Bench Dog Or Bench Hold Down Clamp?

I'm building a workbench that I originally designed to have a series of

3/4" x 3/4" bench dogs. I'm about to cut the dogs, but I came across some 8-1/8" bench hold down clamps:

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which should I go with? The dogs or the clamps?

The workbench will have no specific mission, just a general workbench. The dogs are 3/4" square and the clamps are 3/4" diameter.

Thanks.

Reply to
Tim Hurd
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I personally prefer the dogs, since they allow access to an entire board for a plane or sander. For the small cost why not go with both? To clamp directly to the bench I use hand screws or C-clamps.

Hope that helps. Big John

There is a thin line between hobby & mental illness.

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Reply to
WilliaJ2

When scraping a table top you will get your answer. Clamps are OK, but dogs leave the entire surface open with nothing to bang into. You can always go with round dogs (Lee Valley has them) and clamps to use what is best on a given job. Ed

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

Is there a reason you cant use both ? I can see plusses and minuses to = each but if I only had one choice I would go with the dog's Puff

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=20> So, which should I go with? The dogs or the clamps?

Reply to
Puff Griffis

I can envision times when one or the other would be preferable. My ingenious solution would be to buy both. My only concern would be knowing how the hold down clamp (an I incorrect in also calling this a holdfast?) is made. I'd have a preference for a forged one over cast.

todd

Reply to
Todd Fatheree

Both. They do different things. Bench dogs are used as stops to hold things on their edges. Common uses are when hand-planing or other work, often in combination with a vise, which either has a pop-up dog or holes for loose bench dogs.

A hold-down does what it sounds like - holds work down against the bench, and does so by applying the clamping force to the face or veritcally on the piece. There are a lot of uses for this as well, one being to hold a piece for routing operations, drilling holes, etc. etc.

The hold-down I prefer is actually a clamping hold-down sold by Lee Valley. It's not cheap, but I find it extremely useful the more I have it. Here it is:

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type you showed from Harbor Freight is pretty common and useful, but to seat the work you have to wack the holddown with a mallet, and again to loosen it, so over time you can get wear on the dog hole of the bench. They've been used for a long time, though, so there's nothing wrong with them.

Mike

Reply to
Mike in Mystic

Use BOTH. Buy the hold-down clamps and make the dogs. For the dogs, cut some 1 1/2 inch squares out of 1-inch maple stock; bore 3/4 inch holes in the center and glue in some 2-inch pieces of 3/4 inch oak dowel. There is no reason that the dogs have to have square shafts. Round works just as well and fits into the same holes as the hold-downs. I prefer hardwood dogs. They do less damage to chisels, gouges or planes when there is accidental contact. It's also a good idea to glue a pad of shoe-sole leather to the part of the hold-down that will be in contact with the work. Makes for fewer dents in the work.

Reply to
Bubba

Take a look at this month's Woodsmith (Vol 26, #153) -- one of the readers' tips has what looks to be a rather interesting, inexpensive way to have both.

Reply to
Mark & Juanita

You'll need both - the hold down to - duh - hold things down while you chop on their ends, and the bench dogs to hold them while you work on the top - sanding, carving, planing etc. If you're dog holes are close enough to the edge of the bench you can hold a piece you want to route a through slot in.

I've got one of the hold downs you're looking at - used it to hold part I was chopping dovetails in. Wack the top with a mallet and it's set, tap the back with a mallet and it lets go. Worked great on my "old bench" of ply but doesn't seem to hold well on my new bench of 3 1/2" of maple - don't know why. That type of hold down will ovalize your doghole(s) after a while - perhaps that's why mine isn't working in the new bench.

Veritas had, and may still have, a hold down that screws into or slips into a metal base inset in the bench top. Turn the knob to tighten or loosen. No ovalizing of a doghole since it has its own dedicated "base unit".

Why not have square AND round dogholes and dogs - you can make your own. The more the merrier - a good bench, in addition to being a thing to pound on is also a big versatile clamp. Here are some ideas, stolen from Ken Vaughn's site (all one line so watch the line wrap)

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Since this seems to be your first workbench there will be another down to the line so experiment now and add what you learn to The Real Bench you'll make later.

charlie b

Reply to
charlie b

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