Planning workbench top and holdfast holes

[Jon Snider]

I recently purchased two of the Crucible holdfasts, which fit a 1” hole. Impulse buy, etc….I earlier was gifted a pair of Peter Ross 3/4” holdfasts. The Crucible HF’s look really cool and apparently hold very well with their untapered shafts, but are, well, big, and heavy. Having said that I’m pretty certain they will find a place onto my bench.

In what may be a first, I’m planning a bench build based on already owned hardware😄

My top will be fairly thick, maybe 4-5” and Roubo style.

Is there any role or reason to combine and use both holdfast sets, with both 1” and 3/4” holes and if so what pattern? I anticipate also needing some 3/4” holes for planing stops, maybe others. As of right now only planning a leg vise and no end vise, or row of dog holes.

[Jim Koepke]

Hi Jon, my bench came with two rows of round dog holes. One is close to the front edge inline with the edge of the tail vise. The second row is inline with a dog hole on the other side of the tail vise. They are spaced a little closer than the maximum opening of the vise, ~3 to 4". If my vise opened further that would still be my choice for the spacing to keep the work supported.

It is amazing for a very simple set up this allows me to hold just about anything be it square or round. The vise racks like a son of a gun. That is where my anti-rack spacer stack comes in very handy > https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?183743

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The row closest to the edge didn't run the full length of the bench so it was extended. These holes can hold a dog to be used as a planing stop. One of my 'improvements was to drill a few holes in rows parallel to the original front edge row but not lined up with the originals. This is so a dog can be put in a couple of the parallel rows to hold stock of various widths from sliding sideways when planing.

Another discovery was enthusiastic use of holdfasts near the edge can split the wood. So placing holes mostly for holdfast toward the center of the bench but so the can hold things positioned at the edge. It doesn't take a lot of holes for the larger holdfasts to be used effectively.

jtk

[Luke Dupont]

I've always worked, in the past, without dog holes, just using a simple stop or stop + batten... until recently, with the bench I built about 4 months ago. And I have to say, it's been something of a game changer for me. The convenience and secureness with which I can hold work -- even small awkward work, is unmatched, and I think most benches I build from here on will have such a feature. So, I highly recommend at least trying it if you haven't.

I am also a fan of simplicity though. I don't know, if it were me, I'd stick to 3/4" holes and hold fasts everywhere, so that everything is compatible. I know how you feel as I often just buy things to try out, and then must debate whether to use it or get rid of it later... That's the price we pay for knowledge, I guess. Practically speaking though, I think it would be a bit frustrating to have inconsistently sized holes that hold some things and not others -- unless you really need those 1" accessories for something specific.

I typically shy away from big and heavy. I don't much like big and heavy anything. I mean, a big heavy bench is nice if you don't have to move it, and one day when I'm settled down somewhere, I'll build such a bench. But "standard sized" work holding devices tend to do the job just fine. The bigger and heavier something like a hold fast is, beyond the level needed to be sufficiently sturdy, the more it just gets in the way while working and is tiring or troublesome to use.

Jim's anti vise racking thing is very cool, and you should definitely make some sort of vise spacer. That's another work holding device I'd recommend.

[Richard Verwoest]

Jon,

I started with holdfasts from Tools for Working Wood, then some blacksmith made ones. Then I got a screaming deal on some Crucibles. I drilled just a couple 1" holes for the crucibles, mainly to hold either my Hi-Vice or my Moxon. Thus leaving my other holdfasts available.