond useless for assembly. It’s not impossible to work it out but is it really so hard to show which component goes where? It turns a five minute job into a much longer one. Perhaps it’s a rogue unit - instructions aside -but others seem to have experienced similar issues. Based on this one, not recommended.

Brilliant piece of equipment.

I ordered this to help with some DIY around the house and garden. Yesterday, I needed to shave 5mm from the end of two 30cm pieces of wood. Yet it took me and my (25 year old) son almost 3 hours and most of it was wasted on this useless piece of *&@! We opened the box and a piece fell out - not a good start. We could see from the picture on the box where it should go but couldn't figure out how to attach it properly. Turns out it was the handle to allow you to tip one of the work surfaces through 90 degrees. I didn't realise that we would end up having to build most of it once we'd unboxed it, using instructions that were pitiful and not very clear at all. They made the Ikea pictures look like a fantastic work of literature. Most of the parts were incorrectly toleranced: bits that should have snapped together only loosely fitted and bits that should have been able to move were too tight. Some parts were missing screw threads and others were made of a plastic so malleable that the threads ripped out at the first sight of the bolt to which it attaches. We persevered and then when I one to hold the piece of wood for cutting, one of the grips rotated and shifted. I'm glad I hadn't started with my jigsaw at that point! I went with what I perceived to be the brand leader: I wanted something simple, stable and reliable and it failed on all three accounts. I'm not sure if they're all like this or if I received a bad one but I am a long way from being impressed. I have a 20 year old B&D drill and it still works perfectly. Looks like Bosch or Makita will be getting my hard earned pennies from now on.

De verpakking was beschadigd. Samen met de DHL bezorger uitgebreid gekeken maar alles was gelukkig compleet en onbeschadigd. Wat betreft het in elkaar zetten van deze Black+Decker Workmate. Wat een ramp, er zit geen installatie handleiding bij.

It is a bit disappointing as compared to a workmate I had 30 years ago, I wore it out. The metal is thinner. The part that rotates (the smaller board) is very loose, it does not lay flat or evenly with the larger board. The tray between the handles was eliminated. The board previously supplied just above the retractable legs has been eliminated, hence a place to hold tools is gone. I will cut and fit a board in there. It's deluxe? The holes do not hold the plastic wrench so the wrench is loose and is easily lost. The assembly instructions are awful, very lacking. The dogs are larger than I remember which is good. It is still rather unique in its capabilities and I look forward to using it. I am disappointed in the changes that were made in its design. Quality is lacking. Weight and ease of use are fine. Durability, time will tell. Sturdiness is fine.

Stadig konstruktion, står still. Bra med två höjder.

Da ich relativ hohe Ansprüche habe, sind volle fünf Punkte für mich eher ein Novum. Doch diese Werkbank ist zu diesem Preis wirklich unschlagbar! Ich hatte mir vorher in Baumärkten diverse andere Produkte angeschaut, sowohl anderer Hersteller, als auch des gleichen, und keine konnte auch nur ansatzweise mit der Workmate WM825 mithalten. Die Werkbank ist enorm stabil, leicht zu bedienen und sehr hochwertig verarbeitet. Die zweistufige Arbeitshöhe ist ebenfalls top, auch wenn die niedrigere Höhe für meinen Geschmack und meine Größe (1,8m) etwas zu niedrig geraten ist. Aber dennoch schön, dass auch kleinere Menschen bedacht wurden. Absolut genial und einzigartig ist die Möglichkeit eine Seite des Tisches um 90° zu kippen, wobei das Werkstück immer noch bombenfest gehalten wird. Da hatte ich zuvor etwas Bedenken. Lediglich die Kanten sind noch etwas zu scharf und könnten hier und dort noch etwas besser abgerundet sein. Die Lieferung erfolgte in Rekordgeschwindigkeit und dauerte von der Bestellung bis zur Lieferung nur einen Tag. Allerdings wurde auf "normales" Füllmaterial beim versenden verzichtet und der riesige Karton (die Werkbank wurde komplett montiert geliefert) mit alten Verpackungen, also Müll gefüllt. Einerseits eine tolle Idee zur Müllvermeidung, andererseits eine unverschämte Art seinen Hausmüll bei den Kunden abzuladen. Die Wertung darüber überlasse ich jedem selbst, weshalb ich dafür keinen Punkt abziehe!

Estupendo banco de trabajo para realizar trabajos caseros como yo, muy fácil de plegar y desplegar. Pesa lo suficiente para ser estable, no 1kg como dicen, podían rectificarlo, es de risa. Aun siendo fácil de montar te tienes que buscar la vida porque las instrucciones brillan por su ausencia.