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Rockler hits pay dirt again while making your finishing life easier with their new Bench Cookie Cones™ that mate up with any of their Bench Cookies™! Click image to enlarge

Rockler Bench Cookie™ Cones

Rockler’s ingenuity is hanging out again…

Text & photos by Tom Hintz

Posted – 12-21-2010

Just when I thought that Rockler had taken their wildly successful Bench Cookies™ as far as they could go they come out with the Bench Cookie™ Cones. These clip-on accessories let you use your existing Bench Cookies™ for one or two-sided finishing which can save lots of time in the shop. Despite their apparent simplicity the Bench Cookie™ Cones are well made and thought out. It is this kind of thinking that has made Rockler such a major player in woodworking today. Moreover, I like it when Rockler’s ingenuity makes my in-shop life a little easier.

Elegance of Simplicity

Very often the most useful tools are exceedingly simple in appearance. But, there is usually lots of thought and design time behind that simplicity. The Bench Cookie™ Cones are all of that. In addition to making use of Bench Cookies™ you may already own, they are effective and very simple to use.

Bench Cookie™ Cones are cleanly molded from quality plastic that has a very slick surface to help them resist the buildup of finishing materials. Because they are designed to clip onto any version of the Bench Cookies™ using the Bench Cookie™ Cones is very simple. Clipping the Bench Cookie™ Cones onto your Bench Cookies™ helps eliminate slipping on a bench surface that occasionally caused problems with simple plastic triangles or shop-made finishing stands.

The Bench Cookie™ Cones simply clip over (left) your existing Bench Cookies. Added to the height of your existing Bench Cookies, the Bench Cookie™ Cones give even more clearance for applying finishes or sanding. Click images to enlarge

The tiny point on which the project material rests lets you work on both sides of a piece with only a tiny spot to touch up in each corner on the bottom side. And when applying multiple coats of finish if you alternate which side you finish first, even this tiny spot is dramatically reduced.

In the Shop

When Rockler first came out with the original Bench Cookies™ I initially thought that they might be a marketing ploy. Of course after I tried using them that concept was flushed from my mind. When the Bench Cookie™ Cones came on the scene I knew to resist knee-jerk doubting. When I received the package of four Bench Cookie™ Cones I took them directly to the shop.

The idea of clipping these pointed cones on Bench Cookies™ eliminates the problem of things moving around while finish is being applied, particularly with a brush. I still am not sure exactly how the Bench Cookies™ get such a good grip on virtually any surface but they do and clipping the Bench Cookie™ Cones to them transfers that stability to the cones.

The combination of your existing Bench Cookies and the Bench Cookie™ Cones keep the work piece very stable when applying finishes, especially with a brush. Click image to enlarge

Putting the Bench Cookie™ Cones on top of the Bench Cookies™ also adds a bit of height that makes working on edges easier to do without applying finish to the work surface at the same time. That bit of additional elevation also makes using a fan to move air to encourage drying more balanced on the top and bottom surfaces. If you need even more clearance you can stack the Bench Cookies™ as high as you need or have enough Bench Cookies™ to achieve.

Conclusions

If there is a down side to the Bench Cookie™ Cones I just have not been able to find it. They appear to be well made, they fit any of the Bench Cookies™ precisely and they seem to resist common finishes very well. Add an easy to take street price of $4.99 (12-21-2010) per set of four (Bench Cookies™ not included naturally) and there seems to be no down side. There are lots of up sides though if you are one of thousands of woodworkers that want to get finishing done faster and better.

Now we can all sit back and see if Rockler can dream up yet another use for their Bench Cookies™.

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