As you can imagine, I often search the web for Workmate-related information. One of the most remarkable things I have come across is a short recollection written by the original marketing manager for the Workmate in the United States. I found this in the comment section of a posting about the Workmate at the "toolmonger" blog. The blog appears to have been inactive since 2014 although the web site is still functioning as I write this. I didn't want to take a chance on it being deleted so I'm reproducing the posted comment below in its entirety, with numerous typos left intact. The poster gave his name only as "Thomas", posting the following on July 8, 2012:
It's been an exciting past couple of weeks here! I'm thrilled to announce a breakthrough in my documentation of the Workmate 79-001—I have broken the code to determine the actual production date of many, if not most, Workmate 79-001's!
A few weeks ago I was idly looking at the number on a Workmate and had an inspiration—the pattern of the digits could be seen as a type of date. I started checking my own Workmates as well as my large collection of Workmate photos, and it all clicked into place. Once I had it, it was actually embarrassing that I had not figured it out sooner. These numbers are production codes from the Brockville, Ontario factory that date our Workmates for us!
But First, A Plea for Help------------ I want to add as many Workmate 79-001's as possible to my list of documented dates, in order to narrow down even further the start and end of each Type, as well as the dates when the changes in components happened within certain Types. I need the help of owners to do this. If you have a 79-001 with a readable 5-digit code stamped under the wooden jaws or on the metal footrest, please use my Contact page to send me the code. I will reply with my email and ask you to send one or more photos to document it. Please help with this crowd-sourcing effort to document the Workmate! Decoding the Date How does the Brockville production code work?
Can You Prove This? So the first logical question is: Since I'm the only one making this claim, why should you believe me? First I'll explain that the reason I was embarrassed not to have figured this out sooner is that I have run across the "YWW" year-week pattern of three digits as a date code from another manufacturer in the past (although I can't recall who it was). Why I did not connect this to the Workmate numbers years ago, I can't explain. So that was the first clue... ...Remainder of discussion moved 12/15/2020... Note: Originally this blog entry was much longer. By December 15, 2020 I realized that the detailed explanation of the Brockville production codes was much too important to have only in the blog, but required its own standard page on my web site. You can continue reading it at the Brockville Production Codes page. |