Innovation is in Our DNA — Products, Expertise and Learning to Help You Create with Confidence!

We hope that each time you click on rockler.mom or thumb through our catalogs and flyers, our 20,000 product offerings provide you with everything you need to complete your projects and enhance your shop time. Nothing pleases us more than when you're surprised and delighted by the many never-before-seen products we're continuously bringing to market. You turn to us because you're confident we'll have that special jig, finishing supply or piece of hardware to help solve nearly any woodworking challenge that comes your way.

What you might not think about when you build one of our project plans, take a class at a Rockler store or reach for your well-used Bench Cookies is how important these things are to our company's sense of mission and our deep commitment to innovation. LiLi Jackson, the granddaughter of our founder, Nordy Rockler, sums it up well: "Innovation for our company is so much more than creating new products. It's our ethos. It's how we came to be, and it's what sets us apart."

Built on Innovation from the Start

More than seven decades ago, Nordy Rockler set out to solve a problem common to every home woodworker at the time: limited access to supplies. While plywood, hardware and other furniture-building materials were available to professional cabinet shops and factories, there weren't consumer sources where hobbyists could buy them easily. So, in 1954 Nordy started the Minnesota Woodworkers Supply Company in north Minneapolis. It was a small mail-order catalog business with a big aspiration: to become the home woodworkers' go-to resource for everything they needed to complete their projects.

"Right from the start, my dad thought outside the box. His business plan was to come up with things that weren't available and offer them to do-it-yourselfers of the time," recalls Ann Rockler Jackson.

One of those early products was Plyedge®—an all-in-one solution for covering the edges of plywood that included thin strips of wood veneer, contact cement and a glue brush. Early Woodworkers Supply catalogs also included hardwood plywood and items such as knobs, pulls, table slides, cane, finishing materials, lamp parts and Lazy Susan bearings.

"These days, people forget how hard it was to find things before the internet came into being," Ann says. "So, my dad saw it as a unique service to provide woodworking products to our early customers. Opening this business was innovative! We were fulfilling a need as one of the very first retailers in the hobbyist woodworking industry."

Success with Woodworker's Supply Company prompted Nordy to change its name to "The Woodworker's Store" and open our first retail store in Minneapolis in 1978. Over the next decade, we became the first company outside of Canada to carry square-drive Robertson screws. Among other highlights, Nordy and his team invented a jig for installing Blum hinges that became the forerunner of our popular JIG IT template system. He also partnered with legendary woodworker Sam Maloof to be the exclusive retailer of Maloof's Poly/Oil Finish and Oil/Wax Finish. And in 1994, to satisfy customer interest in Mission-style furniture, Rockler became the only retail source for genuine Stickley hardware.

"We had a toll-free 800 number before most other companies did," Ann recalls, "And we launched our first website in 1996 to make our catalogs easier for customers to obtain."

Just a year later, Rockler launched its first e-commerce site and online catalog ahead of most of our competition. It was in keeping with Nordy's original vision: that you have access to the widest variety of woodworking products available and can obtain them in the easiest possible ways.

Innovative Commitment to Education

While you might not know that Rockler invented the T-slot system of jigs and fixtures in 1992, that fact probably isn't surprising. Our signature blue T-track is central to our jig and hold-down solutions, and you probably have some of those in your shop today. What may seem more surprising is that, around the same time as we were getting serious about T-track, Nordy and Ann were also venturing into woodworking publishing. In 1989, Rockler published the first issue of "Today's Woodworker" magazine. Its content focused on attractive woodworking projects with measured drawings and step-by-step photography. We had our own in-house editorial and design staff to create the magazine's content instead of sourcing it elsewhere. Many of those projects included convenient full-size fold-out patterns, and most were designed to put Rockler products and specialty hardware to use.

"Back in those days, there weren't many woodworking magazines and certainly no other woodworking retailers publishing their own magazine like we were," Ann recalls. "Dad and I agreed that creating our own magazine was a helpful way to teach our customers how to become even better woodworkers. It also gave us a great opportunity to excite them by showcasing how our products could be used."

In 2000, Rockler also launched the Woodworker's Journal eZine, one of the first national e-newsletters of the time. It was a groundbreaking opportunity to bring our customers free weekly information about fellow woodworkers and the woodworking industry at large. It offered woodworking tips, answered reader questions and shared news about new Rockler products.

