Has anyone put a dog on top of leg vise?

[Phil Stone]

As the subject says, has anyone made a leg vise with a (adjustable height/removable) dog on top of the chop? This is a fairly common design for end/face vises, especially the metal ones, but I have yet to see it on a leg vise. It seems like it would be a good way, along with appropriate bench dogs and holes, to clamp boards that are shorter than the width of the bench for face planing or other surfacing.

[Jim Matthews]

I do something similar by clamping a piece of 1/2" plywood in my front vise
to "pinch" boards into place. No modification required.

The plywood "dog" is about 10" high, and is adjusted to be below the exposed face of the board.

I can plane right over it, and not worry about damage to my tools.

Because of the way I build things (most boards are less than 40" long, 10" wide)
holding them still isn't a real problem. I watched a series of videos from
Bob Rozaieski's excellent Logan Cabinet Shoppe podcasts.

I note that no fixtures are used to hold boards down while planing,
only the forces of the plane push boards down.

Boards are restricted by battens and stops.

Adopting this approach has been faster on my bench,
and has kept me from bending boards over their length
by clamping.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26qCS...G0RIiJfeF5-LCA

4:10 in the video illustrates what I saw, and it was a revelation.

Pictures of my bench, and the plywood "dog" are shown below.

P1040832.jpg P1040831.jpgP1040830.jpgP1040829.jpg

[Phil Stone]

That's an excellent system, Jim. It makes sense not to put too much pressure on boards to clamp them to the surface of the bench, esp. since they can bow, etc.

I was just thinking that for those times where one really needed to surface clamp a board securely, a dog on the (top of the) chop of the leg vise would be just as useful as that commonly found on face and tail vises.

[Phil Stone]

Well, let me rephrase my original question -- can anybody think of a reason why it would be a bad idea to put a moveable dog on the top of a leg vise?

[Eric DeSilva]

I am somehow disappointed that no one posted a picture of their furry canine companion perched on a vise. Sadly, my hound is too large for the task.

[Prashun Patel]

Sorry, Phil. Yes I can think of a reason. I have a leg vise and want very badly to put a hole in the chop for the very reason you cite.
Howevever, unlike a regular face vise, a leg vise butts against the leg, which implies that the upper stretcher is also in line with the vise. This means any dog holes in line with the vise will likely fall over the stretcher or a leg and not into free space.

If you have a good method for keeping the holes clean and don't mind using shorter dogs or have a very thick top, or have taken care to drop or move your stretcher out of the dog line, then you will have no issue. I was not so wise on any of these fronts.

[Tai Fu]

I tried to put a cat on the bench, it did not like it. Woke up in the ER after that, no idea what happened.

[Phil Stone]

Sorry, Phil. Yes I can think of a reason. I have a leg vise and want very badly to put a hole in the chop for the very reason you cite.
Howevever, unlike a regular face vise, a leg vise butts against the leg, which implies that the upper stretcher is also in line with the vise. This means any dog holes in line with the vise will likely fall over the stretcher or a leg and not into free space.

If you have a good method for keeping the holes clean and don't mind using shorter dogs or have a very thick top, or have taken care to drop or move your stretcher out of the dog line, then you will have no issue. I was not so wise on any of these fronts.

That's an excellent point, Prashun. I'll have to think about that. Perhaps a double row of dog holes, straddling but not on the stretcher/leg line, and some kind of batten like the Veritas one pictured in Jim's reply above might work.

[Prashun Patel]

That's a good idea, except if you have aprons or an upper stretcher, you'll still be obstructing some of the holes. Further, the tall chop of a leg vise means you'll have a non-through hole(s) in the chop. They'll clog. What you might do instead is mill a slot in the top of your chop that runs the full width of the top edge. The slot can hold a 3/8" or 1/2" thick block of wood that extends the width of your chop. This will allow you to hold things but will allow the slot to be swept easily clean during non-use.

Also, I find that the long leg vise is kind of in the way for that kind of planing. It's all doable, though, YMMV.

I think that style of work holding is really designed for a face vise that freely hangs over a cantilevered bench edge, so there are no stretchers or legs in the way. The only thing the leg vise has over the face vise in this regard is the fact that the low screw mount doesn't inhibit the holes as the face vise guide rods and screws do.

[Phil Stone]

That's a good idea, except if you have aprons or an upper stretcher, you'll still be obstructing some of the holes. Further, the tall chop of a leg vise means you'll have a non-through hole(s) in the chop. They'll clog. What you might do instead is mill a slot in the top of your chop that runs the full width of the top edge. The slot can hold a 3/8" or 1/2" thick block of wood that extends the width of your chop. This will allow you to hold things but will allow the slot to be swept easily clean during non-use.

I'm thinking of some kind of pop-up dog, which would be flush with the top of the chop when not in use. That should avoid any clogging issues.

Thank you for your thought-provoking comments, Prashun. I'll probably use my (in-progress) bench for a while before considering this modification; then I'll see if it's needed. My bench won't have a tail or wagon vise, so I thought this might be an interesting alternative for holding shorter pieces.