Making bench dog holes

[Jason White]

I hate using a handheld drill to make bench dog holes because I can never get them perfectly clean or square. So now I use my plunge router! Much better results and way easier than pushing on a drill.

https://youtu.be/fdyyuIJZu5o

My project-3 9.00.58 AM.jpg

[Floyd Mah]

When I glued up my bench years ago, I used rectangular holes for the bench dog holes. I dedicated one strip of wood in the lamination of the bench top, the width of the dog hole. Basically, I made the strip out of the material that wasn't the holes of the bench dogs. I just assembled the non-bench dog wood on the adjacent pieces of wood using glue. No drilling needed. New bench dogs were a simple matter to make. Being a pre-fab hole, it was easy to control the angles and dimensions. For the rare occasion that I needed a round bench dog, I made an insert with a round hole to accept the round bench dog.

[Rod Sheridan]

I used a drill press, I’m not sure a router can drill a through hole in 100mm thick Jatoba. Rod

[Frederick Skelly]

Thanks for the idea and video Jason.

I used a drill press, I’m not sure a router can drill a through hole in 100mm thick Jatoba. Rod

You used Jatoba for a bench top? That's some hard, dense stuff. I'd love to see some pictures of that, in a separate thread. (Aside: Used to be a guy here that used Purple Heart - it was gorgeous.)

Fred

[Rod Sheridan]

Thanks for the idea and video Jason.




You used Jatoba for a bench top? That's some hard, dense stuff. I'd love to see some pictures of that, in a separate thread. (Aside: Used to be a guy here that used Purple Heart - it was gorgeous.)

Fred

Hi Fred, I'm away now however when I get home I'll take a photo of it....Rod.

[Edward Weber]

Once you affix your template in place, drill some pilot holes before you start routing. They don't have to be straight or centered. They will allow some chips/debris to fall out of the hole and lessen the chip build up. Especially for those who don't use a vac on their router.
I also suggest a putting a sacrificial backing board on the bottom side to avoid blowout or splintering on exit.
Just a suggestion

[Paul Haus]

Once you affix your template in place, drill some pilot holes before you start routing. They don't have to be straight or centered. They will allow some chips/debris to fall out of the hole and lessen the chip build up. Especially for those who don't use a vac on their router.
I also suggest a putting a sacrificial backing board on the bottom side to avoid blowout or splintering on exit.
Just a suggestion

Sounds pretty much like what I did when I built my bench. Came out just fine.

[Edward Weber]

It's just common sense for drilling/routing any through hole.
The router will give you nice clean side wall but isn't really necessary to hog out the center waste material.