mac allister folding table vs keter folding table

[r3dd3v1l]

which one do people use and why?

im swaying towards the mac allister as i can get it alot cheaper than the keter, but heard the keter is just as good.

what are your views.

Ash

 

[Apache]

What are you trying to achieve? They both look plastic lettuced from pictures.

 

[r3dd3v1l]

did you not read my post? im looking for a reason to buy over the other? build quality functions personal experience, at the moment im swaying towards the mac allister due to the price, but 9/10 you pay for what you get for but id rather ask advice from people that have used or owned either before i make a decision. basically which one is worth the money

 

[Apache]

I wouldn't buy either. I googled and they look cheap plastic rubbish. Maybe ok for some occasional DIY for the missus on a bank holiday weekend but not really a tool for a tradesman IMO.

Hence my question - what are you trying to achive, and how can we suggest something not from Toys R Us to meet those needs?

 

[phil d]

There was a much more expensive version iirc, the cheaper ones tend to be very brittle, one good one although they no longer make them, but you can occasionally find them on sites like shpock or Ebay was the Black and Decker one, it was only small, not tall like a workmate. The idea with it was it had the vice top like a workmate but was only about 18 inches long and about a foot high, I seem to remember it being on top of a small toolbox. Again although designed for the domestic market I knew several sparks who had them and found them really handy for holding small parts such as metal back boxes when drilling them.

A lot of the more modern stuff looks like a good idea, and to be fair it probably is, it's just that the materials they're made of are not really suitable, as I said earlier, often brittle. I think if everyone of us was honest we've all bought something at some point in our career that looked good and we thought it would be handy, but it turned out to be at best a waste of money and at worst dangerous.

I remember chatting with a young lad at an Elex show about a year ago, he was saying how he wished he could afford all the fancy gadgets and gizmo's that were on sale. As a young spark you can't afford all the stuff, but as an older spark you have the money to but the gadgets, but the experience to work out how to do the same thing using a tool you already own. I'm a real bugger these days for gadgets, sadly a lot of them get very little use because I have other ways of doing the job, I have 2 full sets of fairly expensive fish rods, yet quite often I'll fish a cable under floorboards in the same way I did 20 years ago, using a tape measure.

The best advice I'd give a youngster starting off in the game is this, keep hold of your money and take advice from other more experienced sparks before buying something. I remember one chap on one site asking about 'core benders' very handy when you are trying to get a large size core into a terminal on a large panel, now you can buy these, but they're not cheap, but, as Tony pointed out, they can be made for very little money using 3 suitable bolts and a bit of heatshrink by anyone with access to a welder.

We as electricians are really no different to mechanics when you look through our toolboxes, everyone has something in their box which, to the untrained eye, looks like a worthless piece of twisted metal, but in actual fact is some kind of tool that we've made up to do a particular job.

By all means, buy the proper tool if it's going to get a lot of use, I've got a full set of sockets and spanners for live working, from when I did a lot of it (they sit idle in a drawer these days) but don't buy something expensive if you only have one job. If you need it once or twice, try and borrow it, if you need it more frequently then either buy one or make one. 

 

[r3dd3v1l]

There was a much more expensive version iirc, the cheaper ones tend to be very brittle, one good one although they no longer make them, but you can occasionally find them on sites like shpock or Ebay was the Black and Decker one, it was only small, not tall like a workmate. The idea with it was it had the vice top like a workmate but was only about 18 inches long and about a foot high, I seem to remember it being on top of a small toolbox. Again although designed for the domestic market I knew several sparks who had them and found them really handy for holding small parts such as metal back boxes when drilling them.

A lot of the more modern stuff looks like a good idea, and to be fair it probably is, it's just that the materials they're made of are not really suitable, as I said earlier, often brittle. I think if everyone of us was honest we've all bought something at some point in our career that looked good and we thought it would be handy, but it turned out to be at best a waste of money and at worst dangerous.

I remember chatting with a young lad at an Elex show about a year ago, he was saying how he wished he could afford all the fancy gadgets and gizmo's that were on sale. As a young spark you can't afford all the stuff, but as an older spark you have the money to but the gadgets, but the experience to work out how to do the same thing using a tool you already own. I'm a real bugger these days for gadgets, sadly a lot of them get very little use because I have other ways of doing the job, I have 2 full sets of fairly expensive fish rods, yet quite often I'll fish a cable under floorboards in the same way I did 20 years ago, using a tape measure.

The best advice I'd give a youngster starting off in the game is this, keep hold of your money and take advice from other more experienced sparks before buying something. I remember one chap on one site asking about 'core benders' very handy when you are trying to get a large size core into a terminal on a large panel, now you can buy these, but they're not cheap, but, as Tony pointed out, they can be made for very little money using 3 suitable bolts and a bit of heatshrink by anyone with access to a welder.

We as electricians are really no different to mechanics when you look through our toolboxes, everyone has something in their box which, to the untrained eye, looks like a worthless piece of twisted metal, but in actual fact is some kind of tool that we've made up to do a particular job.

By all means, buy the proper tool if it's going to get a lot of use, I've got a full set of sockets and spanners for live working, from when I did a lot of it (they sit idle in a drawer these days) but don't buy something expensive if you only have one job. If you need it once or twice, try and borrow it, if you need it more frequently then either buy one or make one. 

makes perfect sense, black and decker definitely isnt what it used to be though,  but point taken thank you

 

[Doc Hudson]

I have never used either, the only advice I would give is have you actually seen both items physically on display somewhere? Loads of stuff nowadays is made of plastics, and with anything that folds down, I would want to poke my head around it to see what the hinge & locking mechanisms look and feel like, as I would guess these are the parts that would be failing first if they are not up to the job. And if I were purchasing one, I would try to use a local supplier with a physical outlet, so if it did fail prematurely you don't have the hassle of packaging it back off to an on-line only supplier.

