Bench mongrels--I finally made a tool!

[Matt Lau]

I've been lusting for Lee Valley Wonderdogs for a while, but I couldn't justify the cost.

After far too long thinking about them, I made my own version with some scrap:
-scrap cherry294125
-threaded 1/4 rod
-Lee Valley speed knob
-3/4" oak dowel
-nut

I call this the Wonder Mongrel as a tribute to lee valley's tool team. It's a bit uglier, but it works very well---it acts like a quick release version of the Wonderdogs.

[Matt Lau]

Here's how it comes together.

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Anyways, I hope that this works well for others.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Note: it'd work a lot better with a small o-ring to hold the dowel at the right height.

[Jim Matthews]

That's excellent.

How do you adjust the standoff length?

[Malcolm Schweizer]

Bench mongrels- that's priceless! Amazing, today I was thinking about how to make these myself. Nice job.

[Matt Lau]

The Lee Valley speed nuts tilt when they're not in tension.
They literally slide freely up until the knobs engage.
Once they "bite," the nuts are very secure.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/Hardware/page.aspx?p=44203&cat=3,43576,61994&ap=1

I can literally change the standoff length in under 5 seconds with this arrangement.

Originally, I bought a bunch for an adjustable go-bar deck. However, I found them fiddly.
This arrangement works far better for me.

btw, any tips for gluing in the metal to the wood blocks?
I've been using them unglued with no problem.
However, they tend to fall off when I store them.

[Al Launier]

Here's how it comes together.

294126

Anyways, I hope that this works well for others.
I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

Note: it'd work a lot better with a small o-ring to hold the dowel at the right height.

Anyone besides me having trouble opening this attachment? Message states "Invalid attachment specified."

[Howard Pollack]

I can't open it either

[Lonnie Gallaher]

I can't open it either. I thought it might be a browser issue an tried with IE, but it did not work either. I am using Chrome.

[Matt Lau]

Weird. I just tried posting a picture. Too big?

I'm using Safari.

Basically, there's a 3/4'' dowel with a hole for the threaded rod.
The rod goes through the dowel. A nut on the rod keeps it from falling off.
The speed nut is between the dowel and the wood block.
On the end is a wood block with a hole in it.

nut///dowel//speed nut//(threaded rod)////block of wood.

Let me try again.
294358

[Jim Matthews]

So you spin the block of wood to adjust extension?

Clever, this.

[Matthew N. Masail]

I think he moves the speed nut to adjust it, and then tightens the speed nut to apply pressure, as it moves the rod outwards. am I right? if so the nut on the other end doesn't really matter.