|
I thought that this would be a great item for routing panels for frame and panel doors. With a little more thinking and engineering this would rate 4 1/2 stars, with a slight subtraction for horrid visability. The thickest material that will slide under the 40-025 is approx 1 1/8", so I had to get out the Dremel and elongate the adjustment slots.
Since I am building a bunch of interior passage doors, I am less than pleased. It is now usable, but the hold down runner is narrow enough that it marks poplar. I suppose that if all I ever did was cabinet doors I would be quite happy.
In doing so, I discovered that the included hand nuts would not clear the hold down when it is raised enough to clear the 1 3/8" panel, so I replaced the factory nuts with common 1/4-20 hex nuts and flat washers. Interior passage doors are customarily 1 3/8" thick, and entry doors are usually 1 3/4" thick. I have the Bench Dog cast iron table saw extension type router table with the Bench Dog fence.
Lotsa sanding. You have to trust that everything is going OK because you can't see anything.
Works great. These hold downs are a must for any serious woodworker. Keeps stock feeding snug against the cutter and prevents any kickback. The screw that attaches the toe occasionally works loose and the toe won't go into the guide slot on the table. Just a minor annoyance.
The Bench Dog 40-025 hold down accessory worked as advertised and took the worry of a hand slipping into the router bit.Milled several raised panels in multiple passes with perfect results.The Bench Dog Holddown held the panel to the fence and provided a guard for hand safety. Highly recommend this accessory for anyone concerned with great results and safety.
Additionally, the 2 inch offset of the pressure point provides a measure of safety, ensuring that your valuable fingers don't get near the business end of the router. When cutting a panel with a large router bit, it is critical that the work piece is held firmly to to the table. I also found that if the panel has a slight bow along the grain, the device will apply enough pressure to overcome it and create an even cut. Otherwise, the end result can be an inconsistent cut and possibly a ruined piece. This device was designed to apply even pressure along the full length of the piece. This usually could not be achieved using feather boards alone. If you plan on fabricating raised panel doors, or creating anything with a large panel width, then you may find this product very useful.
I had to mount the Panel-Loc to a 2x4 fence because the fence on my table saw is too tall to allow the Panel-Loc to hold down thin plywood. It works much better than a featherboard for ripping plywood. It would be 5 stars except for one problem. You cannot see the base of the fence to ensure that material is tight against the fence.
|
