round dogs

[thefischbowl]

After looking at the prices of round dogs, I am thinking about building my own 3/4 inch dogs. I think I will try to use a 3/4 inch dowel. However, the round dogs that I see in the store all have some sort of metal spring or clip to provide the tension. I was wondering if any of you have built your own round dogs. If you have, what do you do to create the tension to hold the round dog in place? I'd be interested in hearing any suggestions or seeing any pictures you might have.

[jwatson]

ok so i used aluminum bar stock and created a flat spot on the top and didnt do much else because it seems to hold for now. If you want to put a spring on it a guy i know on lumberjocks did something like what you want http://lumberjocks.com/projects/29375

I like round dog holes as well.

[JohnnyNoName]

After looking at the prices of round dogs, I am thinking about building my own 3/4 inch dogs. I think I will try to use a 3/4 inch dowel. However, the round dogs that I see in the store all have some sort of metal spring or clip to provide the tension. I was wondering if any of you have built your own round dogs. If you have, what do you do to create the tension to hold the round dog in place? I'd be interested in hearing any suggestions or seeing any pictures you might have.

You might not want to use store-bought dowels. I made a bench dog from a store-bought 3/4" dowel before. Long story short, it doesn't stay in all of the holes. The dowel was just a tiny bit smaller then the 3/4" hole my forestner bit made. Kari Hultman has a good post on how to make your own dowels by hand. Make sure that you read the comments, because readers offer up their own methods too. Personally I like using the planing method. I have had pretty good success on larger dowels. I think that the edges on a planed dowel help prevent the dogs from slipping/turning. Chuck bender had a good article on how to do in Popular Woodworking a couple of months ago.

Jonathan

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[mds2]

I need to drill some dog holes in my bench and I am planning on using some 3/4" bolts for my bench dogs.

[RenaissanceWW]

You can get little ball catch hardware at the big box stores for a couple bucks. Barring that you can buy it from Lee Valley. Now all you need do is drill a matching hold in the body of the dowel and insert the ball catch. Now saw a flat notch in the top of the dog, preferably at a slight angle and you are done. If you are feeling really crazy you can put leather on the face.

[nateswoodworks]

I have the ball catches like Shannon is talking about and they work well-depending on the hardness of the wood on you have for your bench top. Mine is birch and I have no problems but on a softer wood they will just dig in. As for making dowels if you want a perfect fit and don't have a lathe Rob Cosman just posted a very slick technique over on his pay site. For $20 a month you get at least 4hrs of video. His knowledge in hand tools is unsurpassed by anything I have seen on the web IMHO, I am just one very happy customer. Shannon has a stie as well at http://www.handtoolschool.net/ Robs site if your interested, http://robcosman.memberlodge.com/ He also has a power and handtool section but I am not a member.

[thefischbowl]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I might try to make some with the wooden spring clip and some with the ball catch, just to see which seems to work better. I'll post the results when I am done. If you have any other suggestions for making dogs, please feel free to post them in the meantime.