Editor's note: This month, Rockler Woodworking and Hardware is pleased to introduce the Pock-It Hole Clamp™, a versatile new method of clamping pocket hole joints for properly aligned, tight fitting results when using pocket screws. We had Ralph Bagnall try out a couple in the shop, and here are his thoughts on the new clamps.

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There are two more videos available in our series on Rockler Router Bits.

Take a look and see what the Reversible Sash and Door Assembly Router Bit and the 45° Lock Miter Router Bit can do for you! We'd love your feedback on these short clips. Are they helpful in understanding the bit, the setup, the potential? Anything else you'd like to see? Leave your comments below.

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Ever wish you could really see what it is that a particular router bit does before you buy it? Maybe you're having a hard time visualizing the profile? Or have you thought about getting a certain router bit, but haven't because you were unsure about exactly how to set it up? Router bits can be expensive, and what if you're not really sure that the bit you're considering does what you need it to do?

We're coming out with new, short videos on some of the less common pieces from our line of Rockler Router Bits that will help ease the uncertainty. Take a look at these first examples, and see what the Louver Bit or the Trim Router Bit Kit can do for you!

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Now there are even more ways to buy our award-winning Bench Cookies, and there's still time to get them before Christmas!

Bench Cookies aren't just for woodworkers, either! We've heard from print shops, bakers, junkers, artists, and others who have all found uses for these nifty little cookies in their craft.

So think about who on your holiday list could use some "Christmas" Cookies, and choose from the options below (plus, don't forget some extra cookies for yourself!):

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Since receiving a significant makeover a couple of years ago, the Rockler Dovetail Jig has earned a reputation as a solid, easy to use jig and a great value. The new jig, in its basic form, is offered as the “Complete Dovetail Jig” – the operative word being “complete”. It comes with everything you need to make the most popular types of dovetail joints. As long as you own a router and have a couple of pieces of wood, you can start making dovetails a few minutes after taking it out of the box.

But that’s only the beginning. Also since the debut of the new jig, the tool designers at Rockler have been hard at work developing add-ons and accessories that make the jig even more useful and versatile. Now, the Rockler Dovetail Jig is really a dovetail jig system: you can have it in it’s basic form, and be satisfied with a very serviceable set-up for making the most common dovetail joints, or you can transform it, with the addition of new template guides and accessories, into a dovetail jig that will do just about anything you could ever want it to do easily, cleanly and efficiently.

We think it’s a good approach. We’re not knocking jigs that come standard dripping with bells and whistles. But they do tend to be a little spendy. Not everyone needs the ability to cut 24 inches of pins and tails, each pair cut to a custom size for added visual effect. And not everyone is comfortable shelling out big bucks for a tool that, in the end, they’ll probably only use occasionally. With the Rockler jig, you can start making basic through and half blind dovetails affordably (especially right now) and later on, if you want, build your jig into highly versatile and comfortable-to-use system. To give you an idea of what we mean, here’s one possible trajectory for a “building out” of the Rockler jig.

Through dovetails above; half blind dovetails below. The Rockler Dovetail Jig makes both.

Start with the Complete Dovetail Jig package. You’ll get the jig, a guide bushing that attaches to your router base plate and guides the router through the cut, the three router bits necessary to get started, and a collet adapter that fits 8mm diameter bits into a standard 1/2” router collet. (A note on the bits: they’re are a non-standard size because an increase in shaft diameter from the usual 1/4" to 8mm significantly reduces vibration and chatter, which can in turn cause tear-out and affect the fit and finish of the joint.)

With the jig package, you’ll also get two guide templates, which attach to the top of the jig and serve as a guide when you cut the joint. One template is used for both parts of a half blind dovetail, the type of joint where the pins and tails are only visible from one side of the joint. With this template, you’ll be able to cut an entire half blind dovetail joint with one pass of the router. The jig comes equipped with a handy offset stop, which automatically positions the stock so that when you’re done, the two parts of the joint line up flush with one another at each end. The joint you’ll get is the very same one that currently holds together countless drawer boxes in high end commercial cabinetry.

