How To Use Bench Dogs Without A Tail Vise

An explanation of bench dogs and a couple methods for using them.
Marius Hornberger's Channel: kzbin.info/door/n7lavsPdVGV0qmEEBT6NyAabout

[@rickshick8544]

Thank you -- I have a 36 year old bench I built out of 2x4 lumber and had no idea that dog holes would be needed. You have helped me solve my problem. Now to attach a couple more 2x4s to the front of my bench with plenty of dog holes in them!

[@timberwrightsvs480]

This is my first ZOAT video, Zack, and I've got to tell you...Pretty much from the get go, I was sure that you were my kind of KZbinr: No showy props and no running off at the mouth with a polished litany of nonsense. I really like the fact that you're looking for ways to "get around" the perfect consumer bandwagon. How? By using your brain and good ol' trial and error. I found this video after typing in the question "What are bench dogs used for" and, after watching you explain how to use bench dogs without a tail vise, I've given you a well-deserved thumbs up and have added myself to your subscriber list. It's really sad that YT has taken measures to pressure regular guys like you. In my opinion, it will eventually turn YT into just another soulless television network, but that's not really the point I'm trying to make. The real point is that I hope that you continue to endeavor to produce bona fide helpful videos for regular people to view and learn from. Please keep up the great work.

[@stefanhansen5882]

Brilliant ideas! I am a newbie woodworker contemplating how to build a simple, small bench. This was truly inspirational! :)

[@tiffanyhackerspace8377]

Get Hands Dirty builds an elegant, level, small worktable. Fabulous :-)

[@michaelthibault7930]

_Grosso modo_ : use channel-lock pliers to make cammed dogs with variable clamping range. Some bending, cutting, drilling, grinding may be involved. You could probably manage this without welding e.g. center-drilling the pliers' bolt/rivet and a dog to accept a roll-pin might do the trick. Depends… Tools are a contagion.

[@martinstevens3629]

Look into the low Roman work bench, great for new wood workers

[@joegee1699]

This is just what I didn't know I needed 😀 I've been going back and forth about my work holding... bought threading boxes/taps for dowels to make a bigger vice, looked at expensive hardware, etc. I'm definitely going to incorporate some cam dogs to see how they work! 🐕‍🦺 Thanks for the info!

[@timrothgeb416]

Try 2 wedges that slide against each other this allows the outside edges remain parallel. Use about a 5 to 7 degree angle. Make it by cutting the angle through a rectangle. By using different width rectangles you can adjust the amount of space you take up and you can use different thicknesses to allow for thinner material.

[@harrymason1053]

They are called folding wedges.

[@jayberwocky1]

Nicely done, sir, and bonus points for the gentlemanly hat tip to Marius's channel!

[@Glyphmorph]

Great video, especially for beginners and folks with null budgets. Thanks for spreading the good news.

[@marsleon716]

As we are in lockdown in Melbourne Australia... more time for me to play & this was just what I wanted or needed to know

[@garrysmythe]

thanks for posting this video, but more importantly, thanks for youer honesty in pointing out the other woodworkers contribution

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

Thanks Gary, I appreciate you watching!

[@CrustyBiker]

Thankyou, my brother was asking me about bench dog's and I wanted to confirm they do what I thought,I was almost right, finding a video that shows how they work rather than just how to make them is very rare, good job sir! ....

[@jthomos21]

This was exactly what I needed. I have no room for a tail vice on my bench. Now I have the perfect project to make my bench dogs and spacer. Love this channel. As as a topic for a video can you go through a method to straighten out boards that are not square. No plainer in my shop space. Thanks again!

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

Thanks Jim, I really appreciate your kind words, now get after it! lol If I do a "how to square boards" video, it'll be while I'm learning it myself. I know it's a crutch but there's a lot of woodworking stuff that I've just never done for lack of a proper workspace to do them on. I'm really looking forward to using this bench.

