[member=3513]PaulMarcel[/member] I think they compliment each other, rather than compete. Workstation excels in end grain work, like tenons. It has the table, but that has its limitations on larger/longer parts.
Plate, on the other hand, is far easier use in situations of larger items.
It's kind of like the table saw vs track saw or hand-held router vs router table decision.
Take the work to the tool or the tool to the work.
Could you cut Soss hinge pockets in the edge of a door with workstation? Sure, but it would be a struggle.
Clamping would be first, and of course you lose the out-board support. You could clamp an additional piece of wood to the far side of the door to alleviate this, but it's an additional step, and you would need to move it all for the next pocket. Multiple mortices on along a table leg would require the same, of course re-gridding to find your location again.
With Plate, you grid the opening and place it wherever you need to route the pocket. That pocket is tied to the Plate and will repeat that cut no matter where you place it.
You could clamp your door/leg/whatever flush to the top of your workbench, mark the centerline of the mortices, place the Plate and go. Then just pick it up again and move to the next one.
This accessory just simplifies that procedure, by eliminating the need to have that work bench to clamp your item too. The biggest limitation to Plate, is that you cannot cut any feature that is bigger than the window itself.
However, trying to cut a tenon onto the end of a long stretcher would be more of a challenge. It could be done, but you are then building some kind of fixture to hold it.......that is Workstation.
Wow, that whole bit makes me sound like an advertiser, sorry, that was not the intent.