 The second template is used to cut “through” dovetail pins. A through dovetail joint is one where the tails project completely through the receiving piece of stock. Put another way, the pins and tails are visible from both sides of the joint. Through joints are considered more decorative, and are often used for boxes and chests where a distinctive look and a high level of craft are desired. Through dovetails are always cut one piece at a time. The Rockler jig simplifies the transition from the tail to pin cut with clearly marked settings and instruction on the jig and template for setting up the joint and adjusting the fit.

Dealing With the Dust

No matter what jig you use, you’re sure to notice one thing: cutting dovetails with a router is a dusty business. You’re first couple of projects are sure to have you looking for a solution to the problem. You won’t have far to look. The Rockler Dovetail Jig Dust Collector neatly and affordably solves the problem.  The dovetail jig dust collector attaches in minutes to the Rockler jig, where it virtually eliminates the dusty mess router dovetailing usually produces.

In a unique arrangement, the dust collector uses a sweep brush to contain the air flow from a shop vac or dust collection system. The sweep focuses the suction on the cut, but lets the bit pass through as you move from one pin or tail to the next. For a better idea of how the system works, watch our video of the dust collector in action. For a better idea of how well the dovetail jig dust collector works, we recommend a quick peruse of our customer reviews.

Distinctive Series Dovetail Templates add a hand-crafted look without difficult set ups. Style A shown above; style B below.

Expanding Your Dovetailing Repertoire

With the dust under control and a little dovetailing experience under your belt, you might start looking for new and exciting uses for your jig. The evenly spaced pins and tails the basic jig produces are perfectly sound from a structural standpoint, but the ability to alter the look of the finished product would add visual interest and give you the chance to further expand your skills.

With any of the Distinctive Series Dovetail Templates for the Rockler jig, you’ll be able to do just that – with the same ease as you’ve enjoyed when cutting standard dovetails. Available in three styles, distinctive series dovetail templates are made specifically for the Rockler Dovetail Jig. They set up in the same way as the standard templates, and give you three options for varying the look of your dovetail joints.

Distinctive Series Template Style A is designed to produce the classic wide pin and narrow tail joint typical of hand cut dovetails found on fine furniture. Template Style B allows you to cut dovetails of varied spacing for a one of a kind look. It’s set up to work perfectly with stock widths commonly used in making drawers, but you can also get creative and create your own spacing patterns. Template Style C is another classic, this time with wide pins and tails for a more hand cut look.

Tiny Dovetails

And here’s still another dovetail template option. The Miniature Dovetail Template and Bit Set will allow you to make perfect dovetail joints with pins that are a mere 1/2” apart on center. Still using the same jig and the same basic set up procedure, you’ll be able to make small, intricately joined decorative boxes out of 1/8” to 1/4” thick stock. As with the Distinctive Series Templates, the miniature kit comes with both pin and tail templates. It also includes a 1/4” dovetail bit, a 1/8” straight bit (each with a tiny 1/8” shaft) and a collet adapter to fit them to your router.

A Place to Keep It All

Now you’ve really got a lot of dovetailing equipment. Wouldn’t a place to keep it organized and handy be nice? The Rockler Dovetail Jig Stand is designed to accept a shop-made drawer large enough to accommodate all of your various templates and bits, with room to spare for a few related pieces of equipment. It’s also designed to hold your jig firmly in place, and to elevate it 6” above the surface of your workbench, which makes for a much more comfortable dovetailing stance.

Pick and Choose

If you decided to “go for it” and bought everything mentioned above today, you’d still pay less than you would for any of a number of other dovetail jig packages. But it’s good, also, to have the option to pick and choose just the components that you’ll find most useful, or to build up your collection slowly over time. Right now is an excellent time to get started. With the Complete Dovetail Jig, the Dovetail Jig Dust Collector and the Dovetail Jig Stand all on sale, you can make a great three-component start and pay just $5 more than hundreds of happy campers did for the jig alone.

Well, it’s that time of year again. Time to start figuring out what the woodworker on your list really wants. That’s not always easy, especially if you’re not experienced in the craft yourself. As you’ve probably noticed, most woodworker’s have strongly held opinions about what counts as worthwhile woodworking equipment, but they don’t always make clear what it is exactly that separates the good from the acceptable from the outright undesirable. 

