Drilling dogholes

[woof]

Hello all,
Some advice please. I am in the process of building a new workbench and have my top still cut as 16-18 lengths of 48mm x 78mm beech to glue together. I thought to drill dog holes in 2-4 of these before glueing together - however I have been putting this off as I am not sure what bit is best? A Forstner bit like Fisch-wave 3/4 inch? But foresters tend to get hot and clogged for deep cut and may well blunt very quickly - plus are there any out there that will go through nearly 80mm beech? I was thinking of going this route of drilling the dog holes as have a pillar drill, but searching on here I see others have used routers. Advice please!
Thanks in advance, Mark

 

[AndyT]

An auger bit in a brace worked for me. After assembly.

 

[Stu_2]

+1 for the auger bit. For material that thick, you're not going to be able to use a router.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

The auger in the brace worked for me, too. About 3/4" (19mm) is about the biggest you can comfortably turn with a 10" brace in beech, and even that's fairly hard work.

As you're laminating up, another alternative might be square (or slightly rectangular) dog holes. Two sawcuts, then clear the waste between them. A row of those down one strip, once it's laminated to it's mates, and you've got a row of rectangular dog holes.

 

[Mrwilson]

That's tomorrows job for me. Planning using an auger bit in a portable drill stand with the drill turned round 180deg. and the stand clamped to the bench. Once I've drilled one I'll use the holdfast clamp to hold the stand for doing the rest.

Sounds simple, we'll see.

Shug

 

[Doug B]

I'd go down the router route to start the holes, if you can make a 50mm deep plunged hole with a router this will be perfectly straight & square to the surface. Then finish off the hole with an auger bit which will be kept square by the routered hole.


Edit, not a good idea to use an auger bit in a drill stand.

 

[AndyT]

For anyone preferring to use an electric drill, this video from professional bench builder Richard Maguire may be useful. He demonstrates a simple aid to drilling the holes at right angles to the bench.

http://www.theenglishwoodworker.com/?p=1552

 

[Mr T]

Not sure if the OP says he has or hasn't a pillar drill. We use a pillar drill with a forstner bit. If you take the cut in stages so that you don't get too much waste stuck round the top you should be able to go the full depth of the bit. On the course, because the stroke of the drill is not long enough, we use templates to locate the holes and drill from both sides, using a slightly larger bit from below to allow for any slight misalignment.

I used to cut square dog holes as Cheshirechappie suggested. I like the square wooden dogs, but it does limit you slightly as a lot of accessories are designed for 3/4 inch holes.

I would say an auger in a pillar drill or drill stand is a definite no no.

Chris

 

[Mrwilson]

I'm curious as to why an auger bit shouldn't be used in a drill stand? Festool for one, make a drill stand attachment for their use and surely mortising bits are just auger bits inside a chisel?

Shug

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Drill a 19mm hole in a piece of gash 4" x 2" in your press - Use a 19mm auger in a battery drill and put it on your mark before tightening down the scrap. The hole in the scrap keeps the bit vertical.
The reason for being wary of an auger in a stand is the speed at which it pulls itself in - the auger in a morticer chisel doesn't pull at anything like the speed, it just clears chips.

 

[deema]

Have you considered square dog holes? There are a number of advantages to them and with the bench top not assembled they are cut into the side of the stuff that is to be glued to its neighbours. You can create a simple template for your router or cut them by hand. Normally they should tilt about 5 degrees towards the piece to be clamped that way as the pressure comes on they stand up right (round ones not drilled at a slight angle will tilt backwards when pressure is applied) traditionally the dog would have a fatter section at the top which is accommodated in the recess in the bench. This allows the dog to be pushed down and sit flush with the bench top without going through. Very useful.

 

[woof]

Great some interesting suggestions. Yes I do have a pillar drill but was concerned that the forester bits (I need to buy the right size) would not be long enough to go all the way through. Like the idea of starting with a router - but I have to confess I don't have a brace and auger! Still maybe it is time to get one? Thanks all

 

[woof]

Thanks Deema - only I do already have a number of hold downs and dogs already from my small bench that are round, otherwise this approach would give a really neat cut as you say.

 

[bugbear]

I'm curious as to why an auger bit shouldn't be used in a drill stand? Festool for one, make a drill stand attachment for their use and surely mortising bits are just auger bits inside a chisel?

It's not augers that are the problem, it's lead screws. Lead screws and power drive are not a happy combination.

Of course, most augers have lead screws, and few other bits have them (modern centre bits are the only ones
I can think of).

BugBear

 

[Mrwilson]

That's the only thing I could think of so I'll grind the threads off the point of one of my bits and try that.

I did notice when I made a clamp rack the other day that if I was hesitant at all then the bit tried to lift the work piece off the pillar drill table but once started everything was ok and assumed that was the reason.

Pretty new to all this and trying to adapt metal working/engineering tactics to woodworking, sometimes with more success than others.

Thanks for that.

Shug

 

[Paul Chapman]

These dog hole bushings from Veritas are great. Don't know if they are available over here yet http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.a ... at=51&ap=1

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Yes they look good, but why spend the money for a one off job? An accurate hole in a piece of scrap works perfectly well.

 

[DTR]

Another vote here for using a hand brace and auger

 

[dp341]

I used a 19mm armeg wood beaver bit in a good quality battery drill for a lot of holes in 4" pine. Very clean cut, very quick. Just used a piece of scrap with a hole on it to keep them straight.

 

[DiscoStu]

I'm looking at doing this for an MFT style too but I think I've decided to get it CNC'd as I want it to be 100% square. I also want a channel cut in it for T Track and again with CNC I can get this 100% square. I think it depends on how accurate you want things.