Drilling bench dog holes?

Just _short_ of the working stroke.

I hate that the Canuckistani Ducat is so high now. I got them for a whole lot cheaper last decade.

-- To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure. -- J. K. Rowling

Oh. I made my own to save money and they're just plywood shapes (various) attached to a dowel. So I tilted the holes in the bench.

I had a similar size benchtop, same materials and thickness. I hiked it up on my drill press using a roller ball support stand on either side of the drill press. Then I used a 3/4" forstner bit to drill all the holes. I used a couple of Bessey cabinet clamps to clamp it to the drill press table before I drilled each hole. It sounds cumbersome but it actually went pretty fast and smooth once I got the benchtop loaded on the two stands.

Bob

Yikes, my slab is over 250 lbs. I could not imagine doing that. I had enough trouble getting it down the stairs.

I used a router with a 3/4 > >> My 1-3/4" thick solid laminated maple work bench is exactly that, solid.

What am I missing here? Is this really rocket surgery? What's wrong with a hand held drill and a Forstner bit? Don't bench dogs work with the friction of being pushed from the side? To my knowledge, you shouldn't have to pound them in and out, so who needs a perfect hole?

Or am I wrong? There's always a first. :-)

With my itty bitty drill press it would be easier to clamp the drill press onto the bench and drill the holes that way.

$30 drill guide and a sharp spade bit did a fine job on my table of 3- inch white oak. Clamp a backup piece to the bottom to prevent exit tearout.

Out of curiosity, why a Forstner bit? Don't dog holes go all the way through?

I've never used a Forstner bit in other than a drill press. Seems I read somewhere they weren't safe otherwise.

By design using a Forstner bit will give you an indication that the hole is started perpendicular to the table top. Once started the design of the bit will aid in keeping it perpendicular.

I use Forstner bits in a hand held drill frequently. I've never had a problem... although you have to keep a tight grip on the drill when using the larger bits.

Plunge router? Tape it in place and put tape around any openings that duse would escape with the exception of where you attach you Festool Vac. Use a

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Already covered.

See my previous posts.

Lew

Ok, a spade bit. I figured the entry hole would be cleaner.

Poppycosh. (I've never used that word, until now.) I use them all the time in a hand held drill.

------------------------ A brad point drill bit is easier to control in a hand held drill as well as providing better chip clearance.

Lew

You guys crack me up. Please change original to, "What's wrong with a hand held drill to drill bench dog holes."

I've drilled the holes for Euro style hinges with my cordless Dewalt, worked perfectly and I can still count to ten.

Was is a carbide spiral cutter or a steel one? So far I've only been able to find steel ones (1/2"shank). Considering the number of holes I'd like to drill, I'm concerned that a steel one will wear out or at least lose it's edge before I'm finished.

Nothing, if you don't mind a few imperfections. Since I have way less experience than most around here, I think I would try a plunge router and a fence. Not sure how deep one could drill that way, though. After that, I'd clamp down a wooden "mouth" to hold down the wood, to prevent tear-out. If thick enough, it might serve as a jig to guide the drill too.

Bill

The only reply I can give to that is the dog holes have the potential to be drilled on an angle, as slight as that may be. With a router, you're almost guaranteed that the hole is going to be vertically cut.

Yup, that's going to be my preferred method as suggested by Lew. It won't be too difficult for me to make a simple enclosure with the CT22 attached to house the router while I cut the holes. I already have a 3/4" carbide router bit, but it's single flute and I've long intended to buy a double flute bit, so this is my opportunity. A pieced of hardboard used as a template guide will round off the process.

I briefly considered using a brad point drill or perhaps a spade drill, but since I'm unable to lean over the drill to put weight on it as well as to easily eyeball a decent vertical entry point, my plunge router seems like the obvious choice.

Now, all I have to do is to convince my best friend to let me "borrow" my plunge router back from him. :)