Bench dogs can also be made of plastic or metal.
What are the holes in a woodworking bench for. Popular woodworking magazine managing editor glen d. You can also use holdfasts for extra security. Skip navigation sign in. Now use a 3 4 brad point guided by the holes in the drill guide to drill through the workbench.
Huey shows you how to make perfect evenly spaced dog holes in your workbench top using a router. Having lots of holes doesn t really weaken the bench but they are a lot of work to execute and you don t need them unless you have some special operation in mind. I ve found very few instances of needed to counterbore the underside of a bench for holdfasts and i ve tested a variety of holdfasts in benches from 2 to 6 inches thick. Clamp the guide in place along with a backer board to prevent tear out on the bottom of the bench.
This hole allows you to secure long and wide stock on your bench with a doe s foot aka a notched batten. I would have put it even closer to the right end of the bench but i don t want to risk splitting the bench in twain with the holdfast. You can also add metal and or wood springs to make them height adjustable. Then place your work against the bench dog to secure it.
Another odd design feature of the windsor design is its dog holes. While this bench provides a variety of dog holes and even offers numerous pegs and dowels to go along with it the dog holes are not spaced as closely or with as much variation as you see with many other benches. Many first time bench builders plan an array of dog holdfast holes that would make the top look more like a colander or monster pegboard. The traditional way to increase the work holding capability is to place dog holes in your bench top and allowing them to work in tandem with a face or end vise to secure parts of any size.
To use your bench dogs and dog holes simply fit a bench dog into a dog hole. Ultimately this means that smaller workpieces may not be able to use the dog holes and pegs as well.