# 3/4" vs 20mm



## JimNEB (Dec 31, 2009)

I'm looking at building a new work table and trying to decide on weather to go with 3/4" holes on a 4" grid or the 20mm holes on a 96mm grid. Any thoughts, pros and cons would be welcome.
Thanks


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

Jim, have you seen the Ron Paulk workbench video?


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## JimNEB (Dec 31, 2009)

MT-That was what got me thinking about putting a grid on it. I'm just not sure weather to go 20mm or 3/4". I don't know if it will even make a difference.


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## Loco (Aug 11, 2013)

You going to use wood dowels as pegs or aluminum ( the correct way) ?
I'd use a 13/16 spade bit( take a belt sander to a 7/8 bit if you want it tighter) and buy 20 MM aluminum rounds.
Here. I'll save you some time ;-)~
http://www.orangealuminum.com/round-rods.html


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

@Jim - How thick will your table be?

My table is 2 inches thick and has some 3/4 inch holes drilled in it. The Festool style clamps will not fit through the holes because of the thickness.

The work area of my miter saw station has 3/4 inch holes drilled in it. The clamps work just fine. The clamps I am using are the ones that are part of the track saw package from Grizzly so they are doing double duty for me.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

I built a fixture table for bending. I used 7/8" holes on 4" 
centers. 1/2" pipe will fit in 7/8" holes. I welded washer
flanges onto short lengths of pipe. A 1/2" bolt can be put 
though to clamp the pipe down if needed.


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## JimNEB (Dec 31, 2009)

Good ideas…
I 'm thinking of laminating a piece of 3/4" mdf and 1/2 mdf for the cabinet top with about a 4" area underneath that I can use as a downdraft table also.
I've been looking at some of the products from qwas corp to use with my table…


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

"I 'm thinking of laminating a piece of 3/4" mdf and 1/2 mdf for the cabinet top with about a 4" area underneath that I can use as a downdraft table also."

Jim, i am not sure if the Festool style clamps will work on a table thicker than 3/4 inch.


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## Dutchy (Jun 18, 2012)

Why don,t you do both. To me it likes possible.


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## JimNEB (Dec 31, 2009)

Thanks Mike, I didn't know that. Gives me something to consider.


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## JimNEB (Dec 31, 2009)

Dutchy, my Dutch is non-existant. I do know a smattering of German though.

I hadn't thought of doing both, nice idea. I'll look into how that might work.
Thanks


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## gtbuzz (Sep 19, 2011)

I'm kind of in the same boat as you. Looking at building a table that's compatible with the 20mm MFT dogs that I've got, but I don't really want to go all 20mm since it's harder to find stateside and can be quite expensive compared to the 3/4" stuff.

The idea that I'm leaning towards right now is alternating rows of 3/4" and 20mm holes. The grid will be based on imperial units rather than metric though. I figure it would be really wonky to have rows where the centerline doesn't quite line up.


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## MT_Stringer (Jul 21, 2009)

I would like to see pics of what y'all come up with. Since my table is almost 2 inches thick, I drilled out the useless 3/4" holes with a 7/8 inch bit. I haven't had the need to use them yet but could change shortly. I have some 1/2 inch Bessey pipe clamps. The 1/2 inch pipe will fit through the hole. Also, I have several of th drill press vie grip type clamps. Ace hardware had some 12mm threaded rod so I bought a couple couplers and the rod. Now I can set the clamps up in any of the holes for assembly jobs.

Another option is to cut the knob off the end of f style bar clamps and insert part of it up through the table from the bottom and mount the clamp handle on it.

My miter saw station has the 3/4 inch holes and the clamps really work well. Need to use the pocket hole jig. No problem, just clamp it in place and git after it!


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## Dutchy (Jun 18, 2012)

Gutentag Jim,

I don,t know if you are still thinking, but maybe you are happy with this drawing:








Please let me know If you like a auto CAD drawing.

Succes


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## JimNEB (Dec 31, 2009)

Dutchy,
I like that thanks!


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## Chrislee (Dec 22, 2020)

Hi Dutchy, l'm new here, but thought I'd ask anyway  Could I please get a CAD drawing of your MFT top?

Thanks
Chris


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## therealSteveN (Oct 29, 2016)

I would think it will come down to what you plan for the top, and if you intend to make, or buy premade the holding devices, clamps and whatnot you plan to use on it. In the USA there is a lot more available to use in 3/4" than 20mm, with the expensive green tools being the most available 20mm stuff. Everyone else is on 3/4"


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