Hi Derek,

Seems that keeping the square dogs is the go.

I would run with whatever method gives the lowest risk to the bench and to your safety, so am inclined to think that saving the dog holes deserves a low priority given the option discussed.

Cut the strip off through the dog holes by whatever is the easiest/safest leaving a little margin on the inside edge to rout off after, (the edge that lines up with the wagon dog hole) then tablesaw the now free strip again leaving a little margin to rout square and to size. Make a new dog hole strip and insert.

I have a Makita 235mm circular saw if it is of use, it will only cut about 85mm maximum depth though, like most 235mm saws but you are welcome to it. If you need a hand for flipping of the bench or just a pair of extra hands for the 'free the dogs' job I am available on Saturday, just give me a call or email.

P.S. I am useless at fine woodwork but I can lift heavy things.

Cheers
Pops

Thanks to all that have responded so far ... and please do not let this post stop further ideas coming. All are helpful - even if outlandish they can spur a creative moment.

Firstly, after my initial realisation of the cock up I made (something that is not unusual in my spatially challenged life), my frustration remained mainly for the precious time it would use to make the repair. Repairs do not phase me that much. I think that they are part of woodworking and life. Evaluate, plan, do. This is an opportunity to do something interesting, to be creative. I want to be reminded one day of a success, not of a failure.

It strikes me that few are willing to start again. Cut out the dog hole strip and re-make it. Perhaps there is a simple fix, and I appear determined to do it the long and hard way, but modifications as repairs are rarely satisfying. Far better to have the Real Thing.

Reshaping the dogholes is not practical. It is not just that they slope at 2 degees on both sides of the shaft, but that the head of the dog faces the wrong direction. Even if you turn this around, the support for the dog hole head is now absent. I don't want patches.

In the repair I plan the dog hole strip only gets removed as far as the last dog hole. There is no need to touch the side board or the area for the tail vise, and the latter includes leaving the dovetail well alone.

The tool of choice is a power router with a fence running along the outside edge of the bench. I have a 1/2" bit to run in a large Elu router, and plan to take very shallow cuts (although I find the Oak so easy to work after Jarrah).

The advantage of a router is that I can create a perfectly vertical, smooth and parallel set of grooves. I can work the top first, which is the show side, to a depth of 2". Then flip the top over (flip is a relative term for something that weighs 100 Kg!), and make the identical cuts on the other side. I will work short lengths once I get to the underside, clamping each section carefully to prevent any movement of the top. This is not to avoid binding, as with a saw blade, but the inadvertant routing into the sides of the dog strip, which will affect its parallelism.

The alternative is to rout the top section, as described, and then use a hand panel saw to remove the remainder of the waste, with the sidewalls now able to act as a guide for the blade. Your thoughts on this are welcomed.

I have managed to order another length of Oak. This means that there is a good chance that the repair will leave the bench top better than before! The existing dog hole strip is made up of several joined sections. Now I can replace it with one long, continuous piece. An ill wind and all that ..

Regards from Perth

Derek

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Hi Derek

Dunno if this is valid or workable, but have another look at my post #40 and see if that can be incorporated - it may give you a flash of an idea (or cause a yawn!). Perhaps you can use an old mathematics principle - trying to prove that it won't work - if that fails then you have proved that it will work.

Regards, Brett

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Hi Nick

This was one of the possibilities I considered. It is, however, a trap of sorts. The instinct wants to save everything, and tolerances for the saw cuts increase. The compromises threaten the individual parts.

In addition, it is not possible to simply flip the dog strip around owing to positioning differences.

Nice idea, though.

Regards from Perth

Derek

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Hi Perry

I'd love to have your help, plus the use of your Makita (should we need it). I have arranged with Dave at the Perth Wood School to get another length of Oak, and plan to collect it at 9:00 am on Saturday. I should be back by 10:00. Let me know if you are free then, or what time schedule suits you.

Thanks

Derek

p.s. I won't tell anyone that it was you that alerted me to the dogholes being reversed. Our secret ...

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Hi Derek,

Yes, will be free at 10:00 no problem at all. Will drop by for 10:00 for as long as an extra pair of hands is useful. Makita in tow just in case.

If my thinking was a good as my' lifting heavy objects' I could have twigged to the dog holes sooner. Sorry that was not the case, might have saved some of this learning and character building. Oops, that was a secret, was,..

See you Saturday.

Cheers
Pops

Derek, can I very strongly urge you to fit the Makita with a dedicated ripping blade and not use the combo blade the saw is almost certainly fitted with now.
Because the saw will be cutting at it's maximum depth, kickback is a constant risk. Rather than just having some wedges handy to keep the kerf open behind the saw, consciously insert the wedges and keep them tight as the cut progresses.

It will be so much safer both for you, Perry and the saw.

If you use a straight edge to guide the saw, and support both sides of the cut, you should get an almost glue ready surface straight off the saw blade.


This technique worked for Andy when he was cutting up his Blackwood slabs to make his bench -- and he was using a 160mm dia saw, cutting at it's maximum depth.


Good luck.





Of course you realise this stuff-up was a sub-conscious decision -- your brain was just not satisfied that the dog hole strip was segmented, rather than one continuous strip.

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regards from Sydney

ian

That's the fine detail I wasn't aware of or even thought of

But this allows me to introduce another red herring
I seem to recall some discussion in placement of dogs ( ie distance apart) and leg interference. I've seen somewhere a finger hole in the leg to allow one to insert finger and push dog up - have you thought of this workaround?

I looked through a couple of bench builds to find a piccy but can't recall where I saw it.

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regards
Nick (I really don't need a Stubby!)
veni, vidi, tornavi

Hi Nick

Thanks for the idea.

That finger hole adjustment was designed for a round dog. It requires that the bench leg is drilled out for the finger hole (to lift the dog).

The current distance between the first dog and the tail vise is only 6". Most, if not all, pieces that would be clamped over a leg (such as a stretcher for morticing), would likely be longer than 6".

Regards from Perth

Derek

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Thanks Ian.

I hope that the Makita does not come into the equation. I find such saws difficult to feel in control of - in spite of a guide. I would much rather use my large Elu router, for which I have better feel. I will take numerous fine cuts rather than a few deep ones.

I am more concerned about ensuring that ...

1. the dogs go in the correct direction (Perry will double check).
2. the grain of the dog hole strip runs in the same direction as the rest of the bench top.

Regards from Perth

Derek

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If 'm doing the sums correctly, your bench top is around 85-90mm thick
I suggest you do the1/2" wide routered slot around 20mm deep, then turn the top over and use the saw to take the rest of the strip off

align the new board with the top and mark the required grain direction in RED
then mark the orientation required for the dog holes in BLUE

that will make it harder to confuse things

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regards from Sydney

ian

Maybe u could put a strip of masking tape over the dog holes with a big black texter arrow pointing forward...just a thought

save yourself the effort, just get a few more of these

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regards from Sydney

ian

Lie Nielsen are doing slippers?

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I know you believe you understand what you think I wrote, but I'm not sure you realize that what you just read is not what I meant.

Regards, Woodwould.

I thought it was a plane sock sitting on a shellac mop. Then I noticed it has a nose.......

So which end do you shove in the 'ole when you want to clamp something?

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