Speaking of square.. to minimise the margin of error - always measure (and in this particular case, plugging guide stems) as far away from each other as possible! The outcome of this as a standard procedure is enormous! Kind regards Anders Sweden
That's my plan as well. Layout is the most important first step in order to not have them interfere with under-the-top construction and/or hardware like rails, legs, vice hardware and/or guide rails/screw, etc.
To ensure straight spade bit holes make a disk with a diameter equal to that of the spade bit. Make a hole in the disk center equal to the diameter of the spade bit shank. Put the disk on the spade bit before putting the bit into the drill. Start drilling. Let the disk fall into the hole as the spade bit drills deep enough. The disk will force the bit to drill straight. 🙂🙂
very cool,someone figured out the math to do a DIY parf jig, and you made it easy to understand, thanx, i'm gonna go make one now, i think i'm gonna cut up some aluminium strips instead of wood
I especially appreciate the detail of pinning (with the upside down drill bits) your guide to your bench before marking/drilling the rest of the holes; and later with the hold downs. And the 3-4-5 trick with 2 identical guides was great!
Hey, Mac, keep making videos. You have nice technique and it is fun to see someone who isn't using really expensive tools. I like your "garage shop" motif.
I have saved this video to use as my guide to maling some dog holes. I have seen so many which do not actually explain the practical methods of spacing and drilling them. This is awesome. I was already aware of the 3:4:5 ratio maths, and have decided to use it to get the double door frame for my workshop conversion perfectly square before installing it.
Happy to see folks appling ancient geometry/trigonometry to jigs. Consider using the auger bit or spade bit at a smaller diameter just to remove material, then the correct forstner bit to shape the final.hole without overheating it. .
Concerning the hole spacing, if you have a bench vise, the spacing back from the vice should be less than its travel. This is the most important rule, so much so that even if you don't have a vice, you should research them thoughtfully and decide which one you would install if the day ever came. Holes placed transversely along the bench should align with the centerline of the vice, and it's useful to have a row of holes in line with the corners of the vice. That may be a satisfactory spacing to extend all the way along, but wait. If you have hold-downs or other devices to fit the bench holes, it's helpful for the holes to be no further apart than the reach of these fittings. If you don't have any, research them. If you commonly work with dimensional lumber, the hole spacing could usefully take those dimensions into account. It's pretty low on the list of considerations, but might help to break a tie if you're undecided. As you may be working narrow stock off the edge of the bench, it's a good idea to set the first holes reasonably close to the edge. If course, you can always build a bracing jig which relies on holes set back from the edge but which projects as needed beyond the edge to stabilize the piece. But this is fussy and will seldom be needed if the holes are spaced optimally to begin with. A second and probably more important reason for setting the first row of holes close to the edge is again related to the vice. It helps to clamp narrow stock with the vice if the holes start close. All these considerations! In mathematics we would call this an overconstrained problem. But you'll quickly hit on a "close enough" compromise, if you think about what matters most to the kind of work you do.
Well constructed set of considerations thank you. Would you mind explaining your underpinning theory on the bench vice as it relates to hole formations?
Just a hint: the 96mm come from the 32mm system. If you make a cabinet and want to have adjustable shelves you usually have rows of 5mm holes with 32mm spacing and there are a lot of jigs to drill these holes.
I have a set of spade bit drills with that same "screw-type" point - and they also are way too aggressive (can even cause loss of control). So, I pre-drill the holes with one of several sized regular drill bits - choosing the bit depending upon how much "encouragement" I want from the screw-point. This works very well. It still works as a centering device but reduces or eliminates any tendency for the bit to pull itself into the wood.
I did successfully use the wood owl auger bit by employing a few tricks. It is the lead screw that makes it so aggressive. I mostly disabled that by drilling a large pilot hole so most of the lead screw had nothing to engage with. I also started the holes with a forstner bit to a depth of 1/4", followed that with the pilot hole and then the auger bit.
Wood owl makes a 2-flute auger that has no lead screw. It has a very short and shallow angle brad point so it’s still a good idea to start with a Forstner. It is unbelievably sharp, fast, and cool running. The first hole I drilled really surprised me. The clean, sharp edges of the exit are the biggest surprise. One thing I didn’t like is the full length of the flute edges are just as sharp as the front. The slightest side wobble will cause an oversized diameter long after the point has gone past. I fixed that by dulling the sides of the flutes with a fine hone starting about 1/4” from the front. Don’t get near the front corners or the exit won’t be clean. Yeah, fussy considerations but it cuts so fast and clean I just love ‘em. Don’t risk hitting any nails though. The lead screw triple flute model is the nail chipper.
Start it with the forstner, then switch to the same size spade. That way the top/entry is clean as possible. You can also use paraffin or oil to cool the bit, just as you would on a drill press. You can still use the brad point, but you could/should also mark the holes using a center-spring punch to prevent initial drift I see you doing that later on, but no reason not to do it for every hole, and it might be easier and quicker than actually pre-drilling to start them.
