Square or Round Dogs?

[William Diaz]

I am attempting to build my first workbench and was using ideas I saw on the web. I noticed, for dogs, some had square holes and some had circle holes for the dogs? Which is better and why? Honestly, I would prefer the cheaper, in cost not quality, route.

My thoughts are: First, I can make square dogs from Maple or some other hardwood, much easier than circle one. (Table saw or Miter saw for square ones over Lathe for round ones) Second, which may be a downside is I already have the top for most of my workbench glued, so the square hole would only be on the width side of my top. That's all I can think of right now.

Thanks for your input.

[Jerome Hanby]

Sam Allen's workbench book talks about the round dog holes being more versatile because it allows you to easily construct jigs or whatever that can plug into those holes. I think general consensus would be that round holes are certainly easier to retrofit to an existing bench. Wonder dogs, wonder pups, and other similar add-ons use round dog holes. I think round dogs might be a little more versatile when to comes to holding round or curved pieces.

Square dogs allow you to show off your workmanship, certainly look classy, and have to be better at holding straight material.

No reason you couldn't do both...

[John Thompson]

I have used both.. both have their place. I suggest you make round holes and round dogs but... make some round dogs and square one side of the top. I keep them in a little plastic container on a shelf beside the bench. When I think round it more appropriate.. they are within reach. When I think square are more appropriate.. they ae within reach.

This is one those questions that fall into the left tilt.. right tilt category and there are pro's and con's to both so..... why not have both?

Good luck...

Sarge..

[Rod Sheridan]

Round holes accept holdfasts, so I'd go with round dog holes......Rod.

[Charlie Schultz]

I built my bench with square holes. I wish I would've made them round- much more useful.

[William Diaz]

Well it appears that of the replies I've received so far lean towards round dogs. I mentioned earlier, cost. If I go with Grizzly or Woodcraft, steel dogs, I'm looking at paying 40 bucks for just four of them. I'm not sure how many I may need but I was looking at getting at a minimum, eight dogs. So, that being said I am thinking of getting my lathe out and making round ones out of 1x1 maple and leaving about an inch on top for support and as a stopping point, and rounding the rest to 3/4 shaft.

The image, I hope you can see my idea, is what I plan on making.
The image is from a paint application...I'm not a graphic designer so bare with me.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Hello,
All our dogs end up round.

[Jeff Dege]

The problem with the square top is that you can't adjust the amount by which the dog protrudes from the bench.

[William Diaz]

Originally Posted by Jeff Dege

The problem with the square top is that you can't adjust the amount by which the dog protrudes from the bench.

Couldn't you use my same idea and make the square top 1 inch and the shaft of the dog 3/4 inch but square. This would give you the option for the dog to stop at that distance, right?

[glenn bradley]

I went round. Dogs and accessories are easily made or bought.

[John Thompson]

I'm like Glenn, I won't pay for something this simple I can make. I simply use hard-wood dowels as I have no lathe. Drill some corresponding holes with a forstner in a scrap block of wood then cross-cut and rip them into squares. Add a dab of glue and slide them on the dowel.

As far as not being able to adjust the height... simply plane a board down thinner and do the same thing. Scrap is cheap and you can make various size and height dog heads for practically nothing.. You say you need at least 8... you can make 20 in one run for under $3 in dowels using scrap laying around.

Edit.. Opps, as was in a hurry... this method is how I used to make square dogs with round dowels. It can be used to get various thickness heads as mentioned. Glenn's method is better as the those pins are spring loaded and the same dowel can be adjusted to any height allowing use of one dog for all.

Again.. good luck...

Sarge..

[Dave Lehnert]

Originally Posted by glenn bradley

I went round. Dogs and accessories are easily made or bought.

Thanks!

Great idea.

[Jeff Dege]

Originally Posted by William Diaz

Couldn't you use my same idea and make the square top 1 inch and the shaft of the dog 3/4 inch but square. This would give you the option for the dog to stop at that distance, right?

I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing. Suppose you were sanding or planing the surface of a thick board. You'd want your benchdogs to be set fairly high on the bench. If you were sanding something thin, you'd want them set shallow. Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how you could set a benchdog at different depths using the design you posted.

[Jeff Dege]

Is there an advantage to gluing a square block on the end of a round dowel, so as to make a flat surface, over simply sawing a notch into the end of a round dowel to make a flat surface?

[Tony Bilello]

Originally Posted by Jeff Dege

.......... Maybe it's just me, but I don't see how you could set a benchdog at different depths using the design you posted.

Simple, do like I do and make several with varying thickness heads. I also have round and square heads, I even have some doubles. They only take a few minutes to make on a lathe and it's all done with scraps.
If you own a lathe, a round shaft is faster to make than a square shaft with glue-ups on a table saw.