Making bench dogs for a MDF benchtop

**andrewr79** · 4th September 2012, 07:35 PM

G'Day

I thought I'd share a few pics and info on how I made bench dogs for my MDF topped bench since it has to work a bit differently than with a thicker bench, the normal approach of spring steel or bullet catches won’t work in such thin material.

I cut a length of 3/4 inch dowel to make the body of the bench dog. Mine are about 5cm long, as that’s as far as I drilled down in the thicker parts of the bench. You can cut these any way you want, but since it’s small parts I did mine with a bench hook and tenon saw. I tried the drop saw, but it just gets messy with small cuts.

Cut a 1-1.5cm slice off of a thicker dowel (I used 1″ because it’s what I had around). Mark the center point on both the cut pieces, using whatever method you have at hand. I have one of those $5 plastic things that does the job well. I used a small nail to punch the point I marked to center the drill bit, then drilled both pieces and countersunk the screw hole so no metal was above the dog. Plane/rasp/sand one side flat for grip.

Glue and screw the two pieces together, I just used a self tapping chipboard screw, and there you have it – simple and cheap bench dogs that work in MDF benchtops. You can see them in action in the last photo. And yes, that one pictured looks like it's being viewed in a funhouse mirror - it's dead straight so not sure how I managed to get it to look that lopsided!.

Cheers
Andrew

**Christos** · 4th September 2012, 09:43 PM

Very interesting. You had a need and so created a soluation.

**orraloon** · 5th September 2012, 03:14 PM

Hi Andrew,
I did similar to you but all one bit of wood on the lathe. Being wood I was not sure 3/4'' was solid enough and did 1'' holes. My bench top is about 1 1/2'' pine. After I made them I realised 3/4'' would have been OK but the holes were drilled by then so 1'' it is. I cut the flat face with a tenon saw. There are a few hight profiles for working various thicknes timbers. Being free I can make some for whatever job is required and experiment a bit. I also use mine in line with my poor man's tail vice. A $21 clamp head from McJing's. I am on my 2nd temp bench at present but the more I tweek this one the further off I am from building the dream. Anyhoo the dogs work fine and the dream bench will have them also. Some day.
Regards
John

**Dengue** · 5th September 2012, 03:27 PM

Well done, Andrew. I have a similar problem, and this solution looks the bee's knees. How did you drill the holes in the benchtop so neatly and accurately located?

**FenceFurniture** · 6th September 2012, 03:26 PM

Good job Andrew. I used 3/4" brass curtain rod (tube, not solid) and made timber heads for them.

**andrewr79** · 6th September 2012, 07:12 PM

Thanks for the comments guys!

Jill, mostly it's about measure twice, then check that you havn't done something stupid, then measure again before drilling. I used a small nail and a few hammer taps to mark a starting point for the 3/4" forstner bit I used to drill the holes, and had my hand drill in a $20 sontax drill guide I picked up from bunnings. There's some pics on my blog of each step if interested but here's the important one.

**Dengue** · 6th September 2012, 07:22 PM

Thanks Andrew, well done!

**pmcgee** · 6th September 2012, 09:40 PM

Originally Posted by andrewr79

You can see them in action in the last photo.

I like your vice and dogs action you've got going on there Andrew.

Paul

**andrewr79** · 6th September 2012, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by pmcgee

I like your vice and dogs action you've got going on there Andrew.

Paul

Thanks Paul - next step is to get the tail vice working with the dogs along the front.

Thread: Making bench dogs for a MDF benchtop

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Making bench dogs for a MDF benchtop

Similar Threads

Anyone tried making Bench dogs?

Bench Dogs

Timber bench dogs

Bench Dogs

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions