making wood less slippery

[alexy]

I need some ideas for doing this. Non-abrasive, so the fine sand add-ins for floor paint are out. And I don't want anything as ugly as the pine tar used on a baseball bat, but more in that line.

I have wooden bench dogs that insist on falling down in their holes. They are (freshly) finished with tung oil. I imagine that as the oil dries out, they will lose some of their slipperiness. And I could also put a little wedge under the "spring" (a sliver of wood on the side that springs out against the side of the dog hole) to shorten and stiffen it. But is there something else I could put on the dog's body or the dog hole sides to make their mating less slippery? (Keep it clean, guys!)

Wood is SYP if that affects your answer.

[Leon]

Maybe some PSA sand paper on the dog and spring.

[Robert Bonomi]

"Tincture of time"

For a temporary fix, try some rubber cement. just a strip down each side.

let dry *thoroughly* before using!

[Andy Dingley]

My wooden dogs are maple, with hickory springs screwed onto the side. I adjust the spring presure by paper shims under the spring, where it's screwed down.

[Gene T]

[Unquestionably Confused]

I made wooden bench dogs for my workbench but never put a spring on them. Can't recall where I saw it (Fine Woodworking maybe)but I'll fess up that it wasn't MY idea.

I used small bullet catches like you use for a inset cabinet door. One set into the side of each dog making it maybe 3/16" proud. Never had one slip through yet. Mine are walnut finished with Watco.

[alexy]

Good idea. Not sure where I would find one. Might have some old rosin from a violin bow, which might work.

I'm surprised no one mentioned beeswax. I remember as a kid rubbing it on a bat handle to make it less slick.

[alexy]

Thanks. But the reason for specifying non-abrasive is that I didn't want abrasive grains loose on my bench, and I didn't want something that would enlarge the hole over time. And I think the fit if my dogs is too tight to allow room for the psa paper.

[alexy]

Thanks. I suspect that is the ultimate answer, and tightening the springs seems to have done it in the meantime.

Interesting idea! I suspect that it would not stick to the wood well enough until the oil had dried--then we are back to your original solution!

[alexy]

Thanks, Andy. I did a cruder version of just that. My springs are glued rather than screwed (lack of foresight on the part of their builder) but a small piece of wood inserted near the attachment point serves as an adequate (if not easily fine-tuned) shim.

[Robert Bonomi]

The entire purpose of rubber cement is to 'not stick well' to anything. ;)

Rubber cement will "sorta" stick to durn near anything. And, when it doesn't stick, or when you want to remove it, you just rub it off. The solvent in it can leave mild stain marks if it sinks in. But with the oiled stock, that shouldn't be a problem.

[Pete Duncan]

But is there something else I could put on the dog's body

I think the spring-loaded bullet catch would work well as long as the dogs have enough "meat" to contain them.

Along the same lines, I wonder if one could achieve a similar effect by inserting a short piece of rubber, tubing, pencil eraser, etc. into a small hole in the side of the dog? Something "spongey", protruding just enough to compress as the dog is inserted into the hole and firm enough to prevent it from slipping through.

[Unquestionably Confused]

Perhaps. Heck there are probably a number of different ways to tackle this problem. As for enough meat on the dog? What the heck are we talking about here? A couple of scrap pieces of hardwood, a few minutes with the saw and sander to make a few new ones. It's not like we're doing the whole bench