Replies

1. 
   roc | May 07, 2012 06:33am | #1

   Nah, Nah, Nah, nah, nah

   dude,

   "Real" dog holes a'nah round . . . they are rectangular and at about a three degree angle . . . toward the middle of the bench.  Any nancy boy knows that.

   :   )

   Them round ones are just for sellin' magazines and funny "tools" in catalogs to the tourists if yah know what I mean.

   You won't catch Frank Klausz or James Krenov, up in Heaven, God rest his kantankorous soul , using them round things.

   Nah dude nah.

   :   )

   
1. 
   brownman | May 07, 2012 11:37am | #3

   thats an awful pretty workbench you have there Roc man ! A better reply would have been to show me a picture of how nicely your square dog holes work, not how pretty they look !  I'm going to be nice an assume that this picture was taken right after you built this bench since there are no indications that it has been used. My round dog holes are working just fine and I like using my Gramercy tools hold fasts. They work very well and better if the dog holes are perfectly straight through the bench top.  Roc man,  I think it's time dude, to follow the current woodworking Guru's of the present and not those ancient dead ones sitting at the great workbench in Heaven. And I'm judging by your written accent that your probably from the east coast ! We do woodworking the modern way out here on the west coast, so nah, nah , nah, nah. Hey surfs up man , gotta go !

1. 
   roc | May 08, 2012 12:53am | #4

   Ha, ha, ha

   Thanks for being nice.

   It is all in good fun.  Around here and other woodworking circles round dogs and rectangular dogs is about the same as arguing Ford verses Chevy.

   Did I use the bench ?  Do I use the bench ?  I guess you over looked the planes and shavings.  Don't over look subtleties you may be surprised at what you find.  See photos.  That table is bubinga and weighs in close to three hundred pounds.  All hand dimensioned and jointed and finish planed on the purple heart work bench.  Look at all the curls in the photos.  I am up to my tassel loafers in shavings.  It is just terrible.  I can't shovel the stuff out of the shop fast enough.  I pay a kid to come in after school and all he does is shovel shavings out of the shop for me while I work !

   :   )

   Yah the bench has been used a little dab.  Mostly though I just sit around it and serve tea to little old ladies with it.

   To quote Frank , from his article in FWW mag a few years ago (only about thirty years ) on building this bench "I didn't design this bench, it has been refined for a thousand years. There is nothing I can do to improve it.  I just built it as well as I could and use it ".

   If you look at his bench after all this time it looks nearly like the day he built it.  Like a well cared for piece of fine furniture.  After all that IS what it is.

   A master is the master of his tools and a master at caring for furniture made from wood. Why does the bench have to look trashed ? As he says "The bench is my business card.  The bench is what people see when they come into my shop.  I want it to represent me and my craft.  I put my best foot forward ".

   Oh ( and I say this with tung in cheek ) I am located in Colorado and so perfectly balanced between East and West.

   :   )

   PS: if you think I didn't carefully investigate ALL the bench options (including round and rectangular dogs ) before choosing and building a Klausz / classic cabinet makers bench with SUPERIOR rectangular canted dogs then you underestimate the care and time I put into my education.  If you are building cabinetry with hand tools in the traditional way there simply is nothing better.

   Be careful with those routers and I look forward to seeing your future posts and work.

   
1. 
   wericha | May 08, 2012 10:09am | #5

   Thanks for the overview

   roc,

   I was going to ask for some pictures of that bench, I'm in awe.  Thanks for posting those.  I'll be in Colorado in the next few weeks and I'd like to stop by and drool on it for a few minutes if you don't mind.

   Good point about the bench being your business card.  I've taken it a little further by advocating folks take the same care and concern for when building things like router tables and other shop accessories.  Kinda hard to talk about your quality of work when you're standing next to a crude plywood and 2x4 bench.

   Is it appropriate to bring gifts for the bench?  Gold, frankincense, or myrrh?

1. 
   roc | May 09, 2012 05:41am | #7

   As Promised

   . . .

