Bench Dogs

Cool! how are the catches secured to the dowel?

Very practical doggies there Fritz.

-- Grumpy - "Always look on the bright side of life"- Monty Python

Friction mjlauro. I slightly underdrilled the hole and pounded them in with a hammer.

-- Fritz Oakland, Ca http://www.muegenburg.com (dedicated to my other hobby)

Right on, I need a bunch of these! Thanks for posting this and the link… a lot of people could use as many of these laying around as possible.

-- --Chuck

Where did you get your ball catches, Fritz? I’d actually found that article just a week or two ago and was looking for them to make some of my own…

-- Ethan, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Ethan – I got them at Woodcraft. $9.99 for a bag of 10.

Item (A) – Bullet Catch – 1/4” Diameter

http://www.woodcraft.com/family.aspx?FamilyID=1034

-- Fritz Oakland, Ca http://www.muegenburg.com (dedicated to my other hobby)

Thanks for posting this Fritz! Not 20 minutes ago, I was pondering building something like this. I hadn’t seen the article yet though, but figured it had to be doable ;)

And nice choice on the walnut. No reason your bench dogs shouldn’t look good, right? ;)

-- "Give me your poor tools, your tired steel, your huddled masses of rust." Yep, I ripped off the Statue of Liberty. That's how I roll!

Nice. Adds a little flair to the shop.
Good looking slab ‘O walnut there also.

-- Stevethepeeve -- I'm no rocket surgeon

Very nice I want to make some! Where did you get ball catches 10 for $9.99 I checked around and could not find that good of a price?

-- Only the Shadow knows....................

John – See my previous post. Woodcraft.

-- Fritz Oakland, Ca http://www.muegenburg.com (dedicated to my other hobby)

Excellent idea! I need some of those.

-- Check out my new website! http://www.blakeweberwoodworking.com

yeah, a winner. I need some too Blake

-- DocK, WV

Ah, blessed me. Another reason to go to Woodcraft! :)

Thanks, Fritz!

Of course… for those of you who like to think BIG, there is a great deal to be had here:

Lee Valley Bullet Catches

They have limited quantities, so who knows how long they’ll last. We’ll probably know who buys them, however, by looking for the guy who starts a forum trying to sell packages of 10 bullet catches without plates in ziplock bags… Or maybe the guy who has 90 shop-made bench dogs for sale.

-- Ethan, http://greystonegreen.blogspot.com/

Great idea. Thanks for the details. I gotta drill those holes.

-- -John "Do I have to keep typing a smiley? Just assume it's a joke." www.flickr.com/photos/gizmodyne

Great job. Nice. I bought 40 of these from a web wood store and they sent 40 packages. The price and description was wrong on the web site.

-- What happens in the workshop stays in the workshop. No wait that doesn't sound right. Karson Southern Delaware karson_morrison@bigfoot.com †

Good idea, but sorry, a little hard to notice the bench dogs laying next to the pile of fluffy shaving from your cabinet scraper. That is one well tuned hook you put on that thing, I’m impressed.

-- Thuan

I just stumbled upon this post….way cool I’ve been choking on buying dogs and here you suggested a perfectly simple effective alternative…I love Lumberjocks and the wealth of info!!

I bought a whole bunch of the LV bullet catches w/o plates thinking “I’ll find a use for them some day”, today is the day! Thanks for the post!

-- ...it's rennovation time!!!

I know you posted this a long time ago, but if you happen to check back in on the thread, I would appreciate an answer to one question. Do the bullet catches simply hold in the hole by friction or did you somehow notch the dog hole out to accomodate the ball?

thoggard: I set the ball catch into a 1/4” hole in the side of the dog, then hammered it in so the small flange on the catch was pressed flushed with the side of the 3/4” dowel. Maintaining that 3/4” diameter allows the dog to slip into the holes on my bench and the ball retracts and is held in place by friction from the ball only. No notching means i can set it at any position in the hole.

-- Fritz Oakland, Ca http://www.muegenburg.com (dedicated to my other hobby)

FritzM,

thanks for posting, man. i, too, have been choked up over the price of dogs, but this fixes all. great post!

~isaac

-- "Who but a fool would discard seeminly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent engineering" -- Aldo Leopold

Nothing but top quality projects from you : ) Thank you and Happy Holidays to you and yours !

-- You know you're getting old when you know the difference between you're (you are) and your (belonging to you) AND how to use them in a sentence .

I had almost settled on square holes for my bench project till I saw this. Awesome idea. Thanks for posting.

Mart