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Rockler's Bench Cookie™ Work Grippers have been so popular — and people have come up with so many new ideas for how to use them — that we've been busy cookin' up some new flavors for you!
Woodworkers! DIYers! Math Geeks of any type! We have a game for you!
We challenge you to test your woodworking skills with a little game of workshop geometry. But beware: it's, absolutely, amazingly, alarmingly addictive! Give it your best shot(s), then challenge your friends, your family, your co-workers! Then play again! Have fun!
Today Rockler is excited to announce a new website: CNCSharkTalk.com. It's a place where users of the CNC Shark and CNC Shark Pro Routing Systems can chat together, watch how-to videos, ask questions, learn from each other and even show off their CNC Shark projects.
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.
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.
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!
Now there are even more ways to buy our award-winning Bench Cookie™ Work Grippers, and there's still time to get them before Christmas!
Bench Cookie™ Work Grippers 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!):
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.
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| Through dovetails above; half blind dovetails below. The Rockler Dovetail Jig makes both. |
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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.
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| Distinctive Series Dovetail Templates add a hand-crafted look without difficult set ups. Style A shown above; style B below. |
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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.
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:
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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.
