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holes for bench dogs

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holes for bench dogs

#1

holes for bench dogs

Warren Muse, Earlysville VA

>Group,

Getting ready to bore bench dog holes in my new maple bench top. The top is 2.25" thick.

Somewhere I got the idea of lining the holes with 3/4" copper water pipe. The pipe would be set in epoxy, and countersunk flush. The purpose is to prevent wear on the side of the hole by the bench dog. I don't think such wear would actually cause any problem except for removing the finish and hence allowing moisture penetration and possible swelling.

Copper pipe is available with inside diameters of .745, .785 and .811 (types K,L,M). I beleive commercially-made bench-dogs, holdfasts, etc. are designed for 3/4" holes. I suppose I could use type K and rebore to exact size. Or make my own devices with 3/4" shafts and hope type L would provide just the right amount of clearance (?).

Any comments?

Thanks,

Warren

Re: holes for bench dogs

#2

Re: holes for bench dogs

Arw01

>Too much bother.. If you need to surface that copper is going to murder a plane blade in short order. Therefore you have to countersink it a ways.

VERY unlikely you will wear out a dog hole in your lifetime, if you do, bore it larger and plug it, start over.

Alan

Re: holes for bench dogs

#3

Re: holes for bench dogs

Joel

>don't bother. And don't finish the inside of the dog holes. make them slipperier.

Re: holes for bench dogs

#4

Re: bore undersized

Barryvabeach

>Warren, I built my bench years ago and was worried about the size of the hole getting worn too big. Instead of lining them, I bought an old 3/4 bit and filed it down slightly so the hole was a tight fit on a 3/4 dowel. As long as the dowel is in 3/4 inch or so, I have not found that any of the holes have enlarged significantly - I wouldn;t go to the trouble of copper pipe - though do think about how you will adjust the height of the dowel.

Re: holes for bench dogs

#5

Re: holes for bench dogs

ThomD

>Shame! Wood is good, don't need any of that dang netal. Next thing you will be bending metal legs for your chairs and tables.

You will be fine as long as the wood is a relatively resistant species my dog enlarged the hole in a 2x4 the first time I used it. But I wouldn't expect that in mape or beach.

Re: holes for bench dogs

#6

Steve Kubien

No need

Steve Kubien

>Warren, I built my bench out of construction grade spruce/fir/pine and I have had no troubles with the dog holes getting larger. One thing that I keep meaning to do is chamfer the edge of the holes somewhat ala Popular Woodworking's $150 (maybe it was $200? Well, you get the idea) bench from a couple of years ago. I have had some tearout (for lack of a better word) at the edge of the holes from being heavy-handed with my holdfasts...but nothing that keeps me up at nights. Besides, as Alan said, you can always plug and re-drill it if necessary.

Regards,

Steve Kubien

Re: holes for bench dogs

#7

The nays have it!

Warren Muse, Earlysville VA

>Dog-hole drilling commences forthwith!!

(Copper will be reserved for plumbing projects.)

Thanks to all who responded...

W

Re: holes for bench dogs

#8

Re: The nays have it!

Frank Martin (Chicago, IL

>I also got the copper pipe idea from Woodcentral. I actually used it on my bench. However, mine is a 4 layer plywood top with additional 1/4" hardboard on each side. I was concerned about dog holes in plywood. I think copper lining is a great idea for dog holes in man made materials (plywood, MDF, etc..). I have been using Veritas hold downs and the system performed flawlesly.

If the top is hardwood, you probably don't need to worry about it.

Good luck!

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