Strangely enough, when doing test holes, the spade bit gave me the tightest fit, the forstner bit had a little wiggle room in it, I might just need better forstner bits :) I did try using my center punch but its shaft was smaller than the 4mm hole in the guide, so it was not always exactly center. Eventually I worked out that i didn't even need to pre drill, I just used the guides to directly drill the pilot holes as they centered the drill bit perfectly and I only needed to drill down 10mm
As well as the fantastic tips - I can't believe the simple logic of using Pythagorus to ensure squareness with only a simple ruler never crossed my mind - I really appreciate the links to the reasonably-priced dog hole accessories accessible in NZ.
TS Safety at 3 mins. Lots of good tips in this vid, but table saw at 3 minutes in has hazards, keep fingers further away from blade for when things go wrong. Saw guard and better to use push sticks than over the saw device. It only has to go wrong once and it hurts. Good vid and keep it up and keep fingers safe. thanks
Late to the party but I’ll add a vote for the Wood Owl bits. The 2-flute brad point auger is unbelievably fast, cool running, and cuts a super clean exit. For dog holes though I think I would start with a Forstner because the brad point is very short. One other concern is the leading edge of the flutes going up the sides is razor sharp. Freehand = oversized hole. No, you aren’t that good at holding straight. I did two things to fix this issue. Starting 1/8 or 1/4” up the flute sides I dulled the sides with a fine machinist hone so that they didn’t want to cut sideways. Then I made a drill guide starting with a steel bushing 2” long x 3/4” id x 1” od. Mounted in a chunk of hardwood to clamp down and voila🎉 Shockingly perfect holes. They also make a 3-flute auger with a screw feed point they call a nail eater….or nail chipper. I just bought one but haven’t used it yet.
Excellent! I was thinking about doing something very similar but overly complicated. Your way is a great idea; that is how I will drill my holes. Thanks for the video.
If things go awry when drilling you can use 22mm copper water pipe in an oversize hole to give you a usable 20.1mm hole that matches many commercial dogs and clamps, we started doing that for replacement Work Mate 'Professional' jaws that had steel inserts to eliminate wear issues from heavy use.
After using some cheap Forstner drills I bought the more expensive ones from FAMAG. What a difference! Especially the carbide tipped series is my favourite.
I did build an MFT top a few months ago using similar techniques. However, I did have the advantage of having a Wolfcraft Dowel Jig 4650000 which has holes at 32 mm spacing (for shelving holes) and comes with metal bushes for 5/6/8/10 mm drills. I was lucky that when it arrive a nut was missing and they had to send me an accessory kit which had spare metal bushes included. This was useful to be able to use two 6mm guide holes at the same time. The Pythagoras method (3/4/5) is used by pretty much all home-made benchdogs I also used a hole drilled into wood on the drill press as a guide to open out the holes to 20mm The problem I had with this last step was that all the 20mm drills I had gave you slightly undersize holes, whereas the benchdogs were spot on 20 mm. A bit of a pain to open out the holes by hand and it did result in some small inaccuracies. I should have probably bought a better, more accurate drill. TBH, I'm a bit surprised a standard spade drill was that accurate.
Hey Clem That Wolfcraft Dowel Jig looks pretty handy, yet another tool to put on my very long wish list! I was super surprised with the spade bit too, but after I did my test holes in a scrap piece of wood, it was the most snug fit for the accessories I purchased.
The 96mm spacing for dog holes in woodworking benches is not a strict standard but rather a common practice. This spacing is often seen in European workbenches and is somewhat standardized due to the Festool system, which uses 32mm hole spacing in their guide rails and MFT tables. The 96mm dimension is just three times the 32mm base unit. This modular system is advantageous because it's easy to calculate and offers compatibility with various clamps, jigs, and other accessories. That said, the spacing can vary depending on the specific requirements of your projects or your personal preferences. Some people choose to customize the layout of their dog holes to better suit the types of tasks they frequently perform. In essence, there's no one-size-fits-all answer, but 96mm has become a common practice for its modular benefits.
I used the Pythagorean theorem to bring out a perfectly 90° wall in the middle of my lower level outer wall. But I suppose it works for making dog holes too. 👍
96 mm is because in post war Europe, as they were industrializing cabinet construction, they could fit drills next to each other 32 mm apart when mass producing shelf standards.
I was looking for a video that was not too much work & still produce good results. I feel that I just may have found it. Thanks for taking the time to film this video & to explain things as you go. Really like your choice of music!!! Care to share some titles? Thanks again, Red
Glad you liked it :) The music is all from www.epidemicsound.com/ The specific tracks are Bag Mode - Dusty Decks Morning Stretch - Timothy Infinite Wild Birds - Marc Torch Sunset Boulevard - baegel Greasy - Timothy Infinite Pick up Sticks (Instrumental Version) - Pandaraps Luckily and Happily - baegel
I've been thinking, also, about the idea of taking some brass sleeve bearings, and putting them in as the top part of the holes. It would add considerably to the lifespan of the table, as they should keep the holes from wearing large over time, and getting "wobbly"... Def. more work, you'd have to drill the holes twice, once to insert depth for the insert, then once for the rest of the depth, but the insert itself should make a really good guide for the second part of that process...
