oversize round bench dogs (or how I messed up my new not yet finished workbench)

Make some wooden ones out of 7/8 dowells and glue a square block on top. A 7/9” dowell will hold a lot of pressure.

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

I was thinking along that line also. I also saw a wooden dog on the net with a bullet catch in the side that holds it in what ever position you place it.I guess all is not lost as I first thought when I discovered the error. Now if I can just get over the hardship of looking at those wrong size holes every time I use the bench.

Quebecnewf

I agree with Karson, wood also won’t damage your planes if accidently planing over aggressively.

-- Ciao, gth.

If you have a lathe you can make them in one piece. I made traditional square ones for my table out of oak and made wooden spring tabs to keep them in place where needed. I use them when planing or scraping. It keeps the tools safe.

-- Oldworld, Fair Oaks, Ca

Well, you could buy a 7/8” dowel, fill the hole, amd try again… If you found or made the dowel out of a contrasting wood, you could claim it was made that way on purpose.

You might also be able to find a machine shop to make some brass sleeves and press them on to your bench dogs.

I don’t have a lathe but a woodworker I know would turn me some I’m sure. I have some iroko that would make great dogs I think. It is very hard.

Quebecnewf

I would go wooden. Your other option would be to plug the holes and re-drill. You may also want to do some searching for some 22mm bench dogs as the conversion to metric may work to your advantange. It might open your options some.

Wash in very hot water and 20 minutes in the dryer and the 3/4” should fit fine :)

Seriously, I would use wooden dogs, weld my own hold downs from 7/8” steel bar or plug the holes and start again. I think I would feel worse about plugging and drilling again because then the mistake is highlighted every time you look at it. If you live with the 7/8”, you can always say you designed it like that or probably more likely nobody will ever notice and you will soon forget about it and realize how clever you were not to go with those standard skinny 3/4 metals dogs anyway.

The problem is the solution!

-- Steve, New Zealand, www.steveracz.com

You can also drill the 3/4” holes to 7/8 and then they would all be the same. Unless of course you’ve also purchased the 3/4 brass dogs.

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

Redrill them all at 7/8” or even 1”, fill them with some nice looking hardwood dowel, then redrill them at 3/4” Then watch the oohs and ahs over the inlaid dog holes on your bench.:-)

-- Use the fence Luke

you could also cut out the board that you drilled wrong and add a new board. [assuming that the holes run lengthwise along the grain. I would try to find some 3/4” brass pipe and make inserts to hold the dogs.

-- hey honey! watch this!

Doug made a good point, especially if you are building one of those “fancy benches”.

-- Ciao, gth.