has anyone out there used wedges for bench work rather than vises? In watching router workshop i’ve noticed they use wedges to hold parts to be routered. i’d like to explore that option and make a simple but solid bench that uses wedges and that iron hold down, the name of which escapes me at the moment, and just keep it simple but effective. i suppose mounting a vise on one end or the other is in the realm of simple but i’m intrigued by making it as simple as possible. my wife says simple would work for me and no my name is not simon! give me some feedback, I’d like to know if anyone has tried it.
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Bob,
I put a cheap 'Pony' vise on the end of my bench for holding flat stock that needs planing, etc. with dog holds on the other end. Recently, however, I built the small workbench(featured on home page here) and am using wedges and iron holddown for working thin stock....we'll see how it goes. Last months FWW jacket cover(only on home delivery copy of FWW) they featured a end stop for the workbench that Christian B. uses up in Maine....just an adjustable thin strip of wood held on to the end of the bench with lag/screw bolts and wing nuts...works well.
My thought is to work out details on small bench before appling larger bench.
Yes, I frequently use dogs & wedges to hold work for carving. Works fine, although I have to re-tighten the wedges frequently, as the blows of the mallet tend to cause them to loosen. Low-angle wedges, about 4 degrees, work best. Advantages: nothing sticking up to get in the way; fast; non-marring; workpiece is flat on table; cheaper than a vise; nothing to install. Disadvantage: doesn't hold as well as a vise; tendency to work loose.
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." A. Einstein
http://www.albionworks.net
I use wedges to hold work flat on my bench while planing. I saw something like this in Landis' workbench book. The grey is the workpiece, small circles are benchdogs. Planing in one direction tightens, and pushing the other direction removes the work.
I don't know where I picked up the ideal of wedges but I have a basket full of various sizes - - I uses them often for glue-ups - - especially when I don't have enough clamps for a particular application. I have an old desk top I use for glue ups - - and lay the form on the desk top, screw down a few blocks around the form - - then use wedges between the blocks and the form to apply the pressure (in place of clamps) it's a great way to alleviate racking
I'd sure love to see some pictures of these set-ups in action. This thread will be a great one for future reference!
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Another proud member of the "I Rocked With ToolDoc Club" .... :>)
Bob:
Yes, I have done this some (home workshop). I use a vise for a single board or for jointing edges, however for holding large pieces (especially flat pieces) the dogs and wedges get used.
One use for this is surfacing large panels (such as tabletops, but I also use it for single boards). I have also used this for edge-gluing tabletops where there were not enough clamps that were long enough (or 'tabletop-like things', since I haven't made many tabletops).
Another reason is if I am using a router on a small workpiece, or skilsaw where I do not want to worry about hitting metal parts. As long as all the parts are wood, and the cuts I make won't upset the stability of the wedging (i.e. it won't let go when cut). I am happier cutting into wedges and dogs than saying 'Oops, there goes the router contacting the cast-iron of the vise'.
Wedges and dogs are good for holding odd-shaped (non-square) pieces.
Sometimes single wedge, sometimes double wedges (opposed).
Refinements I have found useful (not that I have all of them):
Dog height and wedge thickness should be close to but less than the workpiece height. Sometimes you might work on 3" stock, sometimes 3/4" stock, I need different wedges to do this well. I have wedges that are 1½" thick and some that are ½" thick. If the wedge is thicker than the stock, I run into it with the plane or it interferes with something else (base of router or circ.saw, for example); if it is too short, it tends to make the workpiece jump up off the table, or if gluing pieces together, they 'buck up' off the table.
You can also finesse the wedges by slanting the side to bear on the topmost portion - farthest from the benchtop - if ou want. This can help keep the workpiece under control.
Dogs should ideally be at height of top-of-wedge-thickness.
For dogs I am using tapered round or square wood pegs in 7/8" holes. These are good because they can be used in all directions, but you have to make sure they are hammered in tight depending how tight you want the workpiece held. These have to be the right height when hammered in - there's no secret, just make a thousand dogs and a bunch of them will come out right. They are disposable. Holes are liberally sprinkled across the workbench top, most spaced at 8", with a second set offset by 2", ... it's complicated.
Re-tightening the wedges has to be done (whack whack), also the dogs sometimes. One irritation is getting the dogs out of the workbench afterward if they're jammed tight: pry with chisel, knock loose from underneath if it can be reached, occasionally hammer it down into the tabletop and forget about it. Haven't yet drilled one out, but if I need to re-use those holes....
Cheers, Chris.
Years ago, I read about the wedges/dogs technique, thought it was interesting.
So I made up a collection of wedges, and tried them out for awhile.
Gave them up and went back to he vise system -- which I thought was a whole lot more secure and dependable.
It is easy enough to make some wedges and give them a try; they work just fine for lots of folks.
Bob, the iron holddown is called a holdfast, old as pinchdogs but just as serviceable.I have used them but do not own any. As for the wedges, I use the vice and dogs but wedges can be used as effectively as any way.
mike
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