[@James_T_Kirk_1701]

Just get a couple hold fasts they work much better than this set up

[@woodsniffer]

Great Idea thanks for posting. How many inches did you space the holes?

[@calvincollison9182]

I like the idea of the little cam like clamps. Those done in a nice hardwood would work well, you could even make various sizes to take up or give space for different sized workpieces.

[@CrochetNewsNetwork]

Great ideas. I’m building my first work bench and will use that curve thing.

[@rcboals]

Just getting into woodworking again after a 55 year hiatus from high scholl wood shop 1966. I built a hardwood top work bench and had no real idea what the dogs really were for. ((must of been invented after 1966) After looking at videos of benches that showed "you can't have too may holes in your workbench"" with no real explantion of what the #@%&? they do? I didn't want to drill a bunch of holes in my beautiful hardwood top just to look cool. :) I found a video that said to drill dog holes for what you need them for, but no explanation for what you use them for. Glad I found your video. We often assume people should know something we know and it goes without saying I am guilty. Tons of videos on how to drill bench dog holes. Heck, "any idiot can drill a hole" just kidding. :) Thank You your newest fan and subscriber in Oregon Raye

[@donbrown3599]

I enjoyed your KZbin. Question How thick is your wood bench top using your bench dogs?

[@travisreese7229]

Brilliant discussion. A bit like the "reality vs Pinterest" of experimenting with a concept as opposed to the actual employment and practice. Like Wood by Wright I have a face vise I put in a tail vise configuration, but I'm not always satisfied with the holding in certain situations. This couldn't have been better timed for me as I build new dogs and figure out some supplemental options for work holding.

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

Hey Travis, I'm glad it was timed well for you. I obviously cant really speak to how well or not these two methods work in actual practice but I'll be putting them to use for a while before going all out on a tail vise. Thanks for watching!

[@uktony1525]

Zack, a really useful video for everyone that does not have a tail vice. I am thinking that it would also work using a Black and Decker Workmate using the dog holes on that. I particularly like the square and wedge which would hold nice and tight on the workmate. As always a big thumbs up and as sal70288 says, thanks for the great content.

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

Thanks Tony, I think you're right it probably would work well on the Workmate. I hadn't thought of that. And also thank you so much for the consistent encouragement, it really means a lot!

[@VTGoPro]

Back in my sailing days we used two circular wedge pieces like that to hold the lines in places. Also they make racks that you drop rakes and shovels into that you can get at lowes and other stores. Good thinking

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

I know exactly what you're talking about with the rake holder thing. In the Navy most every workspace has a deep sink nearby with swabs (mops) hung up using that same mechanism.

[@nabooshaman6107]

If you had two lines of dog holes you could grip the work in four places rather than two. It would be more secure. Also, you just need a shim under your thinner work, rather than thinner cams.

[@KipIngram]

Zack - great video. Both very clever ideas.

[@bothann]

Some really good ideas, Zack. It occurs to me that you could raise thin stock with a wide spacer and continue to use your system. Lots of inspiration. :)

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

Awesome!! Thanks a ton Johann, I think that's just the way to do it. This was, to quote Wranglerstar, really "baking my noodle" trying to figure out how to remedy this deficiency since I do on occasion work with thinner material. Man I love having access to so many people's brains!

[@greatscott6755]

ingenious! simple cam & wedge designs both very simple & effective & truth be known probably have been used by carpenters for hundreds of years.

[@TheBrokenLife]

Thousands of years. A cam is just a lever arm combined with a fulcrum. It's pretty hard to get easier than that! This prehistoric woodworking. ;)

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

You're certainly right about that, It really is amazing to me how much knowledge gets sort of lost to time. What else did the ancients do that only a few people on the planet know about?!

[@TheBrokenLife]

Volumes of stuff, Zack. Most people can't even tell you which way is North on a nice bright sunny day.

