Lasers and computers may be the cool things in some woodworker’s shops, but I can still get worked up by less electrified new products. Particularly when the new offering helps make the most basic woodworking tasks easier and less frustrating. RIDGID’s new portable work support is just that sort of tool.
Many of us work alone in our shops. (I know, it is hazardous to work solo, but the fact remains that it is what most of us do.) There is pleasure to be found in the creative solitude of your workshop. Frustration abounds as well, like when you are one hand too few during a glue-up. Or when the sheet of plywood you are ripping droops down and bonks into the front face of your roll-off stand. Well, while RIDGID won’t graft an extra arm and hand onto your body (I will pass the suggestion on to the design team, however), they have solved the drooping plywood dilemma with a practical and nifty work support that employs a unique flip-top feature.
One look at the tool and you wonder why it was not invented earlier. Intuitive to use, the support (properly identified as the AC9933 … catchy, huh?) will aid the solo woodworker with a wide variety of tasks. Its patented pivoting top will catch sagging stock and actually lift it back into the proper cutting plane as you push the workpiece forward. An answer to many late-night workshop prayers and not a few curses. How often have you found yourself part way through a rip cut and have had to shut down your saw’s power because you’ve run into trouble on the outfeed side of things? It has happened to me.
When in use, the stand has a wide and stable base, key to any support stand’s success. If you wish to have the top locked horizontally for a specific task, there is a slide-in pin for that purpose. It’s sturdy, it’s able to support up to 250 lbs. and it’s adjustable from 27″ to 45″ high. The AC9933 also folds up to a remarkably small size, making it easy to store. (Another small shop advantage.)
While you don’t have to boot-up the new AC9933 to use it, this is one new shop option that definitely computes