Holding the work · review
Eleven pounds with a bamboo top, four bench dogs and both measuring systems printed on the surface.
The end of it Five kilograms, four dogs and two printed scales — and no jaw opening on a bench that is a vice.
Every figure below names its source. Each one is a manufacturer specification read off the listing itself. The judgments are ours.
Five kilograms, published — the lightest bench on either half of this shelf.
Which rules out planing and anything that pushes sideways: the bench is lighter than the board, so it goes where the push goes unless it is clamped to something heavier.
The published Sjöbergs Smart Workstation page on this shelf is the same class at 10 kg (22 lb), and its cons say it in one line: at 10 kg (22 lb) it has no mass of its own — the surface it sits on does the work.
What eleven pounds buys is that it comes to the work. A kitchen table, a balcony, the back of a van.
A bench is judged on three things and only one of them is usually published.
Mass is what stops the bench moving when a plane is pushed along a board. Rigidity is what stops the top flexing under a mallet. Racking is the sideways parallelogram collapse that every four-legged frame wants to do, and it is resisted by stretchers and by the top being bolted down rather than resting.
A load rating is not any of the three — it says what the bench will hold standing still. The published Bosch PWB 600 page on this shelf names the figure that actually matters and its absence: no clamping capacity, which is a bench’s only real specification.
The only printed scales on either half of this shelf.
Metric along one edge, imperial along the other, and a protractor — so a part is measured without finding a tape, which on a bench used away from a workshop is most of the problem.
What it does not give is accuracy. A printed scale on a working surface wears, and the published Mr. Pen rules on the measuring shelf in this catalog publish a thickness and a scale origin precisely because those decide whether a scale can be trusted.
A convenience, then. Not an instrument.
Which is what separates this from a folding table.
Adjustable vise panels mean the top itself opens — the published Black & Decker Workmate page on this shelf describes the same principle: the top itself is a vice, the whole surface clamps.
Four dogs turn that into work holding rather than squeezing.
The published Bosch PWB 600 page on this shelf names it as the figure a bench page must carry: no clamping capacity, which is a bench’s only real specification.
The published Sjöbergs Smart Workstation publishes 110 millimeters and is credited for it — a working capacity rather than a token one.
This page says fully adjustable.
On a bench whose entire function is that the top is a vice, that is the one number missing.
Read on the day this page was built: $40 at the American Amazon shop.
Read from Keepa on the day this page was last revised; stock and price both move without notice.
Prices quoted in this text were read on 2026-10-07. The live price is at the top of the page.
| Type | Portable bench, folding sawhorse and work table, with adjustable vise panels |
|---|---|
| Top | Bamboo, with imprinted metric and imperial measurements and a protractor scale — the only printed scales on either half of this shelf |
| Weight | 11 lb — 5 kg, published, the lightest on this shelf |
| Load rating | 220 lb — 100 kg |
| Vice | Fully adjustable vise panels, stated · No jaw opening is published |
| Dog holes | 4 bench dogs supplied |
| Frame | Heavy duty steel |
| Storage | A built-in tool rack |
| Surface size | Not published by the maker. |
| Part number | MT4006V |
| Amazon reference | B09XQW63SG |
| EAN | 0843441115960 |
Planing, and anything that pushes sideways. Five kilograms is lighter than the board being worked on, so the bench goes where the push goes unless it is clamped to something heavier. The published Sjöbergs Smart Workstation page on this shelf is the same class at 10 kg (22 lb) and its cons say it exactly: at 10 kg (22 lb) it has no mass of its own — the surface it sits on does the work. What eleven pounds buys is that it comes to the work: a kitchen table, a balcony, the back of a van. That is a real category and the published pages on this shelf recognize it.
More than they sound, and less than a rule. A metric and an imperial scale along the edge of the top, with a protractor, means a part can be measured without finding a tape — which on a small bench used away from a workshop is most of the problem. What it does not give is accuracy: a printed scale on a working surface wears, and the published Mr. Pen rules on the measuring shelf in this catalog publish a thickness and a scale origin for a reason. Treat it as a convenience, not an instrument. No other bench on this shelf has one at all.
That is the gap. The published Bosch PWB 600 page on this shelf names it as the figure a bench page must have — no clamping capacity, which is a bench's only real specification — and the published Sjöbergs Smart Workstation publishes 110 mm (4.33 in) of jaw opening and is credited for it: a working capacity rather than a token one. This page says fully adjustable and gives no millimeters. For a bench whose whole function is the top being a vice, that is the one number missing.
Between woodworking machines of the same category and nearby price. Shown: what they all state. A half-filled column says nothing.
| Model | Price | Load rating |
|---|---|---|
| POWERTEC MT4006V portable small workbench | $40 | 220 lb — 100 kg |
| WORX WX051 Pegasus folding workbench | $160 | 300 lb as a workbench and 1,000 lb as a sawhorse — 136 and 454 kg (1000.9 lb), both published · The Pony bench on this shelf publishes 500 and 1,000 |
| WEN WB4723T, 48 in workbench with outlets | $165 | 220 lb on the top · No rating published for the shelves |
| PONY 99214AJ portable folding work table | $170 | 500 lb as a table and 1,000 lb as a sawhorse — 227 and 454 kg (1000.9 lb), both published |
A kitchen table, a balcony or a van, where the bench has to weigh nothing and still clamp
Amazon reports what buyers took in the month before this page was last checked: at least 200.
The figure is a floor, rounded by Amazon, and read through Keepa — it says what buyers picked, not what a maker claims.
Specifications: the manufacturer sheet for woodworking machines and the matching Amazon product page. Prices and availability: Keepa. Every figure on this page names its source.
Folding bench · adjustable clamping top
The folding bench that has been in every garage for fifty years — and still the cheapest way to hold work at a sensible height.
Best for: A small or shared space where the bench has to disappear between jobs
≈ $350
Wood top · metal frame · one market · no barcode
A €217 Bosch workbench with a wooden top, a metal frame, and not one published dimension, weight or capacity.
Best for: A German buyer who has seen one in person and knows what they are getting
60 in · 330 lb capacity · rubberwood in the title and acacia in the bullet · drawer and shelf
A workbench whose title says rubberwood and whose first feature says acacia — two different trees.
Best for: A garage bench with a drawer, by somebody who will ask which timber arrives
≈ $330