We'd like to help you get started, and that's why each year we put together our Holiday Gift Guide, where you'll find something for woodworkers of all skill levels and interests. But if you’re still puzzling over the myriad of woodworking gift possibilities, here are a few tips and best bets in various price ranges, beginning with the modest “stocking-stuffer”.

(Editor's note: please notice the date of this posting - sale prices mentioned may no longer be in effect.)

Gifts Under $10

In the “gifts under $10” range, you could hardly go wrong with a pocket sized diamond sharpening stone that comes with its own leather pouch. The 1" x 3" fine-grit stone is perfect for touching up the edge on everything from router bits to kitchen knives. It makes a great jobsite companion, and would be especially appreciated by a woodworker/outdoorsman type. A patented process produces these diamond matrix stones and insures that the sharpening surface will stay flat, very sharp and ready for use for years.

If you have a cabinetmaker who’s set up for spray finishing on your list, we can’t think of a better stocking stuffer than a couple of Sure Hook 360 tool-less cabinet door hangers. This Rockler exclusive has been a huge success since the day it hit the market, and consistently wins glowing customer reviews, like this one from professional remodeler Bill Nunez:

"One of my roles as a remodeling contractor is cabinet builder, and I've forever been trying to figure out how to fabricate something like this to allow me to spray both sides of a door without leaving marks or making holes in the workpiece. These are a dream come true.

There's nothing I'd change about them based on my first use yesterday to spray 30 doors...To whoever figured out how to make these things affordably, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

(Right now, the Sure Hook is more affordable than ever. You can pick up a starter set of three without pushing past the $10 mark.)

$10 - $20

The Four Foot T-Track Kit is once again our top pick in the $10 – $20 range.  Here an understanding of the woodworker’s mentality may be required. The T-Track Kit may strike the uninitiated as an un-giftlike box of miscellaneous hardware, but to the average woodworker, it’s a treasure trove of future shop-built jigs and fixtures.  We could go into detail on diverse uses woodworker’s everywhere find for this stuff, but we couldn’t give you a better idea of how much they like it than you’ll get from the T-Track Kit’s 77 customer reviews.

Also in the $20-or-less category, we’d like to suggest any of three Crown Tools angle measuring devices. All woodworkers need to measure and mark angles on a regular basis, and with a Crown Try Square, Try-Miter Square or T-Bevel, they’ll do it in classic style.  With solid brass rub plates, handsome rosewood handles, hardened steel blades and unsurpassed accuracy, these woodworking standards make common angle-measuring and marking operations a pleasure to perform.

$20 -$50

The All-In-One Clamp Guide is great place to start in the $20 to $50 gift range. This popular tool is something that just about any woodworker can use, but woodworkers with limited shop space and tool collections tend to be the clamp guide’s biggest fans. It gives them an easy, accurate way to achieve professional-quality cutting and routing results on larger materials - without having to own an industrial-sized shop. Craig Maynard sums up the benefits in his review of the 50” All-In-One:

“This all in one clamping guide is the best guide that I have ever used with a circular saw or router. With the 50" Clamp and a circular saw I can now cut a sheet of plywood perfectly straight and square. When using the clamp with a router I can put an edge on a board straight enough without any flaws that can be joined together. This clamp is one of the best tools I have invested in.”

$50 - $100 Gift Ideas

If the woodworker in your life is dropping hints about dovetail joinery equipment, have we got a deal for you.  A great value at the regular price, Rockler Complete Dovetail Jig comes with everything you need (except a router and wood) to start making perfect dovetails. You get the jig, two templates, the necessary guide bushing, the three router bit you need for both half-blind and through dovetails and a detailed set of instructions. In other words, you can start cutting dovetails as soon as you take it out of the box. Best of all, with the price knocked down by a third, it’s an honored special guest in our $50 to $100 gift price range, and our top pick for the category.