Just leave them and eventually if ever the most used holes require it, you sleeve them as a repair. No point in the cost and trouble of doing that for every hole.
@@jasonplugowsky3086, There used to be a cartoon character I remember named "Practical Pig" and your thought reminded me of it. Let's face it, there are those who build things (like workbenches) to use them and then there are those who build things to look at them.
Nice job. I don't think I'd be drilling a hole in my workbench leg. Did you watch this video after you filmed it? Almost every time you drilled with your 4mm drill bit, it wasn't completely vertical. Maybe try slowing down the speed when you drill with the forstner bits and raise it a few times whilst drilling each hole, that might minimise the overheating. Thanks for the 3-4-5 tip.
I used a Brad point 20mm bit from Makita after doing the same exercise as you have done. It does a neater bottom side than the spade or Forstner bit. Better Forstner bits like the one from UJK work better but not as well as the Brad Point bit, which is faster and more effective.
Use 3 galvanised steel restraint straps. The 6mm holes are exactly 50mm apart. Use the restaint straps for pythagoras by counting sides and diabonal. use 6mm dowels to hold staps in place whilst marking out holes accurately. The flat straps are generally 1000mm 30mm x 4mm.
Use a router and spiral bit. Make a template to get the spacing and diameter and a Porter Cable style template guide. After the three holes in the corner are drilled, use the template and bench dogs to move the template to the next hole. If you want dress them up use chamfer bit to clean up the edge of the hole and make it easier to put the dogs in the holes.
An ordinary carpenter's square is a good tool for squaring off a measurement of about its own proportions, provided of course that it IS square. (If it isn't, throw it out, or cut it up for scrap metal. Sometimes rough handling will put the best of instruments out if calibration. So remember that a square or a rule is indeed a reference instrument and not simply a tool.) It's trivial to test for square if you have a flat surface with a straight edge to use as a reference. Lay the long edge of the square against the reference edge, and draw a sharp line (A) onto the surface along the short edge of the square. Flip the square mirror-wise with its short edge as the hinge, and line up its long edge against the reference edge again. Draw a second sharp line (B) along the short edge of the square as before. If the square is perfectly accurate, the lines A and B will lie on top of each other.
Hi Kris, I think 96 chosen as it is a base 8 number. This means means it divides into more whole numbers than 100 i.e. 96 = 2x48, 3x32, 4x24, 6x16 8x12 etc.
@@macsworkshop, Actually, as another noted, it's also the 32mm standard mounting hole spacing (or some multiple thereof) for shelves, fixtures, etc., tripled, as another standard for work bench fixtures. The "Three - Four - Five" measurement works with any linear measurement system; Millimeters, Centimeters, Inches, Yards and so forth. Contractors use it to lay out building foundations with whatever measurement system is most appropriate to them for the size and locality ["When in Rome ... "] of the project.
2:15 I bought a forstener set at a local retailer and it was very cheap. like €10 for 5x bits. It was not worth the money. they didn't just go blunt very fast, they were blunt to start with. I just bought a Bosch 20mm forstener bit for double the price of the whole set and its much better quality and works really well. dogs fit very snugly and dont' have wiggle room like with the cheap forstener bits. So probably whatever bit you use, its better to make sure they're good quality. buy cheap, buy twice.
Great video, but that's a lot of holes, so keep those very handy measuring pieces and go for the half and need more? drill some more, but good explanation thanks for sharing.
US Standard shelf pin hole spacing is 1.25 inch or 31,75mm. Europe lay in ruins at the end of WW2. No tools no wood, everything came from the US. So the DIN shelf pin Standard became 32mm, rounding up to 32 mm was the best way to avoid fractions, 1.25 or 32 mm very little difference.
I saw your vid.. great job.. but didn‘t understand why it‘s called: don‘t use that drill bit?? I use this kind of bit often to drill holes in simular situations .. I give a peace of wood under it and clamp it on so I have no break outs at the side down
There is a drill bit that will make a nice clean hole. It looks like your auger bit, it an an Owl drill bit. I have used these ad they are great. Drills a very clean hole.
Hi. I found dog holes of 20mm and 19 mm... Please i don't know if i have to drill a 20mm hole for a 19 tool, to have a small tolerance, or the hole should be equal to tool one
Most "Euro Cabinet" shelf pin guides have 32mm spacing between holes. Every 3rd hole is 96mm! No measuring. It's the Euro cabinet standard. And even the lowly Kreg shelf pin guide uses that spacing.
For a better performance of the auger drill bit, people could try a slower drilling speed. When I still was in plumbing, I used auger drills all the time to drill straight and aligned transport holes through beams where necessary and appropriate. I always used jigs custom to the location, height of the beams, width of the pipe track. Of course, I encountered situations in which a normal electrical drill became a burden, for being the extension of the axis of drill bit. I tried several different angled contraptions, machines or additions to machines, until I found the Makita DA4031. With that powerful machine drilling these holes became an absolute piece of cake. Also, because this machine has a choice setting between high speed, low torque and slower speed, high torque. The latter setting allows for excellent holes to be drilled with the auger. Since then, when I use an auger drill in my regular drill, I choose to select the similar setting. Which produces much nicer holes. Depending on the kind of wood it may also be helpful to drill from two sides. In my humble opinion, that is also applicable to the speed drill. Overall, the lower speed setting is what a lot of people forego. I think this is because in the perception the auger is considered as similar to more everyday drill bits. However, if we look at the history, augers originally were used at even lower speeds, to produce excellent holes with the simplest of hand drills. Where our modern day regular drill bits always required a higher speed, even in hand drill machines. They always needed either a single or double gear.
