Victor Stearns
12-21-2008, 11:57 AM
Good Morning Creekers,
Here in northern Indiana the weather is a sunny -1 degrees.
Anyway I was looking for an alternative to manufactured bench dogs. Seems like they run around $25-pair. Then this thought hit me on Thursday, why not use 3/4" bolts that are cut short, or short enough to sit in the dog holes in my bench? I have access to many bolts of this size as the R&D lab where I work uses them and discards them by the handful. So I cut down 4-bolts to give it a try. Here are the results. Two things that I will improve on is to use my belt sander to create a 1-degree angle on the bolt head to assist is keeping the wood tight to the bench. I also plan on taking several bolts to the mill to remove more of the bolt head such that the contact patch is wider. Currently a 3/4"-bolt have a 5/8"-flat to it. Lastly will be to mill 4-bolts that have the heads milled down to use with thin stock.
Thanks for Looking and Merry Christmas & Happy New Year's to All
Victor
Here in northern Indiana the weather is a sunny -1 degrees.
Anyway I was looking for an alternative to manufactured bench dogs. Seems like they run around $25-pair. Then this thought hit me on Thursday, why not use 3/4" bolts that are cut short, or short enough to sit in the dog holes in my bench? I have access to many bolts of this size as the R&D lab where I work uses them and discards them by the handful. So I cut down 4-bolts to give it a try. Here are the results. Two things that I will improve on is to use my belt sander to create a 1-degree angle on the bolt head to assist is keeping the wood tight to the bench. I also plan on taking several bolts to the mill to remove more of the bolt head such that the contact patch is wider. Currently a 3/4"-bolt have a 5/8"-flat to it. Lastly will be to mill 4-bolts that have the heads milled down to use with thin stock.
Thanks for Looking and Merry Christmas & Happy New Year's to All
Victor