Rockler rolls out new product package

Anyone looking for a router table, cabinet stand, metal stand, or accessories — individually or as a package deal — should check out the latest products offered by Rockler Woodworking and Hardware.

Bench Dog and Rockler tables featuring HPL (high-pressure laminate), phenolic and cast-iron tops are available as well as a Baltic birch cabinet and metal stand. Rockler is offering the products so customers can mix and match, with a router table priced as low as $89.99 and ranging up to a complete professional package for $899.99.

The Bench Dog ProMaxRT package is the company’s top-of-the line product and features a cast-iron table, 8-1/4" x 11-3/4" aluminum ProPlate router plate, with Bench Dog’s 32" Pro-Fence and ProCabinet Baltic birch base.

“It’s a solid cast-iron router table and it is machined flat and smooth [within .008"],” says Rockler spokesman Steve Krohmer. “It’s not two parts; in fact, Bench Dog had a smaller cast-iron router table that started out as a design for table saw extension wings and then it had an additional plate that was added to it to try and make it larger and be a stand-alone. We redesigned it into a full-size independent router table so it has no seams, no cracks — it’s over 5-square-feet of cast iron. We machined into the surface the T-slot and the miter slot. It’s just shy of 100 lbs., and it will basically last a lifetime and is actually bigger than most shaper tables.”

The 8-1/4" x 11-3/4" ProPlate is equipped to handle 3-hp routers and the ProLift adjustment system. The 12-point router plate has a leveling and locking system, so the table is level on all four sides to prevent shifting from cut to cut.

“It has 10 Allen screws that come up from the bottom through a flange in the table, and then it has two locking screws,” Krohmer explains. “Once you have leveled it with these 10 leveling screws from the bottom, then you come from the top and hold it down against those with two locking screws from the surface.”

The 24" x 32" x 1-1/2" ProMaxRT table also includes the Bench Dog dual-track, which consists of a standard miter slot and a universal T-track with stacked grooves to accept any featherboard, stop or other accessory with 5/16" bolts, 1/4" bolts, or 1/4" hex bolts.

The 31-1/2" x 23-1/4" x 3/4" Bench Dog Phenolic ProTop router table is the mid-priced model and includes an aluminum router plate and 32" ProFence. The phenolic surface offers stability and won’t warp or bend. The Rockler HPL version is the lowest-priced table and has been upgraded from the melamine surface table introduced 10 years ago.

Among the many accessories are a Baltic birch cabinet stand and a metal stand.

“The ProCabinet is Baltic birch … the sides and all the structural parts in there are Baltic birch and it’s been difficult to maintain, because last year the price of Baltic birch went through the roof, but we decided to stay with it because it really adds a lot of structural strength and it’s just reflective of the Bench Dog strategy.”

The ProCabinet is a former Bench Dog product and Rockler has improved its casters and levelers. The base is built with sturdy bolt-and-cross-dowel construction, has two pullout trays, two shelves, four casters, a dust port and weighs 97 lbs.

“We have packages that really are the best value … but we are also selling everything a la carte, so if someone wants to tie a router lift with a table, they can do that,” says Krohmer. “If they prefer one fence over another, they can add the fence they want, or if they want to have a steel stand instead of a Baltic birch stand they can take that approach, so we’re kind of allowing the customers to really choose which way they want to build their table and come up with their own configuration.”

The HPL table is priced at $199.99 and includes a 32" fence and router plate, and with the additional Rockler stand, the HPL combination package costs $299.99.

The Bench Dog ProTop phenolic table with the Bench Dog 32" fence and aluminum router plate is priced at $399.99. The ProTop package with the Bench Dog steel stand sells for $499.99.

The Bench Dog ProMaxRT cast-iron table with the heavy-duty aluminum router plate, Bench Dog 32" ProFence, aluminum fence with two MDF sub-fences, T-tracks on both sides, 2-1/2" dust port and an integrated bit guard costs $599.99. By adding the ProCabinet to the package, it sells for $899.99.

The Bench Dog ProCabinet sells separately for $369.99 and individual router tables may also be purchased.

Contact: Rockler Woodworking and Hardware. Tel: 800-279-4441. www.rockler.com

This article originally appeared in the March 2009 issue.