When you think of really great woodworking gifts, the term “extension cord” may not spring immediately to mind. But in truth, anyone who’s spent a few too many clean-ups engaging several yards of electric cord in much the same way they would a giant python will love a cord management system that actually works. Again, our customer reviews bear this out. Here are a few thoughts on our 12 Gauge Electric Cable Reel from Mark, in Anaheim Hills, CA:

“I purchased this item for my garage. Got weary of always yanking out extension cords and then coiling them for storage after a chore. What a great feature of just reeling-in your extension cord! After my first purchase...promptly went out and bought another for work!”

A long time favorite and a gift of truly universal appeal, this extra-heavy gauge, 30’ self retracting time and hassle saver earns its usual spot as a top pick for a gift  priced around $60.

Gifts for $100 or More

Once you pass the $100 mark, the sky’s the limit. But you don’t have to lug home a 700 lb. table saw to make a woodworker very, very happy. In keeping with the sense of frugality that seems likely to prevail this holiday season, we’ll stay close to the lower limit in our suggestions for the $100 plus category, beginning with our top pick: the Pack Rack Clamp and Tool Storage System.

Priced around $150, the Pack Rack neatly solves an extremely common woodshop problem: the lack of orderly and convenient clamp storage. With this robust rolling storage system, your woodworker will be able to keep a variety of the most useful woodworking clamps - along with glue, rags, dowels, biscuits, and other clamping related equipment – organized and close at hand. Every woodworker uses clamps – lots of them. In a small shop especially, a storage solution that keeps them all together and out of the way when not in use is truly something to get excited about.

Finally, we’d be remiss if we didn’t include at lest one power tool. Here’s one we think will be a big hit this season and won’t set you back too terribly much. The new Cordless Max Multi-X Tool from Bosch is a great choice for a carpenter a DIYer or just about any woodworker. This multipurpose tool performs a variety of handy functions. Built like a detail sander, the Multi-X can also be outfitted with attachments that saw, scrape and rasp in tight quarters where other power tools can go. But unlike other popular multi tools, the Multi-X is cordless and powered by the latest in lithium-ion battery technology – an interesting added convenience, we think. All in all, it’s a great tool, reasonably priced and an excellent value for the money.

Don’t see the perfect gift here? You’ll find lots more in our Holiday Gift Guide. Or, if you’re shopping for a bargain, check out the 200 plus items in the Rockler Outlet. As always, you’ll find everything a woodworker could possibly want – and this season, some especially great deals – at Rockler.

There are three basic reasons for buying a "bench top" router table (a router table intended to stand on a workbench or other support rather than taking up a permanent space on the floor): cost, compactness, and portability. A bench top router table is great for a small shop, where the limited space often has to serve a number of purposes in turns. These compact tools easily fit under a workbench or on a shelf, and can be pulled out ready for action when the need arises.

Then there’s cost. While different makes and models vary greatly in price, the cost of a bench top router table is invariably lower than a floor standing set-up with comparable features. That's the important point to consider. The term "bench top" just means smaller and more portable; it doesn’t say anything (necessarily) about quality.

When you’re shopping for a bench top router table, it only makes sense to tally up the qualities you’d look for in a "full sized" router table and apply them to the miniaturized class. What you’ll find is that you really don’t have to sacrifice any of the most important router table features in exchange for the cost and space savings of a bench top table. You’ll also find an appreciable range in what you can get away with paying for a pint-sized router table that leaves nothing to be desired.

As is the case with floor standing models, there are certain basic components that a bench top router table just has to have if it is going to perform accurately and conveniently, and hold up over time: most notably, a solid and sufficiently sized top, a sturdy base and a reliable, easy-to-use fence.  Beyond that, it’s reasonable to look for a few of the perks available in better full sized tables: A standard 3/8" x 3/4" miter slot is a handy thing to have. A fence with split fence facings, which allow quick and easy bit clearance adjustments is, for practical purposes, a must-have. A router-to-table interface that makes installing, removing and leveling the router is also something to give serious consideration.

You won’t have far to look to find a bench top table that meets or exceeds all of these expectations. Here’s an option that we’d label a standout value in this diminutive router table class. The Rockler Portable Router Table is, in all important respects, a compact carbon-copy of one of our all-time most popular products: the Rockler #1 router table package. It’s also prime example of a case where "portable" is not simply another way of saying "stripped down".

