Thread: Anyone tried making Bench dogs?

I used a Domino to make my bench dog holes and use lose tenons for bench dogs.

Just another use for a Domino.

I made some out of aluminium, using parts from an old printer fuser. Worked a treat.

I have seen pics where people use cut up dowels and those rubber feet you put on chairs.


If i were doing it again, i'd probably go for the domino method.
joez

Originally Posted by Waldo

I used a Domino to make my bench dog holes and use lose tenons for bench dogs.

Just another use for a Domino.

Brilliant!

If you opt for square I reckon making some like these is the go, from a good Aussie hardwood of course.

Originally Posted by waveink

Hi all,

I am currently stinging a little having found out the price of Veritas' brass bench dogs!

I saw an article on James Krenov's system using a 'wedge' and a small spring from a ball point pen! Has anyone tried this?

That's exactly how I've done it...works a treat. The bottom 25mm of the dog is made slightly wedge shaped and a bit of springy timber is screwed in place, with a biro spring between the two for a bit of extra force - Rob

I have a couple of Veritas bench dogs as well as a few pieces of 3/4" dowel, I sand a flat spot on one side (the contact point for the job) and then split them a little with a chisel and slip a piece of cardboard or two from the back of a note pad in the split, adjust the depth you want them to go in by the thickness of cardboard. Costs nothing and works well. I thought when/if they split right through or wore out I would just make new ones but I have been using them for ages now and no problems. They are also good because if you do happen to hit them with your nice sharp cutting edge, it doesn't do any damage. And takes all of about three minutes to make.

I use the "low profile plastic bench dogs" from CarbaTec. They are just like the ones on the B'n'D Workmate and the price is right.

I drilled 3/4 holes and use 3/4 dowel as dogs. To keep them from slipping, I have a few that I put a rubber tip on the ends (original use I think is for tips of chair legs). These stick up about 25mm. I also have a few that I put a bit of ply on the top. Some of these have two dowel/dogs and provide a longer surface. Occasionally I'll pull the plastic dogs off the workmate and use those as well.

And just for a bit of spice, on the tail vice I installed domino dogs like Waldo. Since these mortices don't go all the way through, I have cut some dominos shorter than normal so they don't interfere with the plane and etc.

Tex

I use the Workmate type of plastic dogs too, but I only use them in pairs as they're inclined to flip round if used singly.

I also have a round wooden dogs which have their flat faces just beyond the centre, so I'm never caught out by one spinning around under pressure.

I drill a hole right through the wooden dogs and insert a length of rubber cut from an O-ring (old sewing machine belt) into the hole. The rubber drags on the side of the dog hole, providing just the right amount of friction.

In case your wife/granny doesn't have a sewing machine, industrial suppliers usually have racks full of inexpensive O-rings.

Or you could just wrap a rubber band (off the local newspaper here) around the bit of dowel which will stop it falling thru the bench - cheap.

Yep - have always made my own, & been mighty grateful at times when sharp tools or router bits have made unexpected contact! With your own wooden dogs you can modify or damage them & no worries - takes but a few minutes to make new ones, or dogs for special purposes.

While round dogs have their advantages, square have some, too, the main one being they don't twist, which is sometimes very handy. I started out with square dogs, so am stuck with them for the front row, but have decided to add some round ones across the bench for holding chair seats & the like, on my next bench.

I tried the wooden spring approach like the Lie-Nielsens, but found ball catches to be a lot easier & actually worked better, for me. These are small ones (19mm wide) for my "portable" bench. The dogs on my main bench are 25mm wide, which seems to work well for me.

Cheers,

The ones from McJing are reasonably priced and seem to work well.

I just had a though; if you make square dog holes (as opposed to rectangular) of a regular size like 3/4" there's no reason you can't use either round or square dogs to suit your job. Also, a bit of bent wire or thin steel sheet cut into a strip (I'm picturing the metal pocket catch on a pen lid) set inside each dog hole means you could use almost anything as a dog providing it fits in the hole.

The problem I see with the Veritas style wooden dogs is that if the they protrude high enough out of the dog hole the spring won't hold them in place. If the springs resides in the top of the dog holes you could use anything you like.

I'm fairly cheap. Made mine from a tomato stake - chose a very dry hardwood one. Turned the base to .75in to fit the bench holes, and left a .75 in square top on them. They work perfectly.
Crow400