Lag time

[David Mueller]

Just about to attach the rear jaw on my veritas twin screw. Since my top is 3" thick and the rear jaw is 2 5/8" thick. Is there a downside to just attaching with lag bolts? Heads recessed 1/2 " in with a 6" x 1/2" screw placed 4 acress the 25" width. I looked at the bench bolts, slightly more work but if a better outcome. What say the experts?

[Alan Turner]

Are you cross grain here? Could be some movement that will need to be accounted for.

[David Mueller]

Not sure if it would be, It's like most other bench slabs, 1 1/2" strips of hard maple turned and laminated. There could be slight movement but slightly enlargening the holes and using a washer should help that issue I would think.

[Norman Hitt]

I know a lot of people use the lag bolts, and they will "Probably" work for you, Buuuuuut....I personally just Don't like lag bolts, and Especially when installed into end grain, (which I think is where you will be driving them into the table top slab). There is always the possibility of them causing splitting when installed into endgrain, and then it will be more of a problem to correct, especially if the split becomes a crack that extends to the surface of the slab top. With all the work you've done on that bench to make it Nice & Solid, I think it would be worth the extra effort to put in the proper bolts at the start. JMHO