Customer Reviews

Bench Dog 40-025 Panel Hold Down and Safety Accessory

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had bought the Bench Dog PL400 a while ago, and unfortunately it sat in the tube it ships in. Well I broke it out, and after using it, I am sorry that I didn't do it sooner. It is great. It will fit any type of fence with the standard T slot. The attaching nuts are included and the easy to turn and fasten tightening knobs do the job well.
The great thing about this piece of equipment is that it does such a great job of holding down your workpiece. If you have a 3, to 6 inch panel or greater, it will perfectly keep it mated to the table. That is in part due to the hard rubber strip that extends below the bottom. The cast aluminum plate is substantial. I was tongue and groove routing, 88 inch long boards, and when I got to the end of the board, the PL400 had no problem keeping it true to the table, even when I let go. So I had 3 inches of an 88 inch piece of cedar being held straight, and under all of that pressure, it was still flush for the bit.
The safety advantage is second to none. Since it completely covers the router bit area, it protects you from an exposed bit. It actually covers an area a few inches away from the fence.
It is usable on your table saw, router table, or anything that has a T-slot. No T-slot, no problem, it is shipped with an included T-Slot aluminum channel, so you can convert your fence to a T-Slotted fence. If you added a wooden riser-extension to your fence, this would attach right to it. It is not predrilled, so you can custom apply it to your needs.
I highly recommend it. Easily adjustable for just the right amount of pressure. It does the job more completely and uniformly than single featherboards. It removes and installs in about 30 seconds. It doesn't shift on you when larger stock is trying to move it.
If I was cutting different size pieces all day long, I would use a featherboard, because it allows you instant access to the bit, for setup changes. If I was making runs of lots of boards, I would use the PL400, because the 20 second additional set up time, is more than worth the benefits and advantages.
I plan on keeping mine handy, and using it a lot more from now on. Hope this helps.

I got this as a gift from my daughter last year but didn't have a slot in my router fence to use it. Finally got around to making some MDF fences with the right slots and found out this is a great product. I've always had trouble keeping the part I was routing down against the table and tight against the fence. This solves the first problem and helps with the second. It gives you a uniform depth by keeping downward pressure on the wood.It is easy to setup, takes about 5 seconds to set the proper pressure on the wood.

Two disadvantages keep me from rating it as 5 star. I tried routing some rail and stiles and found they were too thin and slipped under the guard. The second problem is when you want to adjust the router bit depth of cut, you can't see the bit so you have to slip the guard out of the way, adjust the depth, and then slip the guard back. This is fairly easy but annoying.
Even with these two disadvantages, this is the best product I've found for router applications. I especially like the fact that the bit is fully encased and dust collecion is greatly enhanced.

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.

I thought that this would be a great item for routing panels for frame and panel doors. I suppose that if all I ever did was cabinet doors I would be quite happy. Since I am building a bunch of interior passage doors, I am less than pleased. 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. 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. 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. It is now usable, but the hold down runner is narrow enough that it marks poplar. Lotsa sanding!

With a little more thinking and engineering this would rate 4 1/2 stars, with a slight subtraction for horrid visability. You have to trust that everything is going OK because you can't see anything.

These hold downs are a must for any serious woodworker. Keeps stock feeding snug against the cutter and prevents any kickback. Works great. 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.

When cutting a panel with a large router bit, it is critical that the work piece is held firmly to to the table. 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. 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. 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. 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.

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.

This is a good addition to your router fence for keeping your hands away from the bits when working with panels and sheet stock. It shines when removing a little material/pass, but is less effective as the cuts become agressive since it doesn't apply as much downward force as vertical fingerboards. I use this with a Bench Dog table cast iron table and Bench Dog fence. The B-D fence is designed to be used with featherboards, so i use them a lot. The best feature of this hold down is that it covers the bits - esp. the larger bits. The least advantage accrues when you change or adjust bits often, because the hold down has to be removed while the featherboards just stay in place.

I like the safety this provides and for this reason alone it's worth the price. If you're in a production environment with modest material removal, this is the way to go.

Recommended.