The Rockler Portable Table sports a melamine surfaced top that’s a full 1" thick for heft, flatness and stability. The top includes an aluminum miter track and sits atop a substantial steel base. The base is outfitted with levelers to prevent rocking, and together with the weight of the MDF top, offers a stable, wobble-free workspace, even when milling long pieces of stock or working against the resistance of a featherboard.

It also comes with Rocker’s signature precision-machined, anodized aluminum fence, which slides along two T-slots in the table surface for easy adjustment and removal. Attached to the main fence backbone with T-bolts and easy-to-turn knobs are two 3" x 10" adjustable fence faces, which allow quick router bit clearance adjustments, and feature a T-slot for accessories.

Unlike many bench top router tables, the Rockler Portable Router Table uses an easy-in / easy-out solid ¼" aluminum router plate to make the router to table connection. At 8" wide x 11" long, the plate larger than the footprint of just about any appropriately sized router, leaving you free to pop the router out of the table for hand-held use without tools or awkward demounting operations. And it comes pre-drilled for a number of popular router makes and models, including the Porter Cable 690 and 890 series, Bosch’s 1617/1618, the Makita 1100-1101 series and Dewalt’s DW616, DW618 series.

Having undergone a recent all-around upgrade, the Rockler Portable Router Table now comes standard with all of the perks and parts that made our floor standing table packages such a success. But its defining feature is still portability. Measuring a modest 21" wide x 16" deep x 16" high, the Rockler bench top table is small enough to fit in the tiniest of workshop storage spaces. And while it’s equipped with bones sturdy enough to prevent the all too familiar bench top table shimmy, the Rockler table’s weight and size make it a comfortable carry up a flight stairs or out to the back of a truck.

Finally, physical stature isn’t the only thing that’s scaled down in the Rockler table. At around $200, its already available at a compact cost for a full featured bench top. Now, on sale for a limited time at 25 percent off, the Rockler Portable Router Table carries one of the most compact price tags in its class.

Still looking for the perfect table saw crosscutting solution? Don’t feel alone. As we’ve acknowledged many times before, table saws that come equipped for accurate crosscutting right out of the box are few and far between. If more did, there might not be such a plentiful selection of after-market miter gauges and crosscut sleds, or such widespread interest in finding the best way to transcend the typically dismal results afforded by the typical T-square style miter gauge. It takes time to sift through all of the options and choose the one that's right for you.

Last year, when we added the Rockler Table Saw Crosscut Sled to the mix, our intension wasn’t to make matters needlessly more complex by offering yet another “been there, done that” solution. On the contrary; the tool designers at Rockler saw a gap in the available add-on crosscutting tools, and responded with a ready-to-use sled that we think is exceptionally reliable, uniquely easy to set up, and at the same time, refreshingly affordable.

In Philosophy, the Rockler Table Saw Crosscut Sled is a ”back to basics” design, focusing strictly on the components and quality necessary to get what most of us want from a crosscutting solution: accuracy, splinter-free cuts and fast, tweak-free set ups. The Rockler sled achieves this through a few careful design considerations.

With a protractor scale at the end of the fence rather than at the pivot point, the angles are large, easy-to-read and easy to sub-divide into finer gradations. Since the sled is designed to be cut down to fit snugly against the end user’s saw blade, it offers splinter-free performance without the need for a zero-clearance insert. (An optional Drop-Off Platform extends zero-clearance to both sides of the blade.) The sled’s arrow-straight, solid extruded aluminum fence, flip stop and adjustable, slop-free miter bar virtually guarantee repeatability. An easy sliding platform and adjustable hold-down clamp complete the package, making the Rockler Sled both enjoyable and safe to use.

By staying committed to this “core considerations” design approach, the Rockler Tool Design Team has come up with a sled that performs all of the most common table saw crosscut operations with efficiency and accuracy that rivals sleds costing nearly three times as much. A worthy addition to the marketplace, we’d say.

But of course we think it’s great – what about the woodworkers who actually use it? Here, from our Crosscut Sled customer reviews, are ten more opinions:

"This well designed sled has solved so many problems for me as a woodworker. My saw is old and angle cuts always had to be tweaked on the sander, and was a real pain in the neck. Since using this sled all my cuts are perfect, and the time saved is remarkable. Nice to buy a tool that works perfect."

