In 1978 while living in a rental house, I let it be known in my household that I really needed a Black & Decker Workmate. Sure enough, a Workmate 79-001 Type 4 showed up for my birthday that summer and I've had it ever since. Within a year we bought a house, and I quickly added the Gripmates, Mitremate, and Routermate to my setup. I loved my Workmate and used it as my only workbench for many tasks and projects over the years. By the early 90's, I got serious about woodworking and created a proper shop in the basement with a real woodworking bench. My use of the Workmate decreased, but it still played an important part.
In about 2010 I came across another vintage Workmate, different than mine, at an estate sale and bought it. That sent me looking for information about the Workmate on the web and one of the sites I came across was Kirk Eppler's on smugmug. I was fascinated by the collection of photos and the spreadsheet that summarized them. Since then I have been buying and selling early Workmates, while studying them and recording the details.
In 2016, I found the Garage Journal forum and its lengthy discussion thread about Workmates. Hearing from other owners on Garage Journal and seeing their finds has been a huge help. First of all, I have learned a great deal. Beyond that, I found that the Workmate has a larger following than I would have imagined.
As I saw new members drop in and ask the same questions over and over, and I saw great information being posted in a rather transient, unorganized format, I became inspired to do something about it. That's why I created this web site.
When I started this website in January 2020, I owned four Workmate 79-001's (Type E, 2, 3, and 4), intentionally limiting myself for space reasons. To do the proper job I wanted to do on the website, I needed to have one of every Type of the 79-001 so I went on a buying spree in 2020. As of December 2021, I now have twelve and a half of them, most in excellent original condition. You can see ten of them posed together on my Family Portrait page. I also have a second, earlier Type 2, purchased after I shot the family portrait, shown on the Type 2 page. I also have all of the Accessories for the Workmate, as well as a 79-020 Type 1 bench top Workmate. I have owned and sold another dozen or so additional Workmates over the years, most with the aluminum H-frame.
Chris Wolf
In about 2010 I came across another vintage Workmate, different than mine, at an estate sale and bought it. That sent me looking for information about the Workmate on the web and one of the sites I came across was Kirk Eppler's on smugmug. I was fascinated by the collection of photos and the spreadsheet that summarized them. Since then I have been buying and selling early Workmates, while studying them and recording the details.
In 2016, I found the Garage Journal forum and its lengthy discussion thread about Workmates. Hearing from other owners on Garage Journal and seeing their finds has been a huge help. First of all, I have learned a great deal. Beyond that, I found that the Workmate has a larger following than I would have imagined.
As I saw new members drop in and ask the same questions over and over, and I saw great information being posted in a rather transient, unorganized format, I became inspired to do something about it. That's why I created this web site.
When I started this website in January 2020, I owned four Workmate 79-001's (Type E, 2, 3, and 4), intentionally limiting myself for space reasons. To do the proper job I wanted to do on the website, I needed to have one of every Type of the 79-001 so I went on a buying spree in 2020. As of December 2021, I now have twelve and a half of them, most in excellent original condition. You can see ten of them posed together on my Family Portrait page. I also have a second, earlier Type 2, purchased after I shot the family portrait, shown on the Type 2 page. I also have all of the Accessories for the Workmate, as well as a 79-020 Type 1 bench top Workmate. I have owned and sold another dozen or so additional Workmates over the years, most with the aluminum H-frame.
Chris Wolf