The worksite work bench

[ToughButterCup]

Reading this post with interest, , it occurred to me that I have about four workbenches of various sorts distributed round the site. And so I wondered what others do....

The workbench , or in my case, the lack of one, was instrumental in sacking our first builder. Here's how.

 

The Durisol blocks we use need cutting to size sometimes. And for speed, the lads would make a small pile of  Durisol blocks on which to balance the top block: the one that needed to be cut. That's fine, until in trimming the top block to size they  damaged the one below. Perhaps just a bit. But just as perhaps , a bit too much. And before you know it,  when pouring concrete in the block with a cut in it, you have a burst. And God knows how much concrete on the floor.

 

Explicit instructions to use one of the four temporary work benches provided were given to everyone in the company. One bollocking followed another, followed by a sense of humour failure on my part. Instrumental in the series of issues leading to a departure stage left for the company concerned. 

 

Currently I have

• two piles of pallets,  each a different height
• an old (20 years) Black and Decker Workmate
• A Bosch table saw framework with a bespoke OSB insert
• an old stainless steel restaurant  kitchen  work bench

The most useful is the pile of pallets. Just the right height, adjustable, just the right weight, easy to cramp work to the top level. Very adaptable.

 

What have you used?

[Lesgrandepotato]

This is our version. Two big trestles with a series of scaf boards over the top. 

[ProDave]

Another one using 2 trestles and 4 scaf planks as a site workbench. Oh and my 25 year old Workmate 800

 

 

[Guest Alphonsox]

We used pallets and supported scaffold planks in various combinations.

I would caution against having Workmates on site - they are not builder compatible. In our case a particularly "stout" plasterer decided to use mine as a platform to help reach a tricky bit of ceiling, luckily his apprentice caught him when the MDF top board snapped.

[Jeremy Harris]

I used two very ancient Workmates, of unknown vintage, but they date from before we got married, so are well over 30 years old.  Sometimes they were used as trestles, but most of the time I had the mitre saw fitted to one of the them, with a couple of cheap Ebay folding roller supports for holding long stuff.  I made up a bit of ply with a bit of studwork screwed underneath, with the mitre saw screwed down to the ply and the bit of studwork gripped in the workmate.  This worked very well, and meant when I needed to use both workmates as trestles I could just unclamp the mitre saw.

[Jeremy Harris]

20 minutes ago, Alphonsox said:

We used pallets and supported scaffold planks in various combinations.

I would caution against having Workmates on site - they are not builder compatible. In our case a particularly "stout" plasterer decided to use mine as a platform to help reach a tricky bit of ceiling, luckily his apprentice caught him when the MDF top board snapped.

 

 

Must have been a new'ish workmate, as both mine have some sort of light coloured hardwood tops, not MDF.

[Guest Alphonsox]

11 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

 

 

Must have been a new'ish workmate, as both mine have some sort of light coloured hardwood tops, not MDF.

 

Mid-90s I think -  it had also been heavily abused. I seem to remember having a Jaguar engine balanced on it at one point.

The original Workmate was designed to be stood upon IIRC. The question is would you guarantee the operation of your decades old Workmate as a work platform for a 120Kg Irish plasterer ?

[PeterW]

Pallets are used by us, and we also have a pair of Wickes hop ups that are perfect when you’ve got a couple of scaffold boards across them. They are £25 normally but they have them on offer at £20 occasionally and with trade discount off too they are cheap enough to have two or three about the place. 

[ProDave]

2 hours ago, Alphonsox said:

We used pallets and supported scaffold planks in various combinations.

I would caution against having Workmates on site - they are not builder compatible. In our case a particularly "stout" plasterer decided to use mine as a platform to help reach a tricky bit of ceiling, luckily his apprentice caught him when the MDF top board snapped.

Perhaps the newer ones re less good?  Mine has a plywood top, finished in a very hard waterproof covering. It makes a very handy "hop up" and is used regularly for that purpose.

[jack]

17 hours ago, ProDave said:

Perhaps the newer ones re less good?  Mine has a plywood top, finished in a very hard waterproof covering. It makes a very handy "hop up" and is used regularly for that purpose.

 

I was looking at buying a couple of years ago and all the reports say that the older they are, the better the quality. The new ones are apparently a pile of cack.

[Jeremy Harris]

Just had a look at mine and they do have light coloured varnished ply tops, not hardwood as I originally thought.  Hard to tell under all the scars and paint splashes, though.............