Hey Vincent Don't get me wrong, Augers have their place and I have used them a lot, especially for drilling holes for power cables in framing, however for this particular application I found they were too aggressive and would often chip the top of the wood if I wasn't super careful, and yea, as you say If you go too fast it gets even worse
@@macsworkshop That sounds more like (a) the auger needed some sharpening and (b) it was running too fast. TBH I generally use my augers with a hand brace, not a power drill. I did all the 3/4" dog holes on my bench that way. I needed to resharpen the auger once part way through, but it gave very crisp entrance holes.
Mentioning drill speed is a good point. Very high speeds can overheat drill bits very quickly and just ploughing on doing multiple holes will ruin even the best quality bit.. Take your time ! Wind back the revs ! Remember, you are making a tool that will serve you for years to come and save you A LOT OF TIME IN THE LONG RUN ..
I had thought it might be good to make a spade bit jig by cutting out a "U" from the bottom of the spade bit holes so you insert it from the bottom and then into th drill. I think this would keep the shaft more aligned than just the tp of the bit?
If you go with 20mm holes you have more options on things you can use. If you know of anyone with a 3d printer have them make you up reducers. they are 20mm od & 3/4"ID. Now you can use. any size dogs or accessories in the 20mm holes
If they are actually the same size, you might start with the forstner bit then switch to the spade bit to finish the hole. Easiest if you have two drills able to do the job, and extra trouble either way, but that way the top is probably going to look very good.
One other thing is to run a couple long ones down the length of the bench -- maybe 2-3 rows is all, not the full set you have on the far end. That can be useful when dealing with very long, or oversized boards... Suppose you were making a bench that was 5' x 3' (yes, I'm American. :-D)... it might be good to have a way to lock down both ends.
Just a tip. Your auger bit being too aggressive, a simple trick. The lead screw at the tip - if you file most of the thread off it works beast and drills straight. P
Wow ! I hate spade bits, only use them for holes in rough work like studding. I have never had an auger bit run in too fast, they’re more likely to baulk at a knot ! Nice bench though.
Good video! Here's a drill press tip: when drilling a series of holes in piece in a straight line, clamp a short stick to the table to act as a fence. Push the work against it and line up your mark with the drill. Slide the work along the fence to the next mark and drill. All the holes will be perfectly in line.
i have literal chest pain from watching you remove those cuts from the table saw, please no matter what your confidence don't ever put your hand that close to the blade, coming from someone who has lost a good portion of his hand to a router table
Hey Ryan thanks for your concern form my safety I had to watch it over to see what you refer to and I can agree that it doesn't look great, however the angle of the shot makes my hand look far closer to the blade than it was. With regards to confidence, my table saw still scares me and I do try to treat it with the upmost respect. I have a future project planned for a fold out out-feed table that should make cuts like this much safer as I wont have to worry about the wood falling off the end.
@@macsworkshop, until you get an outfeed apparatus or shelf in place, just let the piece(s) fall on the floor! Reaching over a spinning blade never should be done. (And kept secret if done.)
@@macsworkshop I'm with Sean and Ryan. Being careful HOW you do it is important but should follow consideration of WHETHER to do it. I have going on 60 years' experience and would never overreach a spinning blade. You're doing good work but that bit was truly frightening. I still have my digits but my uncle lost half a hand at age 80-plus after a lifetime of using and selling power tools, on just such an overreach. Also, keep in mind that the very good quality of your videos may lead newbies to believe 'anything he can do, I can do.'
@@michaelmcdermott2178 Thanks Michael, I will be taking these comments to heart and am already planning an outfeed table build to try and stop this bad habit.
@@macsworkshop Don't know if this is helpful but the cheapo workbench from Harbor Freight ($150?) turned out to stand about 1/8" short of the height of my table saw so I keep it in outfeed position. Thanks again for the video, otherwise. We really need younger blood before the gray hairs like me cack.
If you're looking at those holes thinking "Those are round not square" My meaning is that they are square to each other, sorry about the confusion 🙂
Speaking of square.. to minimise the margin of error - always measure (and in this particular case, plugging guide stems) as far away from each other as possible! The outcome of this as a standard procedure is enormous!
Kind regards
Anders
Sweden
..look ~ 12 minutes in.
Drat! You really know how to kill a jocular observation before it even is made!
I came here to find out how to drill square holes! 😅
Great video though, nice way of laying out the holes and getting them uniform! Good job
A guy named Angel Hernandez says they are square.
All I could see was your fingers so close to the blade. OMG. sooo much faith in that sawstop.
😬 its not a saw stop. The camera angle probably makes it look worse than it was.
