solid core door and bench dogs

[Mike Steinhilper]

I discovered a while back that you will find out what you need when you get to it. This weekend I discovered I needed bench dogs. I have a solid core door bench. Will that surface suitable to drill for the bench dogs? Please tell me yes. And if so, what kind of spacing is typical?

[Byron Trantham]

Mike, I can't imagine why the door wouldn't work. If the wood is soft, the dogs may start to get sloppy - mounting hole starts to "round out." If that happens, just cut say a 3" square hole in the top and make 3" inserts out of oak and re-drill hole in the oak for the bench dog. I'd start with no inserts and see how it goes. Good luck.

[Rob Bodenschatz]

I did it. You're not going to get a real clean hole because those things are made of some kind of unknown material. And, you may hit a spot where you find a void. Regardless, I did it & they work fine. A door makes for a cheap & easy surface. Go for it.

[Mike Steinhilper]

Thanks. I am glad to hear you're having no problem with it. What about spacing? What seems to work? 6 inches apart? And what's the diameter of the holes?

[John D Watson]

The standard dog size is 3/4" with the distance between being the working distance of your vise. Or six inches, based on dog clamps. Have fun.

[Mike Shoemaker]

You can make a 3/4" sleeve from pipe or maybe PVC to insert in the holes to keep from wearing or rounding the hole out.

[glenn bradley]

Spacing should match the reach of your vise, that is if your vice opens to 7", a spacing of 6" would be fine as you could always tighten to the next dog position. Hmmmm. . . I know what I'm trrying to say. Did that make sense?

[Alex Berkovsky]

Mike,
I am happy that you raised the question. I have a workbench in the garage with a solid core door and in the process of building one for the basement shop. Sooner or later I will have to drill bench dog holes in it.

[Bartee Lamar]

I have read in other posts that the best way to "drill" the holes is a 3/4" router bit using a plung router base.

I would think the biggest problem is router movement so I would use a long straight edge ( I have a long piece of aluminum angle ) . And then I would clamp another board so I could have a corner to hold the router.

This happens to be something I need to do also as I get into some new hand work that really requires a different type of clamping to hold the work ofr planning.

[Mike Steinhilper]

Thanks for the router advice. That was going to be my next question.

[James Tattersall]

I have read in other posts that the best way to "drill" the holes is a 3/4" router bit using a plung router base.

I would think the biggest problem is router movement so I would use a long straight edge ( I have a long piece of aluminum angle ) . And then I would clamp another board so I could have a corner to hold the router.

This happens to be something I need to do also as I get into some new hand work that really requires a different type of clamping to hold the work ofr planning.

You can use a piece of Masonite to make a larger sub-base for the router. Then clamp that to the bench prior to plunging a hole. You can attach a strip to the sub-base to create a fixed edge guide, to keep all of the holes a constant distance from the edge.

[Nathan Camp]

You can use a piece of Masonite to make a larger sub-base for the router. Then clamp that to the bench prior to plunging a hole. You can attach a strip to the sub-base to create a fixed edge guide, to keep all of the holes a constant distance from the edge.

I used a one of the cheap drill guides when I was drilling my bench dog holes. Mounted it on a piece of MDF, and marked the center line on the Jig and drilled a 3/4 inch hole, 6 inches from the center and put a tapered 3/4" dowel in it. Snapped a chalk line, and drilled the first hole in the workbench. For the second, I put the tapered dowel in the first hole and lined up the center mark on the jig and drilled the second hole. Worked down the workbench that way. Every hole was evenly spaced.

I didn't have a plunge router at the time, so I used a brad pointed bit with little wings on the front that cut a very clean hole. My forsner bits were not long enough. (I was drilling through 2 1/2" hard maple).

In anycase, the distance plug idea from my jig could be used on a masonite plunge router base to ensure equally spaced holes.

Hope this makes sense.

Nathan Camp

[jimmy hopps]

i also am planning a solid core benchtop with dogs. has anyone tried putting some glue in the dog holes to keep them from decomposing over time.

also, what type of dog failures do people see with solid core veneers? i don't want to add a hardboard top because i like the wood look.

[John Gregory]

Years ago, I used a solid core door and purchased some unfinished maple hard wood flooring to cover it. It made a very solid work bench, dog holes are fine years later. Looks good too.