How to Space Dog Holes

Re: How to Space Dog Holes

Bill Houghton, Sebastopol, CA

>When I built my current bench, I spaced mine at about the capacity of the vise. Big mistake - somehow, I'm always working on pieces that are just shy of this dimension. Doing it over, I'd space them about half the capacity of the vise.

I suppose, within reason, that there's no reason not to have more rather than fewer, though you would need SOME wood in between each doghole.

Re: How to Space Dog Holes

Mark S. in Chalfont, PA

>Bart, I think that you should give that bench to your oldest friend as an early 50th birthday present. Although I'll only be 47, the bench will cover the next three years.

Mark

Re: How to Space Dog Holes

Chris Knight

>Bart,

I have mine in a grid at 6 inch centres. This has worked well for me with both the Veritas twin screw vice and the screw adjustable Wonderdogs and also the holddowns. I can clamp most things to the top of the bench without any trouble using this system.

Chris

Re: How to Space Dog Holes

William Duffield on the Cohansey

>Since the TSV is not a quick release, the farther apart the dog holes, the more time you will spend cranking the vise in and out to fit whatever you are trying to clamp. Even if using a quick release vise, there are other versatility advantages to having the holes spaced closer together. I have a few specialized jigs that I mount on my bench top, using a couple of dowels in the bottom of the jig that locate in the dog holes to hold them in place. I find it is convenient, when making and using these, to have very consistently spaced dog holes, so the jigs will fit wherever I can find the space to drop them in place. Four inch centers is a reasonable spacing.