Milwaukee is coming out with two new 40″ mobile workbenches for 2019. One has a wood top (48-22-8539), and the other stainless steel (48-22-8540).
Similar to stainless steel work surface on other mobile workbenches, it’s stainless steel-wrapped MDF. The wood-topped workbench has a 1″ worktop.
The new mobile workbench is constructed from 18 gauge steel and has a reinforced frame. 5″ industrial casters make it mobile; 2 are fixed, and 2 swivel and lock.
The drawer slides are rated to 100 lbs and have a soft-close feature.
Both mobile workbenches measure 40″ wide x 22″ deep x 38″ tall.
They also feature a 6 outlet and 2x USB port power strip, a bolt-on utility shelf, and a drill/driver organizer for the deep drawer.
Total weight capacity is 1800 lbs.
ETA: January 2019 at select distributors (Home Depot has carried all of Milwaukee’s tool storage products in the past)
Price: $600
First Thoughts
Milwaukee’s mobile workbench quality has been excellent.
I had their 60″ mobile tool cabinet for a time, and it was a convenient mobile workbench with spacious drawer and cabinet capacity.
I’m now wrapping up testing with their 52″ mobile workbench, and will be quite sad to see it go. It’s an innovative design, with the worktop offering clamping on 3 sides, and the drawer sizing has been spot-on.
The new 40″ mobile workbench borrows from their premium 46″ and upcoming 56″ tool storage combos, which have upgraded drawers and construction.
I only had a quick look at the new mobile workbench at NPS18, but it looked to be simple, but sturdy. There aren’t any game-changing features here – there’s no sliding pegboard, no special clamping surface, and nothing else along those lines.
I think that the drawer sizing will suit most users, and the overall footprint gives you a good amount of storage space without being so big it’ll dominate a space.
If I’m allowed to nitpick, I’d grumble that Milwaukee’s next generation 56″ tool storage combo will feature an electronic lock, but these workbenches won’t. That’s one of my most-wished-for ball bearing storage box features, but unfortunately you won’t find that on this new mobile workbench. The locks cannot be retrofitted to other boxes, either, and so it’s not even available as an optional upgrade Still, tubular locks aren’t bad.
I have had stellar experiences with Milwaukee tool storage products.
While I’m excited about the new 56″ storage combos, which I’ll post about separately, I’m more personally interested in these new 40″ workbenches. It’s smaller than most of the other Milwaukee tool storage products, except for their 30″ combo, reviewed here, while not being small. To me, that makes this perfect for specific purposes, rather than being a monstrous “holds everything” type of storage product.
