Simple DIY Bench Cookies (Biscuits)

I've been bombarded with e-mails from Rockler Woodworking to buy their bench cookies and decided it was a great time to get in on the Rigs and Jigs Contest. Overall you can make your own bench cookies for a fraction of the cost, and nearly for free using scrap wood. Check out this instructable for a great substitute DIY option to purchasing these outright.

Dewalt Planer

Ryobi Drill/Driver Combinations

These all include the 1/2 chuck as recommended If you want to check out other manufacturers such as Dewalt, Milwuakee, and Rigid, please check them out through my link to Home Depot below:

Corded Hammer Drill/Regular Drill Combo

Milwaukee Hole Saw Bits

Forstner Bit Set

Router Bits

I use a Skil Router, but I have noticed that Bosch offers more accessories that can be of great use. Also the combination fixed and plunge version that I use doesn't seem to be available.

Bosch Router

I recently bought a smaller handheld Ryobi Router and love it

Router Tables

T Nuts

Plasti Dip

These are affiliate links and we could obtain compensation for sales completed through our links.

We used a scrap piece of 2x6 for this project and marked every 4 3/4th inch along the middle of the board for our pilot holes. Using a small drill bit, we drilled completely through the board as a guide for our counter-sunk holes in the next step.

Countersink one side of the board to accommodate the T-nut. Using the appropriate forstner bit, we drilled out a countersink for the t-nut.

We also drilled out about 1/2 inch deep section on the other side of the board to accommodate countersinking a bolt for flexible use of the cookies throughout our projects.

We starting using our battery powered drill but ended up changing out to our corded drill to knock them all out. They weren't perfectly straight (a drill press would be a great tool for better accuracy, but I can't afford one or have the space right now), but is good enough for its use.

We grabbed a thicker drill bit so that we could drill the appropriate size for the rest of the T-nut. Later on in the process we decided to use JB Weld epoxy to anchor the nut.

We set up our router table and used a round-over bit to soften the edges, then sanded each unit individually. To be safe, we used a bolt to help hold the small cookie down as we ran it through the router.

We poured some of the plasti dip on a plate and dipped each of the cookies, top and bottom. We used our fingers to try and even out the coat because we didn't want to spend a fortune dipping them completely and needing multiple bottles of plasti dip. There are also "spray" options that might work just as well with a few even coats.

We found that the cheap t-nuts we bought weren't staying in place so we picked up some JB Weld Epoxy, mixed it up and used a small amount on each t-nut.

That's all there is to it. You don't have to add the t-nuts, but they allow me to use a small 2-3 inch threaded bolt so that I can connect two cookies together and get a higher cookie if you have a deeper saw blade or another reason you might need a little extra space. I hope you enjoyed this instructable and hope I do well in the contest, so please check out my YouTube videos and my Facebook Page for other cool ideas, tools, and jigs.