Other Related Workmates

79-004

79-005

Jobmate 3980

Portable Craft Center

The 79-001 was the first Workmate sold in the United States. It was Ron Hickman's original design, as adapted by Black & Decker for the U.S. market. As I've said, this site is dedicated to the 79-001. However, the huge success of the 79-001 led to some spinoff models that used most of the same components as the 79-001, but with different model numbers or names.

The Workmate 79-004 was a premium model sold in the United States for a relatively short time. It kept the aluminum H-frame on the U.S. market after the 79-001 switched to the steel H-frame. The Workmate 79-005 was the steel-H-frame model for Canada. The Jobmate 3980 was a premium model continuing the aluminum H-frame for Canada.

The Sears Craftsman Portable Craft Center was manufactured by Black & Decker for sale by Sears (in the midst of a patent infringement suit over the Workmate at the time). As far as I know it was the only Workmate 79-001 that was sold under another company's name, although I have seen a Workmate from the 1990's with True Value branding on it in addition to the Black & Decker name.

I have owned a few of these and I also have photos from owners of the other related models. These are presented in the pages linked at the left, which also reveal previously unreported information about these models. If you have another related Workmate from this era (1974-82) that you think belongs here, please contact me.