   
2. 
   brownman | May 09, 2012 12:23am | #6

   Roc man ! Nice to see more pictures of your "Pretty" work bench. Absolutely beautiful ! You must have spent a fortune on the exotic lumber. I wouldn't want to work on it either ! I also did a little research on round vrs square dog holes and went with the round, mostly because it seemed easier to do. I've been woodworking for almost 25 years now and decided it was time to make a new workbench. One that actually had a front  and tail vise and dog holes on it, since the one I have been using didn't have any of these. Probably because I  recently, within the last few years,  started getting more into the use of hand tools. Going from Normite to Luddite is not an easy process! I have a very nicely equipped shop with lots of  power tools, up to and including a 110" horizontal panel saw and an 18" wide belt sander. So since I'm probably always going to use both hand and power tools I made a workbench that would cater to both. I'll probably post a pictue here soon as it's about 99.9% complete. I've been mostly a serious hobbyist for most of the 25 years , but when I retired from UPS six years ago  I decided to start doing some work for hire, mostly cabinets and built in's. I got my interest in cabinets since I deilvered to several cabinet shops when I was working.

    I use to post on this site a few years back , but when they went through their revision I seemed to lose interest, as many did. So I guess with this series of posts I'm offically back. So are all the regulars stiil posting on here like Lataxe, Will George, Sarge and the like? I've posted a few times on Mr Spagnolas site( The Wood Whiperer) a few times but it seems to be frequented by to many beginning woodworkers, with not much experience. It's nice to have a new online woodworking friend and I'll try and get some pictures up soon so you can have a peak at my new workbench. It's definitely not old school since my hand tool skills and attitude isn't quite where yours are yet. It's a mix of old and new with more of a modern lean. For a quick preview, the top is not even solid wood.  The core is  four 3/4" panels of baltic birch ply glued up on a commercial press and run through a commercial wide belt sander for even truer flatness. I went with this for lasting stability and flatness. I told you I went modern ! I short of cheated I guess ! It's mounted on a Noden height adjustable base. Has mobility too. I did manage to find a 37 year old ,quick release, Columbian front vise in mint condition on e bay. And sorry once again, but my tail vise is also the newest BenchCrafted sliding one. I'll leave the rest for pictures to tell . I too look forward to occasionally chatting with you , my new found woodoworking friend. I also have children living there in Colorado so you never know I might be by for a visit one day, and to be honest I live about 20 miles from the ocean here in San Diego and have never really surfed other than body and boggey board. It is nice living somewhat close to the beach , but it seems we don't get there as often as we'd like. Nice to here back from you !

1. 
   roc | May 09, 2012 05:52am | #8

   Modern Man

   In '81 I spent a week in San Diego.  I slept on the beach every night and bummed around during the day.  Had a great time !  Even saw Ram Dass ( Harvard's Dr. Richard Alpert ) giving a lecture in the City.

   The restaurants are a little different there too.  With no shirt on I read a menu in a window, the proprietor of the restaurant said "Come in "  "Sit down".

   I slept down the beach on the sand around the bend out of view of the beach police below a cliff off Mission Blvd.  Little transparent pink crickets would jump in my mouth while I snored.  Not sure what they were.  I call them beach hoppers.

   Glad there wasn't a tsunami or odd tide.

    > So are all the regulars stiil posting on here like Lataxe, Will George, Sarge and the like?<

   Nah they got tired of listening to me go on and on about my funny purple work bench and left.

   :   )

   Can't blame 'em really.

2. 
   wericha | May 07, 2012 09:20am | #2

   Bad idea

   A couple of red flags right off the bat:

   The router's RPMs are way too high for a drill bit.  If you can use a speed control to lower them sufficiently, you risk serious damage to the router motor.

   Drill bits, by design, want to dig into the work.  If the bit grabs and pulls, you'll possibly have a beast of a router destroying your top.  Not to mention any damage it might do to you.

   Stay with the drill motor, or a brace and bit.  Its much safer and far less risk to you and your bench.

3. 
   Saville | May 10, 2012 09:59am | #9

   Haven't used a router but............

   ...when it came time to drill 2 rows of 3/4" dog holes in my benchtop (4" of birch), I chucked a 3/4" augur bit in my brace, set the 4" square next to the spot  (blade up) for each hole, and drilled away.  I kept my eyes on the square and the bit stayed normal to the benchtop.  The augur bit is plenty long, and plenty quiet.