Mike Griffin, from Indianapolis, IN

"I bought the Cross Sled because of some problems I was having with cutting sharp angles. I found it to be an excellent product the first time I used it. I was building a 5 ft. glass display case and wanted to make sure all trim angles were perfect. A very nice product."

Dennis Yager, from Matthews, NC

"As some of the other reviews have stated, I had wanted an accurate crosscut sled for some time and preferred to purchase one with the thought it would be more accurate than one I could make. This product meets all of my expectations. I found it easy to set up and use on my Delta Unisaw and am most pleased with its performance. The only possible negative I might have at this point is that the stop for making repetitive cuts tends to "creep" when tightened but so far that has not been a problem.

"I also purchased the drop-off platform and highly recommend purchasing that when you purchase the cross cut sled. The two work very well together."

Fred Paschall, from Charlotte, NC

"I purchased this item because I have wanted a crosscut sled for some time and had seen several that could be made but you couldn't get the accuracy that can be achieved with this one. I haven't used it very much since I received but I was impressed with the 1/2 degree adjustments that are available to use if necessary. I also like the ease of sliding on my table saw.

I gave a rating [five stars] on my crosscut sled and after I read some of the others I got the thinking again about mine and I have no complaints whatsoever. It is a fine piece of equipment, it fits my Grizzly 10" table saw just fine, I had no trouble getting it set up. Just wanted to add to what I said before."

Kenneth Pamer, from Columbia, MS

"Extremely reasonable for a multi angle cross cut sled. It took only a couple of minutes to assemble and calibrate to my saw. It made perfect cut miters right from the start. It has already saved me lots of time and frustration with its accurate cuts. This is a great product for the price! Thank you Rockler."

Tom Belcher, from Grand Rapids, OH

"Was very easy to set up and match to my saw. I could never get the miter that came with my saw to work good as it was hard to keep the wood from slipping while cutting, and it would not work well with a long piece of wood. This miter sled solves all of my problems."

Larry Bright, from Winston, OR

"It was so reasonably priced I was amazed at how well it worked. I just finished a project and absolutely love it!"

Rod Enos, from Pocatello, ID

"After several years of making frames with a homemade miter sled, I finally have the adjustability and precision I need at a very reasonable price. I've made several frames with the Rockler crosscut sled and they have the perfect miters I've always tried to achieve."

Marty Pohl, from Tampa, FL

"Great Jig! I use it on every project and the accuracy is wonderful. Thanks."

Dan Drees, from Des Moines, IA

"This is a great addition to my table saw. The accuracy is unbelievable. The zero tolerance of the sled and drop off eliminate ragged cuts. Works great for cutting small pieces. I made some picture frames with the 22.5 degree cut and they fit perfectly. Great product and great value."

Lindell Whitelock, from Janesville, WI

Read more Rockler Table Saw Crosscut Sled reviews. Or, for more on table saw sled options, read Choosing a Crosscut Sled here on the Rockler Blog.

A few months ago, Rockler introduced the Pack Rack, a unique, self-contained clamp and tool storage system on wheels. The reasoning behind this new addition was simple: many of us here at Rockler know from experience that storing a highly developed collection of clamps can be a substantial and compelling woodshop challenge, especially in close quarters where space is at a premium. Taking a leap, we guessed that a storage solution offering a compact and portable means of taming an out-of-control clamp collection would be a welcome addition in woodshops across the country.

Turns out, we were right. In the short while since its introduction, we’ve seen a surprising number of Pack Racks leave the warehouse. And we’ve been further encouraged by the rapidly amassing votes of approval we find in customer reviews like these:

"Build your own clamp storage rack? I never seemed to get the time to actually do it. Buying the Pack Rack was an answer to scattered clamps around the shop. The rack went together very well and is certainly up to the challenge of storing clamps regardless of what they weigh. I ordered some additional pieces in order to customize the basic stand and was completely satisfied with the results. My stand is loaded with heavy bar clamps, pipe clamps and everything else in between. The stand is very sturdy, extremely portable and has allowed me to organize and be able to find the right clamp for the job."