[@greatscott6755]

Maxwelhse let alone how ancient ancestors tempered copper to make weapons or made fires hot enough to fuse together rocks to make some castle wall foundations. A lot of knowledge & skill has been lost in time & to technology.

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

Absolutely astounding how much stuff we no longer know.

[@przybyla420]

I’m making the rounds through the tail vise videos because they’re just so nifty. I was hoping to find a design based off a pipe clamp, but have so far been unsuccessful. I like your solutions. But I think I have a better one :) Use a bench hook made from thin stock such as 1/2” birch ply. Make it long enough to be locked down with a holdfast towards the center of the bench, where the holdfast is out of your way. Of course, you need some holes out towards the center of the workbench, which some may object to.

[@przybyla420]

The bench hook’s fence, combined with the holdfast, keep it very secure.

[@L8NiteCoffeeSips]

Nice video! Been thinking the same, eventually I’ll have a vise installed on bench but as of now I only got bench dogs at the moment

[@whknee]

how far apart are your bench dog holes? I've seen up to 4" often but yours look to be 2". I won't have a tail vise, so I guess the closer your holes are together the better.

[@marvinbanjo]

That block idea is an old one and works better If you turn the wedge over so you track more parallel to the edge of your table . For other vise work; try a Zylis or Swiss vice if you can find one.

[@billr4283]

Very good ideas and transparent problem solving along the way

[@watermain48]

The quest continues...great video Zack.

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

Thanks Bill

[@SouthpawDavey]

I have seen the square and wedge. I like the cam idea could just make that cam bigger so you dont need a spacer. Great stuff been looking at putting dogs on my bench. Both good solutions.

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

I'll have to give that a try, would be easy to do by just enlarging Marius' drawing. It seems like he may have mentioned in his video though that making it bigger didn't seem to work. I'll give it a shot though.

[@SouthpawDavey]

Zack Of All Trades must be worth a try . Might be it will not hold with the angle of the cam when you push it . Could use the cam on the back maybe

[@chaoticworlddesigns]

It looks like portion of the Fibonacci curve.. Not entirely sure of spelling. Great idea!

[@ge3029]

When you say you didnt have the means to execute the spiral properly, why did you say that? I created two different but similar spirals - one from a fibonacci spiral/bernoulli spiral and then one from Nick Engler here on the Tube, who shows how to do it with a dowel, string and pencil which makes a beautiful curve. His worked, mine didnt - they just slipped I found. I even found my wedges slipping and I also used the offset square for versatility. My workbench is two sheets of ply (5/8 and 5/8 of different grades) with the top being the both sides good grade. I used 1/2" dog holes and poplar dowels. I broke one just from testing the limits of its strength. I notice the dowels flex a lot. I am wondering if the 3/4" dog holes allow for extra meat for the dowel to not flex and thus hold the wedges/spirals etc to hold better. Any thoughts?

[@ianpearse4480]

great video. You could consider a Doe's foot. I use them and they are very good.

[@Makka316]

This was my first thought as well as per Richard Maguire (The English Woodworker: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jX_VoJlpmMlkmaM). I fitted a Verias inset vise to my workbench but I tend to move back and forth between that and a doe's foot setup depending on the work I'm doing. The doe's foot is especially useful when jointing the face of a board as you can lift the board in and out without unclamping all the time to quickly flip it over and to a rough "twist" check against the reference surface of the workbench.

[@chrimichael72]

Both great ideas! Thanks for sorting out a mystery!

[@cirosochyesposito9443]

Thanks so much for your excellent explanation and tips! What spray did you used to glue the paper on the wood?

[@abescheepers]

Hi there, you can use a "Pritt glue stick" to stick your templet it's the same glue sticks kids use for gluing their pics for school projects, it works well and the paper can be removed easily and cleaned afterwards with mineral spirits or the likes

[@cirosochyesposito9443]

Abé Scheepers thanks so much!