I made the dog holes in my bench using a plunge router with a 3/4-inch bit. Quick, simple, perfectly vertical holes with no fuss.
That's my plan as well. Layout is the most important first step in order to not have them interfere with under-the-top construction and/or hardware like rails, legs, vice hardware and/or guide rails/screw, etc.
exactly what type of router bit? TIA
smooth jazz and a kiwi accent is butter.
To ensure straight spade bit holes make a disk with a diameter equal to that of the spade bit. Make a hole in the disk center equal to the diameter of the spade bit shank. Put the disk on the spade bit before putting the bit into the drill. Start drilling. Let the disk fall into the hole as the spade bit drills deep enough. The disk will force the bit to drill straight. 🙂🙂
Awesome tip
Do you know of any videos to show us what you mean?
good idea but many MFT tops are only 3/4" thick....the spade will be thru the material before the shank diameter is below the top surface.
very cool,someone figured out the math to do a DIY parf jig, and you made it easy to understand, thanx, i'm gonna go make one now, i think i'm gonna cut up some aluminium strips instead of wood
What is a parf?
Great video mate. I followed the instructions in your video and achieved perfect 90 degree dog holes. Thank you for sharing
i have seen some people use a peg board but I admire you dedication to triangles.
I especially appreciate the detail of pinning (with the upside down drill bits) your guide to your bench before marking/drilling the rest of the holes; and later with the hold downs. And the 3-4-5 trick with 2 identical guides was great!
The amount of people on the internet who don't actually DO anything but love to critique those who do is astounding.
GREAT vid, Mac! 👍🏻
Hey, Mac, keep making videos. You have nice technique and it is fun to see someone who isn't using really expensive tools. I like your "garage shop" motif.
I have saved this video to use as my guide to maling some dog holes. I have seen so many which do not actually explain the practical methods of spacing and drilling them. This is awesome. I was already aware of the 3:4:5 ratio maths, and have decided to use it to get the double door frame for my workshop conversion perfectly square before installing it.
Happy to see folks appling ancient geometry/trigonometry to jigs. Consider using the auger bit or spade bit at a smaller diameter just to remove material, then the correct forstner bit to shape the final.hole without overheating it. .
Concerning the hole spacing, if you have a bench vise, the spacing back from the vice should be less than its travel. This is the most important rule, so much so that even if you don't have a vice, you should research them thoughtfully and decide which one you would install if the day ever came.
Holes placed transversely along the bench should align with the centerline of the vice, and it's useful to have a row of holes in line with the corners of the vice. That may be a satisfactory spacing to extend all the way along, but wait.
If you have hold-downs or other devices to fit the bench holes, it's helpful for the holes to be no further apart than the reach of these fittings. If you don't have any, research them.
If you commonly work with dimensional lumber, the hole spacing could usefully take those dimensions into account. It's pretty low on the list of considerations, but might help to break a tie if you're undecided.
As you may be working narrow stock off the edge of the bench, it's a good idea to set the first holes reasonably close to the edge. If course, you can always build a bracing jig which relies on holes set back from the edge but which projects as needed beyond the edge to stabilize the piece. But this is fussy and will seldom be needed if the holes are spaced optimally to begin with.
A second and probably more important reason for setting the first row of holes close to the edge is again related to the vice. It helps to clamp narrow stock with the vice if the holes start close.
All these considerations! In mathematics we would call this an overconstrained problem. But you'll quickly hit on a "close enough" compromise, if you think about what matters most to the kind of work you do.
Helpful thoughts, thanks
Well constructed set of considerations thank you. Would you mind explaining your underpinning theory on the bench vice as it relates to hole formations?
Very good video. Loved all your tricks & techniques.
Thanks for sharing your considerations. I wouldn't have thought of them, but they are obviously smart once you heard them!
Just a hint: the 96mm come from the 32mm system. If you make a cabinet and want to have adjustable shelves you usually have rows of 5mm holes with 32mm spacing and there are a lot of jigs to drill these holes.
Thank you for this info. It will be helpful! ☺
I have a set of spade bit drills with that same "screw-type" point - and they also are way too aggressive (can even cause loss of control). So, I pre-drill the holes with one of several sized regular drill bits - choosing the bit depending upon how much "encouragement" I want from the screw-point. This works very well. It still works as a centering device but reduces or eliminates any tendency for the bit to pull itself into the wood.
I had to laugh at the stage when the bikes came out of the shop to give you room to work. I feel seen! Solidarity, brother!
super........ i am building now and wondered how to get even spaced holes..........now I can let my brain rest! thank you
This is a great strategy for doing this. I hated watching you reaching over the running saw blade to pick up the wood!!😢
It looked like he was inches away from adding extra digits to his calculated cuts
I did successfully use the wood owl auger bit by employing a few tricks. It is the lead screw that makes it so aggressive. I mostly disabled that by drilling a large pilot hole so most of the lead screw had nothing to engage with. I also started the holes with a forstner bit to a depth of 1/4", followed that with the pilot hole and then the auger bit.
Wood owl makes a 2-flute auger that has no lead screw.
