Stanley Folding Worktable

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 9:49 am

Does anybody have or have used one of these Stanley Folding Worktables?

I happened to see one of these at a local hardware store and thought it looked pretty handy. The clamps seemed a little lightweight and I'd worry about that clamp handle breaking under much stress, but the $30 price wasn't too bad.

Anybody have experience with one of these?

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 11:11 am

I have no experience with the Stanley but I can recommend one of these by Black and Decker.

heathicus · Post by **heathicus** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 11:22 am

I have an old Workmate and really enjoy it. The Stanley is a bit different, though. I like a lot of the design elements, but don't like all the plastic.

nuhobby · Post by **nuhobby** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 11:53 am

I have an old Craftsman copy of a Workmate table. Comments:

Clamping/Gluing workpieces: It's super versatile. The new plastic one you showed should do all that and more.

Heavy hand-planing or sawing (e.g., jointing boards by hand): I can do this on my old table owing to the fact I can plant my foot on a metal cross-member between the 2 front legs. That really keeps it from moving, and cuts down the racking. The new plastic unit may not be so good there.

dgale · Post by **dgale** » Tue Dec 03, 2013 1:40 pm

The plastic is what makes me leary...I have two old (circa 1970's) B&D WorkMates and both are built like tanks and with some occasional lubing they will easily outlast me. If I needed something similar, I'd be inclined to try and find a used older WorkMate on CL or a garage sale etc. Unfortunately the newer version of the WorkMate looks faily cheap as well, at least in comparison to the older models.