Bench Dog 40-011 Feather-Loc Double Featherboard for Table Saws & Router Tables
by Bench Dog
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List Price: Our Price: $22.99 You Save: $7.00 (23%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $21.00 (click here) Category: Tools See more product details |
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Tools and Hardware Reviews of Bench Dog 40-011 Feather-Loc Double Featherboard for Table Saws & Router Tables
Customer Review: Poor design and construction
Summary: 1 Stars
I purchased several of these. Initially they looked good, but in use they are annoying and end up breaking. Most other commercially available featherboards are better designed, better built and cost less! I am surprised other reviewers rate these so high, I suspect the ratings are given before much use.
1. The black plastic knobs that you use to tighten the featherboard in place capture onto a nut head. The largest problem with these featherboards is that it is easy to strip the black plastic knobs when they are tightened, allowing the plastic knob to turn freely on the captive bolt.
2. A better design would ensure a more positive capture into the track slot by having both black knobs works to lock the split aluminum bar into the track slot, in this design only one of the knobs does this. Which BTW is the one that strips as above, since you have to tighten it enough to stop the featherboard sliding in the track.
3. The black plastic knobs are small and feel cheap, other commercial featherboards have larger knobs that are easier to tighten.
4. Also after using them for a while you've start to hate the non-parallel bolt slots that the featherboard slides around on. Most other commercial featherboards have parallel slots and these are easier to adjust.
Customer Review: Rugged, excellent quality
Summary: 5 Stars
I just wrote a review of the Milescraft double-decker FB (not favorable) and there I touted the Bench Dog FB as the standard for quality. Then I checked out the reviews for this FB and I see many people are unhappy with it, and I'm perplexed. I have two pairs of these, one for my router table (with standard bolt-heads that fit in the t-slots, and one for my table saw (with miter-slot bars). I've used them for about 10 years and I've always been happy with them. They're tough but flexible, stay put with a simple turn of the knob and they're very easy to adjust, install and remove.
I'm not entirely sure but it appears some of the reviewers may be attempting to use the bolt-head variety in miter slots or the miter-slot kind in T-slots. They sell them both ways so make sure you're buying what you need. The miter-slot bars are standard 3/8" x 3/4" so they're not going to fit in a worksite construction saw like the Makita 2703.
No, I'm not a BD shill, just a regular old woodworker. This is about the only BD product I use. Another nice thing about these is they're the color of traffic cones, which makes them really easy to find in a crowded workshop! Come to think of it, maybe THAT'S why I grab them first...
Customer Review: Not enough info in item description
Summary: 3 Stars
I bought these to go with a table saw I just purchased for home use and have used the bench dog featherboard before. My three star rating is not so much for the product as I thought it works quite well, but for the infomation given on the product.
You should know these two things:
1) The miter slot adaptor does NOT come with these feather boards. Either I did not read the item description very well, or it does not state this in the online info. It does however clearly state this on the packaging the item comes with. If you are expecting to use these featherboards on your 3/4" miter slots, you can't unless you purchase the adaptor. They fit 1/4" T slots.
2) The two featherboars that arrive are mirror images of each other. The photograph of the items online, as best as I can tell, shows two itentical items side-by-side. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but don't expect two identical boards. Use one in the left miter slot (once you purchase the adaptor) and the other will work in the right miter slot, or on your rip fence.
Customer Review: Great accessories, if you read the directions
Summary: 5 Stars
I use these regularly on both my table saw and router, but mostly on my table saw. These items are sold as router accessories, so as other reviews have noted, the slider bar must be purchased to use them on the table saw.
The plastic bar that comes with these are to hold the items to the cardboard packaging. It is not meant to be used in a table saw miter slot.
The table saw bar has two ends. One end expands and the other does not. The expanding end must be installed on the in-feed side. When tightened, this anchors the bar in place. The non-expanding end goes on the out-feed side. This anchors the out-feed side to the slide bar.
I know we all just take the things off the card and throw away the card without reading the directions, but the card for the slide bar does give a description of how this device is supposed to be installed.
I have never applied more than 1/4 turn, probably not more than 1/8 turn, past finger tight and have never had a problem with slippage.
Customer Review: Essential tool for clean cuts
Summary: 5 Stars
I received these featherboards as a promotional item when I purchased a Bench Dog router table. As an accessory item they are invaluable when milling long, thin work pieces. In my situation I was fabricating rails and stiles for raised panel doors. If consistent even pressure is not applied when running the piece through the router bit, the end result could be an uneven cut, or worse, a ruined piece. I highly recommend that you consider using featherboards any time they can be employed. The design of this product makes it fairly easy to do so.
I also found that if you bring the featherboard against the work piece and tighten the trailing end, then roll it forward to create a slight deflection in the fingers, you will achieve the optimum amount of pressure. Additionally, if you want to mount these in the 3/4" miter slot of your table saw, you will need the Bench Dog 10-012 Miter Slot Adapter. Overall this is a well made product and a valuable addition to my work shop.