[@rsamaran]

Like I kept wondering why people had holes all over their workbenches!! 😂😂 I’m a lockdown woodworking newbie in a London flat - I used to be scared of drills just six months ago 😀

[@terryjackson9055]

what about when you need to clamp material 3/4 or less?

[@sethstanbury6126]

That's a slick idea

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

Thanks Seth, I thought they were pretty cool ways of getting the job done. Thanks a bunch for watching!

[@MOSTAFA131160]

very helpful video, Thank you

[@Victoria-jo3wr]

Hi Zack, thank you for sharing this with us!

[@scottbrown3444]

Thanks very helpful

[@mephustowest1876]

This is a really well done video, it explained a lot. Thank you for taking the time to make a video to explain the dogs and how to use them. I like the ways to use them without a tail vice. Also, you pronounced my username really well, very close for a first try. Keep up the good videos.

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

'Twas my pleasure my friend. Thanks for asking the question!

[@enyaw1948]

Just what I needed to know , thank you!

[@hassanal-mosawi6049]

Thanks for showing how and sharing that

[@JacobvsRex]

I like it but the cam has been around a while. Years ago Roy Underhill showed how to make it one on his show based off a drawing out of some older treatise on woodworking

[@JacobvsRex]

Although he put two of them together to act as a self tightening clamp on the bench top

[@MRMorris81]

What a fantastic channel! Also, what happened to the Chief's Mess moustache?

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

Hey thanks Michael, I try to keep it entertaining. Truth be told, I got rid of the mouthbrow to give my wife a bit of smooth face for a little while before I endeavor to look more like yourself. 14 Mondays. Thanks for your service Michael.

[@jorgeleon6995]

Man this video was hella dope. I'm going to use it.

[@keysersoze5633]

Very ingenious! Subscribed!

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

Thanks Keyser!!

[@Manocooper]

Thanks for sharing, I will be trying this as well. Have you considered holfasts.

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

I have, actually. In fact I have ideas for some unconventional hodfasts bouncing around in my head. I hope to get to them sooner than later.

[@Manocooper]

I await with baited breath. I look forward to seeing your Ideas.

[@theYeti1000]

Holdfasts are good for when chiseling and things like that but not helpful if you are trying to plane a piece the whole length.

[@vernermurillo3151]

thanks for the video, it was really helpful

[@marvingreen6644]

What is the spacing on your bench dogs?

[@boyposadas85]

Problem solve.many tnx

[@theYeti1000]

The second option works on the same principle as cam clamps

[@DesignEcologies]

Thank you

[@MrMarkpeggy]

Great video, thank you. Subscribed! 👍

[@boyposadas85]

It solve my problem.tanx

[@woodeater4827]

Very nice, I put it in my projects box

[@philipripper1522]

Know this is years late, but you don't need thinner spacers for thinner stock, you can just sit the stock on a riser.

[@wagsman9999]

what a great idea!

[@bruceaugustine6486]

Instead of the small piece of wood, why not use 2 of those cams to clamp the piece in place?

[@ZackOfAllTrades]

interesting thought, Bruce. I'm not sure just how it would work, ill have to try it out.

[@bruceaugustine6486]

just make them various sizes by adding a larger bulb end

[@bruceaugustine6486]

kind of like in this video, either the first two would work. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXSQZWCYpZZjnsk&lc=z23hhvohknrsgrkwt04t1aokgb4pdurdgqfhlildsfugrk0h00410.1514407222071912&feature=em-comments

[@saurios]

Excelente idea de ya me elaboro una. Saludos

[@lucasmoreno3213]

Be sure to strop your jack plane blade after sharpening

[@robertbrunston5406]

Thank you for sharing!

[@green_building]

Youre smart man 😎👍

[@James_T_Kirk_1701]

These ideas work but why not just buy a pack of two hold fast and be done with it?

[@AlJaathiyah45_23]

😄😄😄

[@johnhelton457]

My adventure with woodworking started with Woodglut.

[@omgtom2126]

I am form the future wear a mask