In the years since, our commitment to education has never wavered. Rockler has created several instructional DVD series focused on woodworking methodology, safe table saw use, wood finishing and woodturning. We are continuously producing informational videos about woodworking techniques and our key products that we post to rockler.mom and popular social media platforms. Each of our 44 retail stores has a dedicated, interactive learning space where you can see demonstrations, take classes or receive one-on-one assistance from our store associates with projects you are working on. These sorts of opportunities for learning are a benefit you won't find at big box home centers or hardware stores, and it continues to be a customer commitment that sets us apart.

Solving Woodworking's "Pain Points"

While we've been an innovative retailer and source of woodworking education for many years, we're most proud of our efforts to create products that make your shop time more meaningful and your woodworking more effective. Over the last decade, we've brought more than 500 new products to market. Forty of those have won awards from magazines and national woodworking trade organizations. And within our proprietary product line, Rockler holds more than 100 patents that attest to our focus on creative problem-solving. Designing clever, practical products is where our innovation really shines!

Perhaps you've wondered if your Pro Lift Router Lift, T-Track Drop-Ins or Deluxe Panel Clamps were actually designed by Rockler employees. The answer is yes! Rockler has had an in-house Product Development department since 2006. Each year our product designers and engineers are working on between 35 and 60 new Rockler innovations. These team members are woodworkers, so they encounter many of the same challenges with their projects as you do with yours.

"At the core of our Product Development culture is a constant awareness of problems and 'pain points' in the woodworking world," says Dan Wenning, our Senior Director of Product and New Business Development. "We want to know what your least favorite part of woodworking is and what you struggle with most." Your feedback about woodworking and our own experiences in our shops are what spark ideas for new Rockler products.

Five of Your Favorite Products

While there are so many products that could make an "All Star" list of iconic Rockler innovations, Dan shares five time-tested favorites that have redefined how certain woodworking tasks can be done:

1. Clamp-Its: "We introduced the first Clamp-It Corner Clamp over 25 years ago, and it was a huge hit with our customers. Our Clamp-It line has grown and evolved since, and it remains extremely popular. The innovation has always been its simplicity—a product that keeps your workpieces square while freeing up your hands. What more do you need?"


2. Bench Cookies: "The problem of machining or sanding your workpiece without having to clamp it down to your bench is solved with four of our grippy little pucks. After we added a threaded insert to the center of the Cookie, it opened up multiple innovative accessories and made the product family even more popular."


3. Silicone Glue Brush: "We came up with a reusable glue brush because there were no good glue brushes, other than the typical acid brush, that could be used multiple times. From the length of the tapered silicone bristles that allow for maximum glue holding and distribution, to the offset head you can lay down without wet bristles touching the bench, to its rigid glue scraper/spreader on the other end of the handle, this a well-thought-out design. Plus, you never need to clean it! The hardened glue just peels right off."




4. Dust Right Click-Connect Universal Hose Kit: "The struggle to connect dust collection to different handheld power tools is a problem that many woodworkers can relate to. It doesn't have to lead to disappointment and layers of duct tape! We developed a system that contains multiple interchangeable ports made from pliable rubber to fit different dust port sizes. We also designed an extremely flexible hose that stretches from 3 to 12 ft. It's the perfect solution for managing the dust on hundreds of hand-held power tools."


5. Bandy Clamps: "Securing edge banding to cover the edges of sheet goods requires multiple clamps. While those old three-way metal clamps were once the only solution, their metal clamp pads could dent the banding, and it was tedious having to adjust the three clamp screws while glue was drying. Our Bandy Clamps with flexible rubber webbing now make the process as easy as pushing the spring clamp into place and letting go. It's a faster, gentler and more affordable solution."

Why Innovation Matters

From the first day Nordy Rockler began Woodworker's Supply, our mission has always been to provide the resources you need to create with confidence. We want to help you explore this great craft of woodworking and take your skills and interests as far as you wish. Whatever the project may be or challenge you want to tackle, we have the expertise, learning opportunities and products to help you work more easily, accurately and safely. And when you experience success, you'll want to keep going, trying new and more challenging projects. Regardless of your skill level, we're honored to be a trusted partner in your shop. We innovate and educate with you in mind so that woodworking will be your lifelong passion, just as it is ours.