It has a very short and shallow angle brad point so it’s still a good idea to start with a Forstner. It is unbelievably sharp, fast, and cool running. The first hole I drilled really surprised me. The clean, sharp edges of the exit are the biggest surprise. One thing I didn’t like is the full length of the flute edges are just as sharp as the front. The slightest side wobble will cause an oversized diameter long after the point has gone past. I fixed that by dulling the sides of the flutes with a fine hone starting about 1/4” from the front. Don’t get near the front corners or the exit won’t be clean. Yeah, fussy considerations but it cuts so fast and clean I just love ‘em.
Don’t risk hitting any nails though. The lead screw triple flute model is the nail chipper.
Start it with the forstner, then switch to the same size spade. That way the top/entry is clean as possible. You can also use paraffin or oil to cool the bit, just as you would on a drill press.
You can still use the brad point, but you could/should also mark the holes using a center-spring punch to prevent initial drift I see you doing that later on, but no reason not to do it for every hole, and it might be easier and quicker than actually pre-drilling to start them.
Strangely enough, when doing test holes, the spade bit gave me the tightest fit, the forstner bit had a little wiggle room in it, I might just need better forstner bits :)
I did try using my center punch but its shaft was smaller than the 4mm hole in the guide, so it was not always exactly center. Eventually I worked out that i didn't even need to pre drill, I just used the guides to directly drill the pilot holes as they centered the drill bit perfectly and I only needed to drill down 10mm
If I had a bench that pretty, I’d have to build an ugly one to actually work on.
As well as the fantastic tips - I can't believe the simple logic of using Pythagorus to ensure squareness with only a simple ruler never crossed my mind - I really appreciate the links to the reasonably-priced dog hole accessories accessible in NZ.
TS Safety at 3 mins. Lots of good tips in this vid, but table saw at 3 minutes in has hazards, keep fingers further away from blade for when things go wrong. Saw guard and better to use push sticks than over the saw device. It only has to go wrong once and it hurts. Good vid and keep it up and keep fingers safe. thanks
First channel I found actually explaining the term MFT table….thank you! Because for a while I thought it was a type of material !
Ya mean it doesn't stand for : "Mother-Effing Table"? Who knew? :)🤣
Plunge router with a rail to slide along your marked out grid is a good way to do your holes. Using it like an end mill.
Late to the party but I’ll add a vote for the Wood Owl bits.
The 2-flute brad point auger is unbelievably fast, cool running, and cuts a super clean exit. For dog holes though I think I would start with a Forstner because the brad point is very short. One other concern is the leading edge of the flutes going up the sides is razor sharp. Freehand = oversized hole. No, you aren’t that good at holding straight. I did two things to fix this issue. Starting 1/8 or 1/4” up the flute sides I dulled the sides with a fine machinist hone so that they didn’t want to cut sideways. Then I made a drill guide starting with a steel bushing 2” long x 3/4” id x 1” od. Mounted in a chunk of hardwood to clamp down and voila🎉
Shockingly perfect holes.
They also make a 3-flute auger with a screw feed point they call a nail eater….or nail chipper.
I just bought one but haven’t used it yet.
Excellent! I was thinking about doing something very similar but overly complicated. Your way is a great idea; that is how I will drill my holes. Thanks for the video.
A DIY version of the pricey UJK Parf guide. Love it. Thanks for sharing.
best tutorial I have seen yet! great idea and easy to follow.
If things go awry when drilling you can use 22mm copper water pipe in an oversize hole to give you a usable 20.1mm hole that matches many commercial dogs and clamps, we started doing that for replacement Work Mate 'Professional' jaws that had steel inserts to eliminate wear issues from heavy use.
After using some cheap Forstner drills I bought the more expensive ones from FAMAG. What a difference! Especially the carbide tipped series is my favourite.
I did build an MFT top a few months ago using similar techniques. However, I did have the advantage of having a Wolfcraft Dowel Jig 4650000 which has holes at 32 mm spacing (for shelving holes) and comes with metal bushes for 5/6/8/10 mm drills. I was lucky that when it arrive a nut was missing and they had to send me an accessory kit which had spare metal bushes included. This was useful to be able to use two 6mm guide holes at the same time.
The Pythagoras method (3/4/5) is used by pretty much all home-made benchdogs
I also used a hole drilled into wood on the drill press as a guide to open out the holes to 20mm
The problem I had with this last step was that all the 20mm drills I had gave you slightly undersize holes, whereas the benchdogs were spot on 20 mm. A bit of a pain to open out the holes by hand and it did result in some small inaccuracies. I should have probably bought a better, more accurate drill.
TBH, I'm a bit surprised a standard spade drill was that accurate.
Hey Clem
That Wolfcraft Dowel Jig looks pretty handy, yet another tool to put on my very long wish list!
I was super surprised with the spade bit too, but after I did my test holes in a scrap piece of wood, it was the most snug fit for the accessories I purchased.
Mac very cool. Well said Pete from New York . Maybe talk about your bench vise sometime .
