Benchmark?

[Billy stray]

Anyone heard new news about the "Benchmark" portable work table Im sure there's a thread going somewhere about it but I can't find it
thanks Billy

 

[ewils91]

From what I've heard and been able to find I think they are now defunct. I know some people said they had place orders and it took forever to get a product and others said they never got a thing and had to work with their credit card companies to get a refund. Website hasn't been updated in years and it looks abandoned.

 

[Billy stray]

Yeah I figured somebody may have realized they had a sought after product & picked it back up or bought the idea or something
just plain weird ?

 

[ewils91]

I agree, I was looking at them for a while and by the time I convinced myself to buy one they were gone.

 

[Billy stray]

I think a company like "little giant" could pick up where they left off and possibly improve apon it
or maybe I should just man up and build something equally cool.....

 

[JonSchuck]

I just went and looked at mine and I couldn't find anything on it that said anything about a patent.  If someone wanted to start making them they could borrow mine.  I'm going to Iowa in a week or two and coming back about the 1st of Sept.  They could borrow mine for that time.  If it was on the way, I would drop it off.

 

[Billy stray]

Damn nice of you John , I was thinking more along the lines of building one out of wood but still trying to keep it as light and portable as the store bought version , I have to wonder though what the steps are to bringing that idea to a metal /aluminum fabrication Co without just getting the idea to recreate it just robbed from you. I mean it's not like you can Patton a product that isn't yours.......can you ?

 

[ewils91]

If something isn't patented whether it is your product or not the first person to file gets the patent. Unless there is a patent pending on it,

I would have loved to get one but I missed out. I never see a used one come up anywhere.

 

[JonSchuck]

I don't know for sure but I would guess that getting a patent is rather complicated and probably costly, involving patent lawyers and such.  If somebody started making these I doubt anyone else would bother to patent them.  I doubt that Woodpeckers patents their stuff.  Same with people that make parallel guides, qwas dogs, parf dogs, etc.  However, I very well could be wrong.

 

[Billy stray]

Good to know, how do u 2 guys know so much about such things ? Ever invent something ?

 

[Billy stray]

Ok I started working through the logistics of building my own benchmark pwt , this is where I'm at so far....

 

[Billy stray]

Hmm only one at a time

 

[Billy stray]

Ok now there's duplicates
bear with me I'm doing this from my phone

 

[ewils91]

I admire your ambition and your design, bravo... [big grin] Oh, and I do hold a patent for a motorcycle brake bleeding tool, came up with it when I worked for Suzuki.

 

[Billy stray]

I had a feeling you were involved in that sort of thing, are you self employed now ?
also , thanks I've been rolling this idea around in my head for about a month , I had a schedule glitch and ended up sitting home yesterday so I decided it was high time I put pencil and tool to mdf for a propper mock up, I wanted it to pack up as flat as possible while still remaining light yet sturdy. The one thing I didn't like about the benchmark was the lack of an easily renewable surface, I mean let's face it no matter how careful you try and be you WILL end up hitting that ABS sooner or later. That's something I plan on changing for sure..

 

[Billy stray]

I'm just finishing this project up , it's been a long busy summer ..
When I take a few pics should I move it to another thread I wonder

 

[ewils91]

I can't wait to see it, I'm just finishing off a new home construction and have used various makeshift benches to get the job done. Maybe I'll build a bench later this fall when life slows down.