Kurt’s Workshop

Basically Rockler has just accused me of not knowing how to clamp things down. Here’s what they have to say on the issue:

“Wow, it doesn’t seem that one would have a need to tighten down on a hold down clamp enough to pull the particle board apart that way. As that’s where the breaking is though is does appear as though the epoxy did do the job in adhering to the particle board. It doesn’t sound like a replacement would solve anything as we won’t be able to supply the table made out of a different material, and I would expect the same result with a new table if that much pressure needs to be applied to the clamp. You might try a different epoxy, being sure to get both the bottom and the sides of the track, but if the material itself is breaking apart I can’t guarantee that will work.”

So Rockler…what shall we do? Here’s was my reply:

“It sounds a little like you’re blaming me for over tightening a clamp, which is not the case. Perhaps the product is simply not made to high enough standards. I would like Rockler to pay my return shipping, as well as refund my money for the product. I see from the comments on the product details page that this is a known issue, so it doesn’t really surprise me.”

I think this is a reasonable answer, so let’s see what they say. I doubt they will want to pay for the shipping, but we shall see. It really is a well documented issue with their product, so I think they should have to deal with it. The table made for Woodcraft has it’s t-slots through bolted to the table. I think this would be the obvious way to make a table made out of MDF.

So I have to retract my glowing recomendation of Rockler’s Drill Press table. I like the surface, I like the size, but I cannot deal with a table that does not have properly operating t-track. Even after securing the tracks with some two part epoxy, they pulled out under minimal pressure. Yes I roughed up the underside of the aluminum, so don’t bother yelling at me for that. I guess it comes down to one thing: don’t trust particle board type products with glue. End of story.

I think Rockler really needs to deal with this known problem. I am currently waiting for their reply to my request for a solution/refund. They were the ones who sent me the glue, so I figure that has to be like strike one. We’ll see how the rest of the count goes down.

Here you can see what the Rockler drill press table looks like installed. Unlike their basic router table surface, this one come with some sweet little clamps to attach the surface to your preexisting iron table. They appear to be identical to the ones they sell in the store for jigs etc. You should note that this drill press comes with an oversized table already, so you can’t really follow Rockler’s enclosed direction sheet (yes this one comes with directions as well) for installation.I also picked up a pair of these Kreg T-slot clamps. This gives you a lot of versatility when combined with the fence that comes with the Rockler table top