albers

Hi CharlieP and londonjoe40, I had some of the same questions you guys asked. Here are my observations on the Bench Cookies after playing with a set at AWFS.

The rubber material appears to be the same grippy material found on push blocks and offers a tenacious grip. Even with paper between half the cookies they still held strong. As such I'm guessing that like a push block, even when dirty they will still hold well - plus a quick vacuum or blast of compressed air will clean them off.

In terms of hand plane use, they don't hold well with press applied from the side when there is no downward pressure. If you sit a door on the cookies and push the side, it will move, but if there is even a small amount of downward pressure, I'm talking probably five or ten pounds, they hold firmly.

As Asa pointed out, at $12 a set, even if they get dirty and don't stick as well, I wouldn't have a problem replacing them a couple of times each year. I think they're a real winner.