Thanks Pete, there is a separate video on how I attached the vice if your still interested
The 96mm spacing for dog holes in woodworking benches is not a strict standard but rather a common practice. This spacing is often seen in European workbenches and is somewhat standardized due to the Festool system, which uses 32mm hole spacing in their guide rails and MFT tables. The 96mm dimension is just three times the 32mm base unit. This modular system is advantageous because it's easy to calculate and offers compatibility with various clamps, jigs, and other accessories.
That said, the spacing can vary depending on the specific requirements of your projects or your personal preferences. Some people choose to customize the layout of their dog holes to better suit the types of tasks they frequently perform.
In essence, there's no one-size-fits-all answer, but 96mm has become a common practice for its modular benefits.
Your system worked very nicely. Thank you very much! Your other videos are nice too.
I used the Pythagorean theorem to bring out a perfectly 90° wall in the middle of my lower level outer wall. But I suppose it works for making dog holes too. 👍
woodcraft has a super plastic template for 3/4" holes using a router-about to try it out
A very well made instructional video.👍
Thanks. Very instructional.
Great job well designed and executed
96 mm is because in post war Europe, as they were industrializing cabinet construction, they could fit drills next to each other 32 mm apart when mass producing shelf standards.
Instead of using multiple spade bits, sharpen the bit when needed. A flat file, careful eye & hand, and bit of elbow greese and voila, good as new
I did mine with an auger bit and hand brace, only 4 for hold f do own, but it is surprisingly efficient
This was super useful. And love your format. Thank you 🙏🏻
I was looking for a video that was not too much work & still produce good results. I feel that I just may have found it. Thanks for taking the time to film this video & to explain things as you go.
Really like your choice of music!!! Care to share some titles?
Thanks again,
Red
Glad you liked it :)
The music is all from www.epidemicsound.com/
The specific tracks are
Bag Mode - Dusty Decks
Morning Stretch - Timothy Infinite
Wild Birds - Marc Torch
Sunset Boulevard - baegel
Greasy - Timothy Infinite
Pick up Sticks (Instrumental Version) - Pandaraps
Luckily and Happily - baegel
I used the drill bit and it worked just fine.
Helpful video. Thank you.
I've been thinking, also, about the idea of taking some brass sleeve bearings, and putting them in as the top part of the holes. It would add considerably to the lifespan of the table, as they should keep the holes from wearing large over time, and getting "wobbly"... Def. more work, you'd have to drill the holes twice, once to insert depth for the insert, then once for the rest of the depth, but the insert itself should make a really good guide for the second part of that process...
That does sound like a cool idea!
Would be beautiful also
That has been the case with old Black & Decker Workmates (at least the one I’ve got). JFTR
Just leave them and eventually if ever the most used holes require it, you sleeve them as a repair. No point in the cost and trouble of doing that for every hole.
@@jasonplugowsky3086, There used to be a cartoon character I remember named "Practical Pig" and your thought reminded me of it. Let's face it, there are those who build things (like workbenches) to use them and then there are those who build things to look at them.
Nice job. I don't think I'd be drilling a hole in my workbench leg. Did you watch this video after you filmed it? Almost every time you drilled with your 4mm drill bit, it wasn't completely vertical. Maybe try slowing down the speed when you drill with the forstner bits and raise it a few times whilst drilling each hole, that might minimise the overheating. Thanks for the 3-4-5 tip.
Brilliant - thank you. Lovely bench youve built there 👍
Bit and brace nice holes doesn’t over heat.
I used a Brad point 20mm bit from Makita after doing the same exercise as you have done. It does a neater bottom side than the spade or Forstner bit. Better Forstner bits like the one from UJK work better but not as well as the Brad Point bit, which is faster and more effective.
Use 3 galvanised steel restraint straps. The 6mm holes are exactly 50mm apart. Use the restaint straps for pythagoras by counting sides and diabonal. use 6mm dowels to hold staps in place whilst marking out holes accurately. The flat straps are generally 1000mm 30mm x 4mm.
Useful and informative and very well demonstrated. Great tip. thks
I bought a router jig off eBay to do mine. I occasionally have to widen the holes because of seasonal movement
They look round to me!
Sorry, I was referring to them being square to each other :)
A brad-point bit, somewhat like the one with the screw point but without the screw point.
Use a router and spiral bit. Make a template to get the spacing and diameter and a Porter Cable style template guide. After the three holes in the corner are drilled, use the template and bench dogs to move the template to the next hole.
If you want dress them up use chamfer bit to clean up the edge of the hole and make it easier to put the dogs in the holes.
That was a well thought out and methodical approach.
Nice Job
Tamar (3x3Custom) shows an incredibly handy method for drilling dog holes in her video: "Portable & Affordable Workbench for Small Spaces"
An ordinary carpenter's square is a good tool for squaring off a measurement of about its own proportions, provided of course that it IS square. (If it isn't, throw it out, or cut it up for scrap metal. Sometimes rough handling will put the best of instruments out if calibration. So remember that a square or a rule is indeed a reference instrument and not simply a tool.)
It's trivial to test for square if you have a flat surface with a straight edge to use as a reference. Lay the long edge of the square against the reference edge, and draw a sharp line (A) onto the surface along the short edge of the square. Flip the square mirror-wise with its short edge as the hinge, and line up its long edge against the reference edge again. Draw a second sharp line (B) along the short edge of the square as before. If the square is perfectly accurate, the lines A and B will lie on top of each other.
