There are a couple or three schools of thought when dealing with dog holes in a bench top. One is the "Swiss Cheese" approach, another is "only as needed, where needed". While I've never gone full Swiss Cheese I have done the only as needed where needed and the biggest problem with that approach is stopping in the heat of battle to drill a dog hole. I would end up doing a work around thinking I would do it later, of course "later" seldom happens.

My approach lately is not full Swiss Cheese but more than just where needed by making two rows of dog holes on both edges for the bench. With a sized jig that has two guide holes it is fairly quick and easier work than marking and free handing.

benchDrillingDogHoles.jpg

Once the first hole is drilled put a dog in the jig's first hole and then dill using the second hole, repeating until finished.

benchDogHolesDrilled.jpg

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