To keep my appointment at the International Woodworking Fair, I had to move around from one side of the hall to another. But I was not disappointed by what they had to offer me. Here’s a summary.
Let’s begin with the bench cookies. These hockey-puck-like shop assistants were popular among woodworkers. I bet they thought these were a one-hit wonder. Not so. Rockler has re-invented this cookie and called it the Bench Cookie Plus. The plus part is that they have added a threaded insert into the bottom of the disc and are now making screw-in posts that raise the cookies off your bench.
Flip the post one way, and the cookie will be raised by one cookie thickness from the benchtop. Flip the post and the cookie will rise higher. These posts allow you to raise your work to make it easier to use cutting tools or create a second horizontal surface for filling.
One post that screws into the cookie is the most creative bench cookie idea this year. This allows you to stick the cookies into bench dog holes (all new posts fit in 3/10 cm holes). This allows you to place cookies on top of sawhorses, allowing for more uses. The new cookies are four for the risers come in pairs and are and
The Rockler tool has been the best choice for me so far. If you turn at the lathe, the one thing you do or at least I do too many times is set the opening of your calipers. You know the drill: Pick up a rule, hold it with one hand while you set the calipers for the next cut.
Rockler has a handy tool to make that job easier, a new Caliper Gauge/Center finder. For sizes between 1/20 cm and 13 cm in length, the gauge can be adjusted in increments of 1/20 cm. The sizes are shown in large white characters to make it easy to read. Flip the gauge upside down and it will serve as a center finder for square or round stock.
Rockler also offers the following items:
Dust separator components 10 cm in length that can be used to convert almost any container into an separator. Sold in pairs at these threaded components (elbow and coupler) are easily fit into 10 cm holes. The pieces are made from high-strength polymer.
For pocket-hole users, look for a clamp that fits into the hole to help and pull and hold parts together as screws are driven. Also, theres a nice three-way face clamp that allows you to tightly fit face frames to cases.
Last year Rockler brought out a box-joint jig. The company will be introducing clamping cauls, which are sold in four packs and work with these joints. Each jig has a matching tooth to make contact with the appropriate areas to tightly secure the box as the glue sets. In addition, each caul has slots on the outside that perfectly accept a penny. As you press down, the penny will hold your band clamp in place.
A shelf-drilling jig that not only allows for shelf pins to be located correctly, the holes are labeled so you can drill the right locations if you choose not to use every hole.
Take a look at this cool router case. Ill have more information on that in the next few days, so check back.
Glen D. Huey
Product Recommendations
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