Out of the mists at the recent AFWS show in Las Vegas they appeared – futuristic looking like they had been sent back in time to the woodworkers of today as a gift from the future.
Looking not unlike blue hockey pucks, the word was out – the Rockler Bench Cookies had arrived. No more would woodworkers have to use antislip mats under their work when freehand routing, or sanding operations (and then having to try to get that little polka-dot pattern left by oil residues in the mat off their work). The Bench Cookies are designed to lift, grip and protect both your workpiece, as well as the bench underneath.
With a surface on their top and bottom with a little give, and a lot of grip, one placed in each corner (of a smaller piece, or a couple more in the middle of larger ones), they allow the full edge of the workpiece to be exposed, so when running your router around the edge with a fence, or a bearing bit, it can protrude below the base, and still there is plenty of grip of the workpiece so you can safely route without needing to clamp the piece down.
When sanding, the piece is held firmly as you’d expect, and then finishing – the edge is fully exposed so you can get your finish right to the bottom of the edge, and not find a bead of it pooling in the lower corner. They work whether clean or dusty, as the YouTube video below will demonstrate.
Rockler Bench Cookie
What’s more, they are cheap – a set of 4 costing under $US12 (get the actual pricing from the Rockler Store) Check with them what shipping costs though if you are purchasing outside the States- I haven’t found that out as yet.
This YouTube video was produced by www.consultingwoodworker.com. A quick tap and sweep with your fingers is what is recommended to clean it, but that is not even done here. I’ll make my own version of a video when I have a chance.
Filed under: Manufactures and Suppliers, Tools Tagged: | Bench Cookie, Finishing, Freehand, Rockler, Routing, Sanding
Stu, re the Rockler flyer love the sander just like mine
regards John
Thought it would be a good one to put into the image – I still have a few orange tools in the shop!
Do you know if any company in Aystralia will be importing them?
All….Just put some dummy data into the Rockler site….
Shipping options to Vic are as follows:-
– Priority Mail International 1 – 3 Weeks $31.32
– Express Mail International 1 – 2 Weeks $38.42
– UPS Worldwide Expedited 5-10 Days $71.04
Not good when the shipping is more than double the cost of the product!
That’s not a surprise – buying one item internationally will do that. So it becomes more economic to put in a larger order (more items), or find a few friends who all want the same thing and buy a larger lot which comes under the same, or similar postage.
It is also why I’m looking at how to get the Bench Cookies imported, but not sure how long that takes to set up, or outlays etc.
No reason why a number of people couldn’t use this site/post to make contact with each other and find out just how many could be ordered simultaneously, and split the postage cost.
Stu,
I think you will get a SHOCK with Rockler……
I wanted a dust extractor for my router table and found the ideal on on Rockler for about US$9, however like you and others I thought the shipping would work out cheaper if I bought some other stuff because the plastic dust connector would only weigh a few grams.
I found a few other items with a total weight of about 2 lb, and ordered.
I soon cancelled the entire order after finding out that Rockler charge International buyers the same shipping and handleing charge that they do for shipping in the USA ON TOP of the shipping charge to Australia and that goes UP the more you buy.
So for a product that started out at US$9 with a few other items that were under US$40 it would have cost me over US$120 and to just get the US$9 item on it’s own about US$50.
I deal a lot with US companies and have never had this problem before of double dipping, but after several phone calls to Rockler I couldn’t get past the double dipping problem so I black listed Rockler from any of my future dealings as a definitly NOT.
Hope this helps some other people as this was just a couple of months ago. Its a pity because I liked some of their products, but I guess thats how they got so big and can offer free postage in the US for some items.
Rgards
Roger
Stu,
Ordering 10 sets will add between 7 – 15 US dollars each.
A bit better.
That still sounds high (maybe). If people want to get together and decide how many to order together, I’m happy to discuss with Rockler how to get the best postage price with them.
I’ll put a general question to them now, to see what 10 sets would actually cost in postage to send.
Hi Stu
Any more news about shipping of the bench cookies from Rockler?
Thanks
I bought a set of these bench cookies last week.. I love them. Great product. For once a product that does exactly what it is billed to. Price is inexpensive enough that they are an easy add to any workshop.
Jerseywoodworker
http://www.sawdustonthefloor.com
[...] here for my previous Bench Cookie article, and here is a quick video I shot about them on what sounds like a very rainy night, back [...]
Hi Stuart,I thought they looked a good idea when they first came out,so I laminated two pieces of half inch ply,cut out circles & attached two layers of that nonslip rubber sheet with PVA glue on each side and now I have a close equivalent.Maybe not quite as good but pretty useful at times, Cheers Graham