Doc H.  

 

[phil d]

I have never used either, the only advice I would give is have you actually seen both items physically on display somewhere? Loads of stuff nowadays is made of plastics, and with anything that folds down, I would want to poke my head around it to see what the hinge & locking mechanisms look and feel like, as I would guess these are the parts that would be failing first if they are not up to the job. And if I were purchasing one, I would try to use a local supplier with a physical outlet, so if it did fail prematurely you don't have the hassle of packaging it back off to an on-line only supplier.

Doc H.  

Agreed, this online stuff might be ok for ordering stuff, as in you don't have to drive around looking for somewhere that sells one, then find the best price, but it's a real bugger if anything goes wrong. Plus with a lot of tools it depends on how it feels in the hand, screwdrivers especially, I know different people who prefer different brands due to the handle shape. Sometimes as well you can have used a certain tool for years and you think it's great, then one day you try a different one and realise it's a lot better, I always used an ordinary claw hammer until one day I asked a bloke to pass me a hammer, he did, his Estwing, I was a convert from then on, I've had mine now for nearly 30 years and although I've tried others I still prefer mine.

Try before you buy is very important, even more so if you are spending a lot of money.

 

[Sidewinder]

If you are looking for a folding table to take around on the van to set up a programming station on, I use one from a camping shop, and a chair from the same place.

I find it useful if you are at a machine for a few hours, or have to set up a scope a couple of meters and a laptop or two to monitor PLC's or CNC controls.

Other suppliers and similar items are probably available.

The both I use are made from aluminium alloy tube, the table is melamine faced hardboard.

Light, folds, and carries enough for what I want, it's not a work bench, I have that in the van.

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-double-picnic-table-p322024

They don't do the chair like mine any more, but it has a low built in side table also, which is useful.

Nearest they have is this one, my table is to the side at seat height.

https://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/camping/camping-furniture/camping-chairs#camping/camping-furniture/camping-chairs/attr/furniture-features/built-in-table/sort/1

I have even set this up when I am going to be sat at a panel all day terminating ends, especially things like servo motor plugs where you have to cut to exact lengths, crimp, solder and assemble etc. 3 per motor a dozen motors on a machine is a day or more making ends off in the panel to the drives, it's handy to sit and have your kit around you.

Plus, if you are on a farm, landfill or something and it's a nice day, but you don't want to sit on the floor, then you can use either or both when having a break.

 

[Andy™]

depends on the task. often use a hop up. sometimes a sheet of wood to make the top a bit bigger. if i know ive got heavy work to do then ill take an old fire door  and some large stands. heavy but strong. you wont fit this into a car though

 

[kerching]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Black-Decker-Workmate-Workbox-WM450-Carpenters-Toolbox/2256089446

 

[phil d]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Black-Decker-Workmate-Workbox-WM450-Carpenters-Toolbox/2256089446

That's the very thing I was on about, glad someone else knew what I meant. lol

 

[kerching]

That's the very thing I was on about, glad someone else knew what I meant. lol

Wasn't difficult as I have one in the Van

BUT....what I am looking for ( and I have only ever seen ONE when a lady lent it to me on a job about 30 plus years ago) is a pair of steps about two rungs OR it may have been a step stool where the top tread lifts up,and there is a small black and decker workmate underneath

just searching

 

[phil d]

Wasn't difficult as I have one in the Van

BUT....what I am looking for ( and I have only ever seen ONE when a lady lent it to me on a job about 30 plus years ago) is a pair of steps about two rungs OR it may have been a step stool where the top tread lifts up,and there is a small black and decker workmate underneath

just searching

Yep, my old fella had one, it was like a step stool with a hard black plastic top on it and under this was a small workmate as you said, a bit like the one on the box in your link.

then there was this.

 

[phil d]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Black-and-decker-workmate-jobber-table-top-boxed-vintage/323780350878?hash=item4b62d0139e:g:NCMAAOSw4cxctkuV

 

[r3dd3v1l]

I have never used either, the only advice I would give is have you actually seen both items physically on display somewhere? Loads of stuff nowadays is made of plastics, and with anything that folds down, I would want to poke my head around it to see what the hinge & locking mechanisms look and feel like, as I would guess these are the parts that would be failing first if they are not up to the job. And if I were purchasing one, I would try to use a local supplier with a physical outlet, so if it did fail prematurely you don't have the hassle of packaging it back off to an on-line only supplier.

Doc H.  

iv seen the the keter in person and being used, my friend that has one swears by it, hes a chippy, but hes know plumbers and sparks to have them in their vans for when they need a surface to work from

 

[r3dd3v1l]

depends on the task. often use a hop up. sometimes a sheet of wood to make the top a bit bigger. if i know ive got heavy work to do then ill take an old fire door  and some large stands. heavy but strong. you wont fit this into a car though

before i had a dedicated workshop at home, i done pretty much the same thing, two saw horses and a fire door, surprisingly robust! 

 

[Apache]

A pair of these:

https://www.toolstation.com/toughbuilt-saw-horse/p29945#reviewTab

2 lengths of 2X4 and a sheet of shuttering ply and you have a very strong, very stable work bench.

I have it set up as a sacrificial top for cutting with the circular saw.