Submitted by Fred Wood, from Lititz, PA

"When I first completed my dedicated shop space (a single car space walled off from a 3-car [2 in tandem] garage with AC added), I thought I had great idea. I had added a large pegboard area and dedicated a part of it for clamps using long hooks. Until some heavy clamps threatened to rip down the pegboard.

"Enter the Rockler Pack Rack. It solved the problem beautifully, without further adding to the crowded conditions in my all-mobile-equipment shop, and helping avoid tool clutter. As is my custom, I had carefully researched the competition and the possibility/probability of building a fixed rack. I am not in the least disappointed with the purchase. In about 2 hours after delivery, I had assembled the rack and gathered up all of my wide selection of clamps even including some mini-clamps from an old period of wooden model ship-building before woodworking returned to its prime position in the retirement era. An excellent product."

Submitted by John Hoyt, from Tucson, AZ

"One of the best pieces of shop equipment I have purchased in a while. I no longer have clamps leaning in every corner of my shop, nor do I have to look around for the correct clamp. I put a shelf on the bottom and top which hold quite a bit of other stuff. Will add another shelf in the middle soon. The casters are great!"

Submitted by David Deas, from Citrus Heights, CA

"As a carpenter contractor/woodworker, as soon as I laid eyes on the Pack Rack, I knew it would be perfect on the job and in the shop!"

Submitted by Tim Schaefer, from St. Leon, IN

If your read the rest of the Pack Rack customer reviews (there are 20 more, as of right now) you’ll notice a couple of recurring themes. One is the importance of following the instructions – no matter how much it goes against your nature. You’ll notice, too, a general consensus that the Pack Rack is very easy to assemble if the proper sequence is followed. We’re glad to see that emphasized. Design considerations required that the assembly process follow a fairly strict routine. Still, the Pack Rack was designed with the assembler in mind, and the procedure is clearly laid out in the instructions.  Unless you’re the most ardent instructions-scoffer, you won’t have any trouble getting the Pack Rack put together.

Other reviewers – not too surprisingly – touch on the “build versus buy” debate. Designing and building clever and effective tool storage systems is an ever-popular woodshop pastime, and one that we’d hate to discourage.  Many woodworkers have a great time building things for their shop. But before you build your own, we’d urge you to take a minute to think through the cost, time and likely outcome. You might come to the same conclusion as G. Woods, from Cary, NC:

"I am a classic do it your self guy. First time I laid eyes on this I knew I needed one and thought, now I can make that. I priced out all the parts from local home improvement and quickly decided to order the real thing. It was so easy to put together, nice paint finish and well thought out arrangement."

Or Steven Sorensen, from Santa Ana, CA:

"Even though clamp storage is a typical magazine DIY project, due to the great amount of weight that can be involved, going with a beefy metal rack is the way to go. Made out of wood, it would be visually very massive. Fully loaded, this slim-lined cart is still easily moved about, and can be easily customized."

The “customizability” Steven mentions is something the Pack Rack’s designers didn’t exactly plan, but are nevertheless happy to acknowledge. One Pack Rack reviewer added (among other things) drawers mounted on full extension slides and a section of pegboard in order to keep all of his most reached for tools close at hand. The result?

"No more tripping over clamps. No more wasted time searching for the tape measure or some other small tool. And when I tuck the whole thing in the corner for the night, I say to myself, 'Man, this is great!'"

Frank Fletcher, from Madison, AL

The customized Pack Rack reaches an unexpected and, we think, particularly inventive expression in the turning tool/miter gauge cart you see below. It’s the work of Blake Hansen, from San Carlos, CA, who submitted the image just a few days ago along with these comments:

"When I first saw the pack rack system, I immediately recognized the possibility of using it as the platform for building a mobile storage system for my lathe tools and miter gauges. The rack pack is very sturdy and stable. Building the upper and lower lathe racks out of maple was fairly straightforward, using the cross rods as the anchor points. The individual miter gauge holders are also attached to the cross rods and made from 1.5" aluminum angle that I picked up at the local DIY store. The melamine shelves also come from the DIY store, along with so .25" x 1" aluminum stock to make the upper shelf cross brace."

