Bench Dogs

[Jim Andrew]

I'm just in the process of finishing my new workbench, went with the Schwartz French bench design. Did not cut any dog holes as I was gluing up the top, just planned to use round holes. Would prefer to make my own dogs, was planning to make a T using round rods and a piece of strap iron welded to the top. Anybody have a better idea?

[Scott Velie]

Sorry I am a square dog guy. I rip mine out of scrap hardwood. You could turn some from perhaps purpleheart? Or another really hard wood.

Scott

[Robert Rozaieski]

Wood! I would not want to hit a metal dog with a plane or chisel. Could be disastrous to the tool. How about a dowel rod with a rectangular piece attached to the top? Maybe drill a hole through the rectangle and glue the dowel in for a dog made without fasteners. Or you could just use pieces of dowel so you can adjust them below the surface of the bench when not needed. Make them tight enough to stay with friction and adjust them with mallet taps.

[Thom Sturgill]

Wood, only!

I made mine from dowels and cut a slice part way down one side on the bandsaw, angling inward very slightly at the top of the cut. Cut about 2" deep and then cut off the top 3/4" or so of the slice. This gives a flat face but the slight angle helps create a downward pressure also.
Insert a piece of a toothpick or scrap of wood near the bottom of the cut to create a spring to hold the dowel in place.

[Peter Quadarella]

Rubber O rings seem to work well if you chamfer the hole a little. :)

[Narayan Nayar]

You can use metal for dogs; I have a few of the veritas bronze ones. You just have to be careful.

If you're drilling 3/4" holes, I'd suggest just getting some 3/4" dowel (I use oak and walnut), sanding it lightly, and cutting a dog face on the top. To improve their vertical hold, I drilled a small hole in the side of the dogs and countersunk one of those bullet catches--you know, the buttons which you use to adjust crutches. That works great, and I can just push them back into the bench when done or need the space. That's something you won't be able to do if you put a "head" on the top of the dog.

[Johnny Kleso]

I'm a Sq Dog guy too but how about some 3/4" nylon rod with a flat saw cut in the top???

I made mine out of Aluminum thinking they need to be strong so they dont bend or break..

The truth is you dont need much force at all inless your using the bench as a panel assembly clamp..

For hand planing I more often then not just use one dog as a stop..

You also might like two holes a few inchs apart just in front of your front vise to use as a work stop.. I see many use a flip up bench stop on the end of the bench but I hate leaning against my front vise and preferr to put the stop in front of the front vise and lean on an empty bench front..

[Jim Koepke]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=16924

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=12822

With a top already built, the round holes will be the easiest option. I have these in a pre-built bench. Ended up drilling a few extra holes.

One to make the dogs useful for the face vice to hold long pieces on the sides while working them. Then two on the face vice so I would not have to keep swapping parts of the face vice with the tail vice.

Making dogs is easy and they can be made for specific and special jobs.

When planing some molding for a friend she got all excited when the top of one of the dogs got scrapped by the plane. Just kept planing and told her that it was a sacrificial piece of wood and there was more where that one came from.

jim

[harry strasil]

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=670979#post670979

[Don C Peterson]

I make mine out of 3/4" oak dowel which is flattened to form the face and the other side has a small channel carved into it. Then I drill a hole at the end of the channel and insert a piece of piano wire that is bent to form a spring for retention. Cheap and effective.

[Dewey Torres]

I have to admit, I wanted to make my own as well, (especially after I forked out the money for 2 sets of the Veritas wonder dogs (one each size) and 2 sets of Veritas brass dogs... (whew pricey). I found the Rockler bench dogs for the round 3/4" hole and thought "What is $5.99 for a PACK OF 4... certainly not going to hurt the wallet...l. hmmm".
Once they arrived I couldn't have been more pleased. Hands down the best 5.99 I have spent in quite some time. They are not even cheaply made as I first suspected. They are very tough dogs. The plastic they are made of is more like steel. Any piece of plastic that can stand up to the full force of my Veritas Twin Screw vice gets top rating. I know that may be hard to swallow, but if anyone else who reads this thread who has them, please back me on this one. Here is the link:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?Offerings_ID=10510&TabSelect=Details

I will say that the Veritas dogs are the best I have (and I paid top $$$ dollar for them). Even if you still have the urge to make your own, you should order these and try them out. They may even be on your doorstep before you get around to making the others. You will get WAY more then your 6 bucks worth.

Dewey

[Nathan Camp]

I turned mine out of Purpleheart with a square head.

nathan

[James Mittlefehldt]

I have to admit, I wanted to make my own as well, (especially after I forked out the money for 2 sets of the Veritas wonder dogs (one each size) and 2 sets of Veritas brass dogs... (whew pricey). I found the Rockler bench dogs for the round 3/4" hole and thought "What is $5.99 for a PACK OF 4... certainly not going to hurt the wallet...l. hmmm".
Once they arrived I couldn't have been more pleased. Hands down the best 5.99 I have spent in quite some time. They are not even cheaply made as I first suspected. They are very tough dogs. The plastic they are made of is more like steel. Any piece of plastic that can stand up to the full force of my Veritas Twin Screw vice gets top rating. I know that may be hard to swallow, but if anyone else who reads this thread who has them, please back me on this one. Here is the link:

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?Offerings_ID=10510&TabSelect=Details

I will say that the Veritas dogs are the best I have (and I paid top $$$ dollar for them). Even if you still have the urge to make your own, you should order these and try them out. They may even be on your doorstep before you get around to making the others. You will get WAY more then your 6 bucks worth.

Dewey


Those bench dogs look similar to the ones I have in my workmate, and I used that to help build my real work bench, I should see if they will fit the 3/4 holes in my bench.

I have the wonder pup and find it invaluable, though generally all I do is make mine from dowels to.

[Ethan Sincox]

You can use metal for dogs; I have a few of the veritas bronze ones. You just have to be careful.

If you're drilling 3/4" holes, I'd suggest just getting some 3/4" dowel (I use oak and walnut), sanding it lightly, and cutting a dog face on the top. To improve their vertical hold, I drilled a small hole in the side of the dogs and countersunk one of those bullet catches--you know, the buttons which you use to adjust crutches. That works great, and I can just push them back into the bench when done or need the space. That's something you won't be able to do if you put a "head" on the top of the dog.

Great idea, Narayan! In fact, I've been planning on doing this exact thing.

If you (the collective "you") would like to do this, and want to make about a hundred of them, then Lee Valley sells a bag of 100 bullet catches w/out the strike plate for less than $7!

http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.aspx?c=2&p=58949&cat=3,51887

You could sell them in batches of four for $10/bundle and make yourself $250 in the venture! (Well, minus the cost of the 3/4" dowel...)

Looks like supplies are limited on them, though. I wouldn't have mentioned it if I didn't just receive mine in the mail last week... :D