Cutting bench dog holes with a router; jig ideas?

[Quesne Ouaques]

I have a 3/4 inch plunge router bit that cuts very clean holes. I'm planning to use it to cut dog holes in a slab of 1 3/4 inch laminated ash.

My bench is 32" wide and 110" long. I am looking for some ideas on a jig to keep the rows of holes in line.

Any ideas? :-)

Thanks in advance!

[Dan Lee]

I used this for some dog holes worked great for my 2.25" benchtop. Making the jig longer and attaching a fence allows routing differnt depths from the bench edge.
http://www.popularwoodworking.com/article/Workbench_Dog_Holes/

[Dick Bringhurst]

Clamp a straignt board on the bench top to butt the base plate of the router against. Locate it so it is 1/2 the diameter of the base plate away from the line where you want the holes. Cut the first hole, put a dog in it and a spacer against the dog to get the spacing you want between the holes. Dick B.

[Jerome Hanby]

I wonder if a variation of the base plate used to build the shelf pin jig in the Router Magic boo would work. Basically it's a base plate with a pin the same size as the holes you are making that lets you control the spacing...

[Tom Adger]

I am in the process of drilling dog hole in my new workbench. The attached photo shows my jig, which is a piece of 1/2" plywwod, cut to 8"x24". Mark the router base, and cut out with a bandsaw or jigsaw. The jig is attached to a piece of wood, which slides along the edge of the bench. Make marks for your spacing along the edge of your top. drill a 5/8" or so hole so your can see the spacing marks, and line up the hole at each mark. To start another row of holes, move the jig over the right distance, reattach to the edge piece, drill another viewing hole for the spacer, and have at it. the jig is held tight at each stop by a pipe clamp under the bench.

[Anthony Whitesell]

Use a piece of perf board. The holes are usually 1"OC and just drill them out to fit the OD of your guide bushing.

I like Tom's idea as well, perhaps a little of both would speed things up.