BLACK+DECKER Workmate Portable Workbench, 425-to-550-Pound Capacity (WM425)

I ordered mine from HD. It arrived in two days with no packaging problem. It took me less than 15 minutes to assemble. It took me longer to lightly grease the sliding and moving parts. I greased the plastic belt that is used to synchronize the cranking, the bottom of the front blocks, the vise screws threads, the hole of the vise screw so the pin would tap in easier, all the hinges and springs.It seems that a lot of people had problems putting the pins in. To put in the pin I greased the hole in the vise screw, greased the pin, squeezed one end of the pin, ran the pin in and out of the vise crank hole to loosen the hole. The trick is to turn the vise screw so the hole is pointing up, lightly grease the hole AND PUSH the vise screw towards you. (This is important cause if you don't then when you push and tap in the pin into the vise crank onto the vise screw the holes might not be aligned and go in.) Once you push the vise crank onto the vise screw, align the holes, push the pin into the vise crank and feel that it is seated(onto the groove) to the vise screw hole (make sure that the vise screw is still pushed towards you). Put your hand under the vise crank to hold it while you now lightly tap the pin with a small hammer. Use your hand to hold it up while you're tapping. Do the same to the other vise cranks.Step #7 says "Install the front vise jaw on top of the TOP BLOCKS". It should be "FRONT BLOCKS" not top blocks.You can use a ratchet instead of the included wrench to tighten the 6 screws to the blocks. It will be easier. Just tighten slowly. Do not over tighten the front blocks or it will not slide easily forward or backwards when you turn the crank. You might even break the plastic vise crank and/or belt while trying to turn it if you over tighten the screws to the front blocks which I think many people did after reading their reviews not knowing why their crank broke and blaming it on where it's made and the product.Lightly grease the vise screws, the bottom of the front block and the belt. Then turn BOTH cranks with BOTH hands several times fully back and forth to loosen it otherwise the belt might snap if one of the vise screw is too tight.When it's standing on its side while it is folded up, it doesn't seem to be too steady so what I did was I added 4 leveling rubber feet to the bottom. I drilled 4 holes, tapped it and screwed in leveling rubber feet. Now it doesn't tilt over, it doesn't mar or scratch the floor or damage the bottom of the workbench when standing up. I made my own one time tap screw since I didn't own any. I got a bolt with the same screw threading, used the workbench and clamp dogs to clamp on the bolt and used my rotory tool to slices 4 slots on the bolt. Then drilled a hole slightly smaller than the threading into the bottom of the workbench , used a ratchet and slowly tapped the hole to create the threading. (See the pictures that I added)The only issue I had was that the middle board was slightly warped other than that everything else was perfect. I called customer service and they said they will send me a complimentary replacement and should receive it in 7-10 business days.Hope this helps people who are having a hard time assembling it and issues with the boards.And for less than $100 what do you expect a tank?Loving this bench and their customer service.update..6/3/13 .... received the new bamboo clamp boards today. They sent me all three boards not just the warped one that I told them about. Great customer service. Still loving the workbench. So versatile.

Occasinally, I do small to medium DIY projects at home. I used to do them on the garage floor or on a paint bucket turned upside down. Then a neighbor let me borrow his Black & Decker WM425. It was infinitely more comfortable to work on than my previous "work surfaces". I watched the price of this workbench on Amazon, and bought one when it dropped to ~$90.I did not have any damage to the box or the bench from shipping that some others reported. The workbench comes partially assembled. It took me less than 30 minutes to unpack parts and to complete assembly. I like that the workbench has two hight settings, and that jaws are removable, and that the front jaw can be used for clamping in both vertical and horizontal positions.There is a plastic belt with notches that connects two toothed wheels on the back of the vise cranks, so, supposedly, you can turn only one crank and the other will turn by itself. Occasionally, that belt slips (although it is easy to reinstall) and cranks do not turn in sync. To avoid slipping of the belt and having to deal with reinstallation, I turn both cranks by hand.Also, I wish the packaging box was big enough to keep assembled workbench in. I would prefer that to hanging the workbench on the garage wall, because I am sure the workbench will get very dusty in the garage over time.

I purchased this work table instead of just going with a couple of sawhorses because I thought it would be a more versatile device to have around, and I must say that so far I've been very happy with that decision. I was split between this one, the WM 425, and the smaller, less expensive WM 225. I decided to go with the 425 because for an extra $20, it comes with an extra board for a wider working surface, and it has the option to fold the clamping side of the table at a 90 degree angle for vertical clamping - this can be quite handy when you want to clamp a very wide piece of wood (say a sheet of plywood). In my own projects, I found the extra table space to be quite handy, though I haven't used the vertical clamping feature yet. To be fair, any ol' piece of wood could add table space to the 225, so that one might be a better value. And the 225 is smaller and lighter, which is likely an asset for apartment dwellers or those with limited storage space or need for this slightly more complicated version of the Workmate.The WM 425 unit is fairly easy to set up, though the instructions can be a bit cryptic. It comes mostly assembled, but for the table tops. One problem I had was that the two screw mechanisms were out of alignment, and I found it wasn't really easy to adjust them. Another thing that I found difficult to do was use the included "wrench" tool to secure the bolts - the included wrench is made of plastic and shaped like a wing nut, and though I think I'm a fairly strong guy I found it took a lot of energy to get a nice tight fit using that tool. I switched to using a socket wrench which made the process easier and faster. But it all worked out, and after a half an hour I had this thing together without too much hassle. The construction of this table is very solid, and while I haven't used it enough to know whether parts will wear eventually, it certainly feels like it's built to last for many years.Once it's set up, using the WM 425 is straightforward; just take whatever you'd like to work on, open the "jaws" of the clamping table to the appropriate width, then clamp it down. The middle board comes out, and the top part of the table (the plank furthest from the clamp handles) can be moved in to the middle position. This affords it a lot of options for width. The unit comes with four orange clamping pegs which can be put in to the surface of the table to provide more flexibility in adjusting the table to the right size, or working with different angles. I'd recommend getting a couple of extra spring or bar clamps though, especially if working with a lot of odd shaped materials or when doing a lot of cuts - the pegs are okay, but don't work in every situation all that easily, and they take some time to adjust.When all is done, the table folds up nice and neat. Folding or unfolding it takes a little getting used to, and you have to watch your fingers so they don't get pinched, but overall its easy once you get the hang of it. As an apartment dweller with limited space for storage, I found the fact that I could easily fold and store the Workmate to be its key feature. And now, even though I don't have a garage, I have an handy table on which to do work other than the dining room table.