Putting round dog holes in 4" bench top ?

[Doug Shepard]

Just for the sake of argument, lets say I want to make my own workbench top 4" thick, with round dog holes. What are my options?
My first thought was a 3/4 Forster bit but all the ones I can find dont have a long enough shank. My next thought was a router bit to do a plunge cut but short lenghts are also the issue here plus I think I'd have to use 2 different length bits. Not sure off the top of my head, but I dont think 4" plunge travel is do-able even if I could find a long bit.
The only thing I've spotted is a 3/4" HSS Lipped Brad-Point bit from LV - 6" with 3" of fluting. That looks like it would work, but thought I'd troll for any other suggestions.

[Mike K Wenzloff]

Brace and bit.

One doesn't need to make the top into Swiss cheese in order to have effective placement of dog holes...so planned out well there isn't that many holes to bore. Figure 5 mintutes a hole by the time you are done.

You can also bore part way down with the Forstner and a guide block. That will lessen the amount of time required for using the brace as well as provide positive vertical alignment.

Take care, Mike

[Jason Beam]

One doesn't need to make the top into Swiss cheese in order to have effective placement of dog holes...so planned out well there isn't that many holes to bore.

Sorry to hijack ... but Mike, could you point me to some info that might help me plan my hole placement well? I'm planning 3/4" holes for both front and end vises - and maybe a couple for my holdfasts, too?

[Bill White]

When I built my bench (out of bowling alley maple) I used one of the silly bench top drill holders. Kinda like a poor man's mini drill press. I was able to clamp it to the bench top and then drill the holes for the dogs and hold fast with a spade bit. Drilled slowly and everything worked out just fine.
Bill

[Doug Shepard]

Sorry to hijack ... but Mike, could you point me to some info that might help me plan my hole placement well? I'm planning 3/4" holes for both front and end vises - and maybe a couple for my holdfasts, too?

Hijack away. Saves me from having to ask the same question later.
I'm also wondering about some in the bench face for using one of these
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.a...,43838&p=57059

Put a separate post in the Neander section on those. I haven't found any mention of anybody trying these yet.

[Aaron Hamilton]

How bout a 6" long auger bit from the borg - nice clean hole and plenty of length. I have some that I bought, I think they are from the blue borg and are Kobalt brand maybe? Anyways...6" long - 12 bucks for a set of 3, 1/2, 5/8, 3/4.

Hope that helps!

[Tyler Howell]

When I built my bench (out of bowling alley maple) I used one of the silly bench top drill holders. Kinda like a poor man's mini drill press. I was able to clamp it to the bench top and then drill the holes for the dogs and hold fast with a spade bit. Drilled slowly and everything worked out just fine.
Bill

Ditto!!!
Worked good.

[Jeff Wright]

I am very pleased with the 3/4" Lee Valley brad point bit I used in the show-and-tell at this link:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=57406

You'll also see how I created a jig to both guide the bit and align the holes accurately.

[Ken Werner]

If you're not feeling too neander, how about starting the hole with a nice clean Forstner, then finishing with a down and dirty spade bit in a 'lectric drill?

As for figuring the spacing, I think if you figure the maximum opening of your tail vise, it's range - open to closed - will give you the approximate distance you need between dog holes to be able to accomodate pieces between them.

Ken

[Brian Penning]

Maybe dumb question but why do the holes have to go all the way through?

[Jeff Wright]

As for figuring the spacing, I think if you figure the maximum opening of your tail vise, it's range - open to closed - will give you the approximate distance you need between dog holes to be able to accomodate pieces between them.

Ken

I agree with one exception: make sure your spacing is LESS THAN the maximum opening. Otherwise, you may find you can't apply sufficiently tight vise pressure on your workpiece when the piece is a certain dimension.

[Gary Herrmann]

Drill bit extender for your forstner. I've got a 5" extender. Available from a variety of sources for various shank sizes.

[Robert Mayer]

I used a spade bit on mine. Worked pretty fast and left a clean straight hole.

[glenn bradley]

Sorry to hijack ... but Mike, could you point me to some info that might help me plan my hole placement well? I'm planning 3/4" holes for both front and end vises - and maybe a couple for my holdfasts, too?

You should be able to clamp something between the dog on your vise jaw and the dog hole, being able to reach the next dog hole by the distance that your vice jaws extend.

That was confusing . . . another way to look at it is; with your vise jaws about 1/2" open, measure from the vise jaw dog hole to a possible location of a bench dog. Open your vise jaws all the way and then close them about 1/2". Measure that distance. That spacing would allow you to tighten to either dog and theoretically any other equally spaced dog.

Now after all that brew-ha-ha, I put mine on 6" centers despite having a 10" vise.

[glenn bradley]

Here's what I did; 3 x 3 guide block drilled on the DP at 6" centers and clampd in position:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachme...3&d=1180501803

Support the underside with a backer board to avoid blowout.

I used Rockler's # 25782 3/4" Standard Brad Point. I didn't want the self feeding auger-type; I wanted to control the feed rate.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?p...r=brad%20point

Ongoing bench thread:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=57879