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Thread: Planing stop design

  1. #1

    Question Planing stop design

    I would like to put a planing stop on the end of one half of a split top workbench - the kind of a stop that is a board attached to end of workbench with a couple of hand-tightened knobs and can be raised 1/2" to act as a wide planing stop. I am hoping for suggestions on attaching this board. My initial idea is to first attach a 8/4 end cap with heavy bolts, and to put a couple of propell nuts in it to receive a knob on a 1/4-20 bolt. It seems unnecessarily complicated. Other suggestions? I am unable to gauge if long term wear would be an issue if I mount the stop directly in end-grain douglas fir.

  2. #2
    Here is the one I added to my bench a couple of years ago. I put two 1/4 x 20 brass inserts in the end of the bench top and slotted the walnut stop. I have enough range of movement that I can set it for different board thicknesses and I also use it as the end support for longer pieces that I saw on the bench hook.


  3. #3
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    I went a older route, these are my stops.








  4. #4
    Jim, those are real nice.
    Trevor Walsh
    TWDesignShop

  5. #5
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    +1 on the end mounted board - mine installed in less than 30 minutes.

    I think the through stops are slick, and less likely to be damaged by exuberance - they can also be cut down if the top is frayed.
    I just don't take that kind of time to modify my tools. You have to admit that these are both nice looking appliances, both of which will do.
    P1030676.jpg

  6. #6
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    The time consuming mortice was thought out and planed before construction began. So when I glued up the top I put a spacer in the laminate that I knocked out after the glue set. Everything else took very little time as you might imagine.

  7. #7
    Quite a good way of accomplishing that feature. They look perfect.
    Trevor Walsh
    TWDesignShop

  8. #8
    Jim M/Greg-
    Do you find that a mounted board loosens up over time? In your designs the threads of the bolts are used to resist the force of planing. The integral, "Kirby/dog-style" planing stop that Jim R has seems like it would tolerate a lot more force.

    Adequate work holding and resistance to movement eludes me and has been the bane of my planing existence!!!

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Ritter View Post
    The time consuming mortice was thought out and planed before construction began. So when I glued up the top I put a spacer in the laminate that I knocked out after the glue set. Everything else took very little time as you might imagine.
    Now, that's one of those things that make you slap your forehead and say "why didn't I think of that?". I am going to shamelessly steal that idea, thanks!
    Last edited by Augusto Orosco; 03-23-2012 at 9:33 AM. Reason: typo

  10. #10
    An alternative approach would be to make a stop that has two dowels mounted through it, which would mate into dog holes drilled near the end. This (IMHO) would be stronger than bolting through the end grain. To make it variable height, make the stop 1/4", and then have a series of 1/4" spacers that can be placed underneath to raise it up.

  11. #11
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    Your welcome. The trick is to get them lined up so they are parallel with the upper stretcher. I put a threaded insert in the stretcher for the knobs. I glued the top in a couple of sessions. First the pieces that will be the middle, then the ones that have the stop mortices. The mortice that houses the leg tenon was also cut out of a full laminate width but I stopped a 1/2" from the top so it is not a thru mortice. Then as the bench was assembled the front laminate was glued on. I'll start a new thread tonight about the bench I built and we can go from there.

  12. #12
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    Great thread I have been tossing this same issue around.

    I have read several threads in which people said they were not going to use dogs or boards in a vise as a plane stop because doing so would cause the vise to rack. It sounds like the idea of a board held at the end of the top by a threaded system might suffer the same problem of the force against it prying the attaching members loose. Is this speculation or is there evidence?

    Veritas makes a devise called a Bench Anchor, which attaches a plane stop board to a pair of sub surface round dogs. Although it appears to be a little more complicated to use it may be a more stable option and it would work with a round hole holdfast system. The Veritas: Bench Stop, Bench Blade, Surface Vise, Dogs & Pups and the Inset Vise all offer solutions. I am trying to figure out which I want to use.
    Last edited by Mike Holbrook; 03-23-2012 at 3:40 PM.

  13. #13
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    On my bench-in-progress, I've just screwed two short, heavy screws into the top of the bench, and then but a board across those. Not elegant, but it works.

  14. #14
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    I just use a piece of wood clamped to the apron at end of my bench.

    Infinite adjustability for height and size.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
    - Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)

  15. #15
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    I use a more simplistic approach, so far no issues after 1 year of use. I have actually slightly modified this now. The dowel hole in the middle of the bench now houses a bench hook, which serves the dual purpose of keeping the planing stop steady as well as clamping down on a lateral support if/when needed.

    finished-bench 004.jpgfinished-bench 003.jpg

    Jim, I really like your plane stops, if I was doing this again I'd use your setup.
    Last edited by Zahid Naqvi; 03-23-2012 at 4:34 PM.
    The means by which an end is reached must exemplify the value of the end itself.

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