As unexpected as it is, we heartily encourage any exploration of the Pack Rack's potential for customization, and look forward to hearing about and seeing the results.  The only possible problem we can foresee is minor: we may have to change the official name from the "Pack Rack Clamp and Tool Storage System" to something more general. "The Whatever It Is In Your Shop That Needs Organizing Storage System," maybe? (We'll work on that.)

Last week, we introduced Rockler’s Dust Right dust collection components. This new system of integrated fittings and attachments is designed with the hobbyist woodworker’s dust collection needs specifically in mind, and we think has the potential to become the standard in smaller woodshops everywhere. This week, we’d like to direct your attention to the Dust Right system’s perfect companion: The Rockler Wall Mount Dust Collector. This portable dust containment solution offers true dust moving power in a uniquely compact and affordable package.

We say “true” dust and debris moving power to emphasize an important point, namely that a dust collector and a shop vacuum are not two “sizes” of the same thing. In a quest to find an affordable, compact solution to their wood dust woes, woodworkers time and time again test the fact, only to find that even the best  shop vac simply isn’t up to the task of keeping up with almost any piece of stationary woodworking equipment. 

The reason is a matter of physics. While these two types of machine do essentially the same thing, they do it in fundamentally different ways. A vacuum is designed to create a high level of suction – enough to compensate for a low volume of air movement and sufficient to keep small amounts of debris moving through the narrow space of a vacuum hose. By contrast, a dust collector uses a powerful induction motor to move comparatively huge volumes of air through much larger ductwork or dust collection hose at a sufficient speed to keep dust and debris aloft and on its way.

But there’s more to it than that. In designing dust collection systems, woodworkers confront another bare fact of physics: the effect of friction on air movement. Long runs of ductwork, changes in air flow direction and steps down in the pipe diameter can quickly reduce a hefty volume of air movement to a trickle. The answer in commercial shops is simply to design a system of ductwork as logically and efficiently as possible and then throw at it whatever air moving power is necessary. Not all of us have that luxury. With steps up in air moving capacity come commensurate steps in cost, electrical power requirements, noise, and demands on precious shop space.

Instead, many small-shop owners opt to bring dust collection to each machine only when they are using it. Hooking up to each machine individually using a shorter, single run of dust hose allows them to use a smaller, less expensive portable dust collector, without sacrificing the air volume necessary to service stationary woodworking equipment. In exchange for the small amount of work involved in moving the dust hose connection from tool to tool – a task the Dust Right system greatly simplifies – they are rewarded with more shop space, less cost, less noise and reduced power demands.

The Wall Mount Dust Collector is simply the next step in this move toward compact, efficient dust collection. At 50 lbs. it’s one of the lightest on the market. Its low-profile wall mount design gives it the smallest footprint attainable for a machine powerful enough to service typical stationary woodworking tools. In a typical hobbyist woodshop, the unit is more than up to the task of servicing a core group of tools from a single up-and-out-of-the-way location. Given reasonably short runs of  4” dust hose, its 650 cfm capacity will provide ample air movement for all but the most industrial-sized power tools. And for larger shops or more remotely located tools, a tool-free z-bracket mounting system makes moving the Wall Mount Dust Collector from location to location not only possible, but a simple matter.

Together, the Wall Mount Dust Collector and the new Dust Right system of components make up an ideal dust management system for smaller shops. With the Dust Right’s tool-free dust ports, moving dust collection from one machine to the next takes only a couple of seconds. An integrated floor sweep and bench nozzle let you apply your dust collector’s powerful air moving capacity to the shop floor and other surfaces with equal ease. And with the wall mount Spring Clips included in the Dust Right Master system, you’ll be able to keep the whole works up organized and out of the way.

Better still, you can have the whole system – the Wall Mount Dust Collector, hose and a complete set of Dust Right components – for less than you could easily spend on a dust collector alone. Together, the Wall Mount Dust Collector and Dust Right system are our answer to a call for a dust management solution that makes sense for small woodshops. And considering cost, versatility, compactness, and self-containment, we feel confident that we’ve met the challenge with exceptional success.