Replies

1. 
   lat_axe | Dec 18, 2020 04:24am | #1

   This notion is bandied about in various magazine articles and the odd workbench book. It seems a poorly thought through notion, though, for a woodworking bench as the T-track will fill with dust and shavings in no time. It will likely acquire an unnoticed dollop of glue at some stage too; and this will be a PITA to remove once dry.

   You'd also need more than one track, in the way that you need more than one row of dog holes. More risk of jam-ups.

   On the other hand, the detritus of working the wood won't fall through T-track as it does through dog holes, to coat whatever lives on top of the under-cabinet with a thick layer of dust and mini-shavings. But they don't stop your dog holes functioning, as jammed-up T-track might with those no-longer-sliding clamp-downs.

   The notion might work well up the bench legs, particularly the front right leg (for a right hander) as a sliding rest could be placed in the leg T-track at exactly the right height to support a long board held in the face vise to the left...... Such a T-track is less likely to hold on to the dust and shavings (though it might get glue-splashed).

   ******
   T-track and the many gubbins that can be slid into and along it are useful for all sorts, I'm discovering. I intend to incorporate a length along a panel gauge I'm making to hold sliding panel markers as well as to lock the gauge's fence assembly in place when using it as a marking gauge.

   But on a woodworking bench top ..... the traditional solutions (dogs and so forth) seem a better way to go.

   Lataxe

2. 
   planewood1 | Dec 18, 2020 07:19am | #2

   Marty,
   In theory, your concept for embedding the "T-track" into the face of the deadman should work well. I've seen the same concept used on the apron on a "Nicholson" workbench. The angled peg holes were replaced with the "T" track. The track dado was stopped near the benchtop surface to avoid showing the metal and to avoid the dust and chips that Lataxe speaks of. The builder says it works very well. The traditionalist will not like the look of it, but functionally, it's clever 😉. I'm a handtool guy, and I'm testing this out on my Nicholson this winter. One downside I see is that you know exactly what peg hole to use to support a board (as you get used to your bench). With the hold down sliding up and down in the track, it might take some getting used to for a while.

   Planewood1

3. 
   _mj_ | Dec 18, 2020 07:20am | #3

   It will work, but it seems like a more expensive and complicated way to get there and not quite as solid. I think you'll have threadmarks on an edge at some point.

   I had a boss years ago that would have walked away mumbling "whatever's hardest".

4. 
   john_c2 | Dec 18, 2020 08:30am | #4

   What those guys said.

   It will work fine for some things, but you'll be limited by the fixed location of the track. A sliding deadman offers a much broader range of lengths and widths.

   Worst case scenario, you can fill your deadman groove in with a dutchman.

5. 
   martyk | Dec 18, 2020 01:17pm | #5

   Thanks to all for your comments. Lat Axe, I think you might have misunderstood the concept, thinking that the T-track would be on the bench top. That's wrong. Your suggestion of putting T-track in the bench leg is closer to my idea. (See drawing below) So I am left with the notion of how it will look, and the possibility of thread marks on the edge of a board. I am mostly concerned with the look - a hunk of metal on the front of my wood bench. But then, my vise has metal, too. Rather than blue T-track I could use plain aluminum to soften the look.

   
1. 
   lat_axe | Dec 18, 2020 02:03pm | #6

   Martyk,

   Yes, I got carried away with going-on about the T-track on bench tops, as one comes across it all over the place these days. But, as you described in your original post, you yourself are only concerned with the deadman.

   The T-track on a deadman (or on a bench leg) would work in providing a place to lodge a board-supporting pegger of some kind - perhaps also some other useful gubbins. But would it be any better than the traditional options of dog holes & dogs; or a-one of those wooden hook-wedges?

   Perhaps its just a matter of taste but I feel a deadman clad with a T-track, as in your sketch, would just look .... wrong. On the other hand, the gubbins in the track doesn't have to be that clamper you posted the photo off. It could be something more like a dog. I'm sure I've seen various T-track stops that are basically round, square or hook-shaped dogs that'll tighten down anywhere in the track, perhaps at a useful angle.

   And your point about the T-track "dog" being better able to be exactly placed (rather than in a fixed-position dog hole) is a good point.

   Lataxe

6. 
   esch5995 | Dec 19, 2020 08:39am | #7

   An alternative to the hold down clamp, and it's potential thread marks, would be a block of wood rabbeted on 2 sides to leave a small protrusion. The protrusion would index in the t-track and be drilled for the t-bolt and could be tightened in an infinite number of positions. Using this method your work piece would only contact wood, no threads.

   If for some reason you feel you need clamping ability, rather than just support on your deadman, you could install 2 t-tracks one with a block and one with the clamp. Then just keep the clamp slightly below the wood support block and your work piece would never come in contact with the bolt.

7. 
   Kudzu | Dec 24, 2020 09:27am | #8

   Problem I see, at least for me, is I use a dead man with larger pieces that can unwieldy. I can place my part on the traditional rest, clamp the it in the vice quickly. I never clamp the dead man end... well extremely rarely.

   With this it looks like you could struggle to clamp longer and/or heavy pieces on your dead man, trying to adjust the height and then clamp it tight while trying to support a long piece. To me it looks like it is complicating, not improving a proven method. Not against new ways if they are better but I see no advantage here.

   A traditional one is going to be faster and easier than dealing with a sliding clamp.

8. 
   Mayor_of_Atlantis | Dec 30, 2020 12:32pm | #9

   The first thing I thought of about this idea when I saw the picture of the Rockler clamp is that my leg/knee would now have to worry about being accidentally "poked" by the all-thread protruding out of the clamp. Ouch!

   Also when releasing the clamp you would have to further manage it and retighten it after removing and handling the workpiece so it doesn't inadvertently slide down to the bottom of the T-track. Not efficient.

   No doubt the sliding Rockler clamp would hold a workpiece extra securely but that usually is the job of the front vise when using a deadman. I use a deadman when edge jointing or refining with a handplane and also when I need to hold a door on edge to make hinge mortises. Neither of these tasks have ever needed extra clamping at the deadman when I used it.

   I've attached a couple of recent pictures of my bench holding a piece while I refined the edge with a smoother. The third picture is of the bench only displaying how the deadman can slide along the leg rail to whatever length of support I need. I just slide in a wooden peg (top chamfered!) into one of the holes at the height needed for the workpiece.