Bench Cookies

[Brandon Weiss]

I'm looking for opinions on the bench cookies. Mainly for their use with a router, as shown in the Rockler advertisement. I don't have my router table built yet, so I need a way to stabilize a workpiece on the bench so I can take the router to the edge. Are these things really worth it, or should I just clamp and route like I've been doing?

[Ryan Baker]

Bench cookies rock! They work exactly as advertised. Very useful when you need the piece clear of the bench to leave room for the bit.

[Stan Urbas]

AND, they are very low-calorie!

[Jeff Monson]

I think they are ok for the investment, I've used mine for quite some time now and they are starting to break down a bit, they also dont work well when there is alot of dust on them. They really knock down vibration when sanding. Quite a handy device overall.

[Brandon Weiss]

The foam material worried me that day I saw them in Rockler. I was worried the foam was too flimsy. I can see how they would break down. I don't know if I would use them for more than routing though so maybe I could prevent the breakdown just a little bit by using them only for that. The other thing that worried me is when I put one down and put some lateral pressure on it, it seemed to give quite a bit. Again because the foam was so thick. That was just my uninformed opinion though after a quick look in the store. Thus I come to you guys.

[Tri Hoang]

I think you can make a bunch of them in different sizes with just some wood/rubber pads.

[Paul Ryan]

For the price and if you can get free shipping they aren't worth making for that. They are really nice for all sort of things but routing is # 1. I use mine all of the time even though I have a nice router table.

[Jim Rimmer]

Bench cookies rock! They work exactly as advertised. Very useful when you need the piece clear of the bench to leave room for the bit.

+1 for the cookies

[Joe Shinall]

Lovin the bench cookies! Got mine free with a promotion a few months back because I spent like $400+ on merchandise. I've used them for routing, sanding, elevation for clamping, and even staining and painting. They're pretty rugged even though they have foam. The first time you put a lot of weight on them and then take the weight off, you will see an indention in the foam and get worried. Don't worry, they will come back to normal.

[brian platt]

I've used them for sanding medium size panels and they have worked well. Have not tried routing yet.

[doug faist]

If you're into turny things, it's kind of kick to make you own bench cookies. Flat surfaces on each side get a piece of shelf liner (the rubbery stuff) and, voila!

Or maybe I'm just too cheap, but mine work great.

Doug

[Dan Forman]

The foam is textured neoprene, which is pretty tough stuff. . They work well.

Dan

[Josiah Bartlett]

I just use the under-rug anti skid pad material and route off the edge of the bench- it has much more surface area than a cookie.

[Cliff Holmes]

When I first saw the bench cookies announced, I thought they were a silly idea. But then I tried them ... and like them. I did a little review of them recently: http://www.thewoodnerd.com/reviews/benchCookies.html

[Dave Wagner]

I got a set when they were on sale...work great.!