Whats the best way to drill holes for 3/4in bench dogs? Whats the best method? (Drill bit, Fostner bit, or router with 3/4in plung router) Whats the best time to drill them? Spacing? Thanks friends!
3/4in holes for benchdogs
- Thread starter michaelgarner
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I used a Forstner bit & handheld drill to make the holes in my bench. Even though I kept a square near the drill, some of the holes are not vertical. If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't have tried to drill all of them at the same time. I think I was getting fatigued the last hour or so and that resulted in crooked holes.
I used a spade bit to cut the holes in my bench. A backer block on the bottom helps with tear out on the bottom of the bench. To space and help keep the holes vertical, I made a block like the one pictured at the bottom of the page here. http://www.leevalley.com/shopping/Instructions.aspx?p=41229
For spacing, that really needs to be the same as or less than the travel of what ever you will use to clamp something against the dogs. IE if your tail vise has 8” of travel, then set the holes no more than 8” apart.
Make sure you hole do not line up with any metal in your bench. I hit a screw on my last hole on the front of my bench and the bit is now toast. :BangHead:
LeeNC
For spacing, that really needs to be the same as or less than the travel of what ever you will use to clamp something against the dogs. IE if your tail vise has 8” of travel, then set the holes no more than 8” apart.
Make sure you hole do not line up with any metal in your bench. I hit a screw on my last hole on the front of my bench and the bit is now toast. :BangHead:
LeeNC
Thanks friends. Do you think it would be a better idea to drill the holes while I have the bench top in sections before the final glue up?
If you have a plan and know where they need to be before assembly then the drill press would be the most accurate method. If I ever get round to making a nice bench I will use square dog holes and cut them before glue up.:gar-Bi
I was thinking of doing square dogs, but the research that I have read doesn't indicate a huge difference between the two. In fact round dogs can actually support odd shaped material better than square dogs because they can rotate to the shape. But I am sure that this conversation can quickly turn into a "Pins and Tails" battle. Just wondering how people have made their bench with round dogs. Thanks friends for all the help.
round dogs are better for odd shapes but square ones work better with square stock. either way I would prolly be making my own dogs. square dogs are easier to make in a hurry and I would make a few with round tops for the odd stuff. I don't believe either is right or wrong.:dontknow::gar-La; I would want 2 rows too and a wide vise on the end of the bench for large tops and such. I want a lot of things in a bench. thats why I haven't made one yet.:rotflm: are you going to have legs or doors and drawers under the bench? Thats another reason I haven't built one yet... haven't made my mind up yet. someday.........
I used a 3/4 auger bit in a brace. I had heard stories about burned out drills and so decided to try the neander thing. Quite a workout, but not as tough as I would have thought. Once the auger's lead screw bit it was just a matter of cranking the brace. I made a jig that indexed to the front of the bench as well as to the hole to the right. The jig gave me about a 4" pilot to hold the bit at 90 degrees. Spacing was 6".
If you are looking for good hold downs, I recommend the ones from "Tools for Working Wood"
-G
If you are looking for good hold downs, I recommend the ones from "Tools for Working Wood"
-G
If you are going to put wood on the vise jaws, please take that into
consideration, the hole spacing should be decreased accordingly.
Depending on how you are going to use the tail vise and the bench dogs,
if for hand planing (bench for hand tool usage), you may want to make
the holes lean toward the vise direction, 2-degree would be enough
(Bob Key's bench article talked about this); if the bench is for power tool
use, there's not much concern for leaning the bench dog hole.
Drilling the hole using a brace and auger bit is a good idea, actually,
which is what I did when drilling holes for holdfasts. It drills pretty fast
if the benchtop is pine.
3/4" hole, too, is easy to handle. It took meand the GIT more than 40 minutes to drill a 1" diameter, 2" deep hole
in maple, though.
Hope this helps.
Pinwu
Well thanks for all of the information friends. I am going to go with round dogs on this bench. It is easier, there are tons of accesories that I can use with round holes from Lee Valley, and it wont be my last bench I build. When I am out of the army and have a dedicated shop where I dont have to move I will make one with square bench dogs. Thanks so much for the info, as always this site is wonderful and the people so very helpful. Have a blessed day.
I first made a template using a flat 2x4 and drilled three holes in it with the spacing I wanted for my bench top and vise jaw. I drilled these holes using my drill press so that they were perpendicular. All I had to do was clamp the template to the bench top and used a sharp spade bit to drill through the top. The 1 1/2" thickness of the template made all of my holes perpendicular as well. Hope this helps.
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