Workmate 79-001 Accessories
Black & Decker produced six different accessories for the Workmate 79-001, plus five more for the UK market Workmates, and a couple more came along later in the US. To quote their brochure: "Black & Decker 'mates' are a hard working team of accessories that make your Workmate even more versatile!"
The swivel grips could be considered the original accessories; four of them were included with the first Workmates in the UK from at least September 1972. They also came with every Workmate 79-001 from its beginning in 1974, and were available separately as part no. 79-010. The next three accessories--79-011 and 79-016 Gripmate, the 79-012 Mitremate, and 79-013 Routermate—were created for the U.S. market and introduced starting in 1976. I bought all three of them in 1978 for use with my 79-001 Type 4. The 79-015 Guidemate came along in 1979, followed by the 79-018 Horizontal Clamp. My examples of these last two were purchased used during the 2010's. Five additional accessories were sold in the UK and Europe for the WM225, WM325, WM525, WM625 and other UK Workmates. These are the WM110 Universal Extender Arms, the WM120 Metal Vice Claddings, the WM130 Tool Tray, the WM140 Saw Table, and the WM190 Universal Baseplate. All but the 79-010 swivel grips have since been discontinued. A lot were sold, so they can all still be found online from eBay, Facebook Marketplace, and Craigslist as well as at garage sales, estate sales, and auctions. I have owned and used most of the accessories. Check out my reports on them from the links on the left. You can find the original instruction manuals for most of them on the Documents page. |