Top Gifts for Woodworkers: Essential Tools & Accessories They’ll Love

Finding the best woodworking gift for that family member or friend can be a bit of a beast, especially if you have no knowledge of the topic and don’t know where to start. Taking the time to shop for quality woodworking tools is an essential first step for the safety of your loved one and the longevity of their hobby or career. Take it from someone who has experienced a couple of close calls in the shop myself. 

For birthday presents, Father’s Day gifts, Christmas gifts, or just cause, TSO Products is a great place to start…and end with picking out that gift that checks all boxes for innovative and precise designs that provide a safe and efficient workflow. The products included in this list cover a wide range of price points and are made for woodworkers at all levels of experience.

Game-Changing Essentials:

TPG Parallel Guide System

For woodworkers who already own a track saw system (more specifically, this system is compatible with Festool, Makita, Milwaukee, DeWalt, Kreg, and Triton), this guide rail system is an excellent way to enhance their existing setup. It provides rock-solid attachment to your guide rail and enables you to do accurate work, faster, especially if you are making repetitive cuts. This is great when precision cuts are required but more so when parallel cuts are going to allow you to get the most out of every board’s dimensions without creating too much waste. These guide rails are also a perfect example of how to ensure safe cuts as well. This precision design not only allows for a great experience cutting sheetgoods.

GRS-16 PE v2 Parallel Edge Guide Rail Square

The TSO GRS-16 Guide Rail Square is a must-have accessory to accompany the guide rail. If you don’t currently have a guide rail system, this item might make you think twice about that. The innovative design allows for a clip-on application to your guide rail. Anyone who has ever used their circular saw to cut boards or strips knows just how annoying it is to find out that your cuts aren’t all perfectly squared and that none of them match the way that you need or would like. If you're a woodworker, you understand the pursuit of perfection - it's a journey that challenges both hobbyists and professionals to continually elevate their craft. This item makes it easy to make nice squared cuts quickly without a second thought and can be connected to any point of your guide rail to ensure accuracy.

DBF-45 BigFoot Base System 

The BigFoot Base System is a precision mounting tool for Festool DOMINO DF 500 and DX 700 XL joiners. Once mounted to a pre-cut fence, a joiner can then easily be mounted to the fence giving you a good two-hand grip allowing you to make precisely mortise cuts at your intended locations. This is an essential accessory for anyone who regularly uses the Domino for floating tenon joinery work, and provides a much larger reference base for improving the stability of the tool when in use.

Workbench Essentials: 

Power-Loc Bench Connector Dog

This item was a new one for me, but I wish that I’d seen it and known about it for years. When using jigs that you’ve made to utilize any of your woodworking toys, the Power-Loc Connector Dog will allow you to essentially clamp the jig to your main workbench. Instead of having multiple tables to accompany routers, pocket hole cutter base, or even woodworking vises, this device will allow you to take any jig and semi-permanently mount it to your primary workbench. I’m someone who has, what seems like, a million special-purpose tablesin my shop. Accessories like the Bench Connecting Dogs can allow you to clamp your jig, mount your device, and go. These little connectors work with the 20mm hole patterned worktops. To adapt a jig for mounting using Power-Loc Dogs, simply drill a 20mm hole in the base of your jig. The Power-Loc Dog slips through the base of your jig, and through your worktop. But the real innovation behind the Power-Loc Dog is the way it clamps down: it doesn't require a clamping knob from below (which is always an awkward undertaking). The Power-Loc clamps from the top, using a hex driver. Simply turn the screw clockwise to tighten the integral clamping foot of the Power-Loc Dog, and you're done

The beautiful thing about these connectors is that they also come with an option for precision-designed chamfered lips that stay recessed below your working surface. The 20mm Chamfer Dogs–Pair option allows you to keep all of your workable surfaces without limiting yourself or creating a roadblock in the path of travel when feeding boards across your workbench surface. These little guys are also super sturdy and allow for supporting a good deal of added weight from your workbench additions.

These bench dogs, together with TSO's full offering of 20mm bench dogs for various woodworking tasks, are a great holiday gift for any woodworker using a 20mm hole-patterned worktop like the Festool MFT/3.

See the last entry for 20mm hole patterned workbench top options.

TDS-13 Low Profile Dog Stops

The TDS-13 Low Profile Dog Stops set is another good addition to the 20mm hole patterned workbench top. This item is the ultimate material stop for 20mm worktops.

Need to help a woodworker cut series of identically sized cabinet components? The TDS-13 Dog Stops deliver precision with minimal setup. Just measure once, install a pair of stops, and extend them to contact the workpiece opposite the cutting edge. They lock securely with two hex screws from the top, maintaining that exact position even when removed and reinstalled. This makes them perfect for achieving consistent, precise cuts with a track saw system.

Innovative Accessories: 

JessEm Clear-Cut Stock Guides (Pair)

This accessory is a favorite of mine and a must for anyone with a router table or table saw. Whether you work from a jig or a dedicated router table, the JessEm Clear-Cut Stock Guides will make for an amazing addition. They are made to mount to the fence of your router table or table saw. These guides contain one-way rollers that gently push your workpiece against the fence as you're making the cut. For anyone who has ever attempted to feed a board across their router table while maintaining pressure with their hands alone, you already know that you’re going to love this accessory. This makes a good single-buy gift for any loved one with a router table or table saw. This is one gift that your woodworking family member or friend will thank you for twice, when they open it, and once again when they’ve actually used it.

Upgraded Rip Fence for DeWalt Table Saw

For anyone with a DeWalt DWE7491RS 10" Jobsite Table Saw, this precision-engineered fence upgrade makes an excellent gift. It enhances the saw's capabilities with three T-slots that allow mounting of essential accessories like stock guides, featherboards, and custom jigs. Installation is straightforward, reusing the original DeWalt brackets while preserving all stock fence functionality. When paired with accessories like the JessEm Clear-Cut Stock Guides (mentioned above), it creates a professional-grade cutting station that prioritizes both precision and safety.

Power-Loc Toggle Clamp

On to my favorite group of accessories for any and every workbench and woodworker: clamps. When I buy my father clamps for his November birthday, by Christmas he knows exactly where to find about half to three-quarters of them. That’s what makes them the gift that keeps on giving, and the gift that I keep on giving.

The Power-Loc Toggle Clamp has an innovative design that not only allows for clamping an object down but also inline. These clamps are designed for use with a  20mm hole patterned benchtop. This insert-mounted design feature means no more clamping from the bottom of the board, just insert and lock. These handy clamps make for an exceptional accessory gift, and are available in two configurations (inline and horizontal) for different, common clamping use cases. 

Top-Quality Tools for Versatility:

MTR-X Multifunction Precision Triangle Set 

The MTR-X Multifunction Precision Triangle Set is a great addition for any woodworker, and can be used with just about any tool in the shop, for dialing in squareness of your machine fences, to squaring a miter saw before a cut, or it can even be attached to a 20mm worktop. 

This triangle is precision milled to be very square when creating corners for everything from simple boxes or drawers to precise cabinetry builds. This device isn’t meant for any one singular use as it can be used as an ultimate multi-tool in any workshop. Triangles are a good addition to any shop and come at every price point, but this is no simple triangle.

 Explore the full TSO catalog for even more game-changing tools and accessories to delight the woodworker in your life this holiday season. By choosing high-quality, precision-crafted gifts, you’re not just giving a product—you’re supporting their passion and helping them create with confidence.