Japanese reprive

[AndrewP]

I recently posted about building a Japanese trestle and beam "workbench" which is now well underway. Last time I was agonising over imperial size dowels for draw-bore joints, guidance from this forum put me right, in the end I made roughly sized octaganol "dowels" from scrap and they worked fine, WHAT WAS I SO WORRIED ABOUT!
The beams will be face glued 2 x 6's, and I'm thinking about my options for sotps/dogs. My favorite at the moment is to bore round holes for Veritas round dogs (well they should be a better fit than square holes!!) have any of you got any ideas on how round dogs and holes will fare in pine, bearing in mind the holes will be 5 1/2" deep?
Thanks
Andrew

 

[Chris Knight]

Andrew,

I don't think you will have any problems especially if using the full size dogs. Occasionally you will accidentally push them beneath the surface of the bench but as long as you can reach the hole from underneath, they can easily be pushed back with a finger.

If you used the "pups" you might need a stick to reach them in such a thick top if they are depressed too far.

 

[Alf]

So am I the only person to think metal dogs are the invention of the devil then? Or maybe I'm just the only cack-handed duffer who every so often finds tool edge meeting dog and thanks the tool gods the dog in question is wooden...

Cheers, Alf

 

[Chris Knight]

So am I the only person to think metal dogs are the invention of the devil then?

Yes

 

[Alf]

So am I the only person to think metal dogs are the invention of the devil then?

Yes

You sound unsure, Chris... :roll: :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

No - seen someone else comment on brass dogs. Can't remember where though. Coulda been DC in one of his books. Coulda been another book. Could have been Alf under a different guise on a different forum! lol

 

[Alf]

Evidently I need some back up on this one... How about Jeff Gorman? (Definitely not me in disguise. :roll: )

Cheers, Alf

 

[Chris Knight]

I am sure it's the small nicks and shiny tops to my Veritas bench dogs that have enabled me to get so much practice in sharpening my plane blades that I bow to no-one in the sharpening stakes! :lol:

 

[Frank D.]

I'm with you Alf, metal dogs were originally invented by shady stone manufacturers so woodworkers would spend more time sharpening than planing. Why pay money for metal dogs when dowels or scrap wood work just fine? You can even make square stops on the dogs by drilling a hole in a square piece of wood and gluing it to the top of the dowel.
Frank

 

[AndrewP]

One of my thoughts with round holes (apart from being easier to produce I think) is that I would still have the options of metal or wooden dogs. Anyone got any good ideas about making dowels stay at the height you want them?
My other concern was will a softwood top deform from the focussed pressure behind a round dog? If not this could save me even more money As I will be using these dogs as stops rather than as one end of a vice (no tail vice on a Japanese beam) I'm guessing that the pressures wont be so great, uuntilI get really frustrated with some job and go into "Homer" mode to solve the problem :evil:
Andrew

 

[Alf]

Anyone got any good ideas about making dowels stay at the height you want them?

Erm, anyone? My dogs are square and I use a bullet catch. How about "a nice snug fit"...? :wink:

My other concern was will a softwood top deform from the focussed pressure behind a round dog?

Now funnily enough, you're not the only one to wonder about that recently.

Cheers, Alf

 

[Frank D.]

To make a dog stay in place you just saw an oblique kerf with a bandsaw or handsaw and glue in a thin piece of wood that acts like a spring. You can fettle the spring with a carving knife to round it off and get the right tension. It's the same principle as metal springs found on metal dogs.

Frank

 

[AndrewP]

Thanks Frank, I'm tempted to say "sounds simple enough" but I'll try it before I get so rash :wink:
Good pointer Alf, it's nice to know I'm not the only one that frets needlessly!