You can reset a square with a welder and center punch. Don't throw out!! Welder to shrink, center pop to expand!!
Thanks so much.
In my experience it does matter that the dog holes are straight. I use some for holdfasts which don't sit so well in an off-vertical hole.
Hi Kris, I think 96 chosen as it is a base 8 number. This means means it divides into more whole numbers than 100 i.e. 96 = 2x48, 3x32, 4x24, 6x16 8x12 etc.
Ahhh, I should have worked that out being a programmer, thanks for the info!
@@macsworkshop, Actually, as another noted, it's also the 32mm standard mounting hole spacing (or some multiple thereof) for shelves, fixtures, etc., tripled, as another standard for work bench fixtures. The "Three - Four - Five" measurement works with any linear measurement system; Millimeters, Centimeters, Inches, Yards and so forth. Contractors use it to lay out building foundations with whatever measurement system is most appropriate to them for the size and locality ["When in Rome ... "] of the project.
2:15 I bought a forstener set at a local retailer and it was very cheap. like €10 for 5x bits. It was not worth the money. they didn't just go blunt very fast, they were blunt to start with. I just bought a Bosch 20mm forstener bit for double the price of the whole set and its much better quality and works really well. dogs fit very snugly and dont' have wiggle room like with the cheap forstener bits. So probably whatever bit you use, its better to make sure they're good quality. buy cheap, buy twice.
I do need to buy some good quality bits, my set is average quality
Nice job!!!
Great video, but that's a lot of holes, so keep those very handy measuring pieces and go for the half and need more? drill some more, but good explanation thanks for sharing.
Nicely done.
Get a peg board pin nail it to table. Drill every 4th-5th hole on peg board. Eazy-peazy
Use WOOD OWL bits they are superb
Brilliantly simple. Thank you
The 96 mm spacing is from 32 mm cabinet systems....32 x 3= ?????
What is the size of your work bench top? Great video on drilling your dog holes!
Hey there, it’s 1750 x 760
US Standard shelf pin hole spacing is 1.25 inch or 31,75mm. Europe lay in ruins at the end of WW2. No tools no wood, everything came from the US. So the DIN shelf pin Standard became 32mm, rounding up to 32 mm was the best way to avoid fractions, 1.25 or 32 mm very little difference.
In the imperial they say to place your dog holes 3 and 3/4 inches apart, which is about 96 mm.
I saw your vid.. great job.. but didn‘t understand why it‘s called: don‘t use that drill bit?? I use this kind of bit often to drill holes in simular situations .. I give a peace of wood under it and clamp it on so I have no break outs at the side down
Hey chris, great video, and it worked like a charm. Thanks save me a few $$
Awesome, i'm glad it helped :)
There is a drill bit that will make a nice clean hole. It looks like your auger bit, it an an Owl drill bit. I have used these ad they are great. Drills a very clean hole.
Outstanding!!
I don't know if you know, but it looks like you recreated the core of UJK Parfguide system 😁👍
Hi. I found dog holes of 20mm and 19 mm... Please i don't know if i have to drill a 20mm hole for a 19 tool, to have a small tolerance, or the hole should be equal to tool one
You asked about the drill bit. Your Forstner should be of higher quality. The outer edge should have cutting teeth. Nicely done
Most "Euro Cabinet" shelf pin guides have 32mm spacing between holes. Every 3rd hole is 96mm! No measuring. It's the Euro cabinet standard. And even the lowly Kreg shelf pin guide uses that spacing.
For a better performance of the auger drill bit, people could try a slower drilling speed. When I still was in plumbing, I used auger drills all the time to drill straight and aligned transport holes through beams where necessary and appropriate. I always used jigs custom to the location, height of the beams, width of the pipe track.
Of course, I encountered situations in which a normal electrical drill became a burden, for being the extension of the axis of drill bit.
I tried several different angled contraptions, machines or additions to machines, until I found the Makita DA4031. With that powerful machine drilling these holes became an absolute piece of cake. Also, because this machine has a choice setting between high speed, low torque and slower speed, high torque. The latter setting allows for excellent holes to be drilled with the auger.
Since then, when I use an auger drill in my regular drill, I choose to select the similar setting. Which produces much nicer holes. Depending on the kind of wood it may also be helpful to drill from two sides. In my humble opinion, that is also applicable to the speed drill.
Overall, the lower speed setting is what a lot of people forego. I think this is because in the perception the auger is considered as similar to more everyday drill bits.
However, if we look at the history, augers originally were used at even lower speeds, to produce excellent holes with the simplest of hand drills. Where our modern day regular drill bits always required a higher speed, even in hand drill machines. They always needed either a single or double gear.
Hey Vincent
Don't get me wrong, Augers have their place and I have used them a lot, especially for drilling holes for power cables in framing, however for this particular application I found they were too aggressive and would often chip the top of the wood if I wasn't super careful, and yea, as you say If you go too fast it gets even worse
@@macsworkshop That sounds more like (a) the auger needed some sharpening and (b) it was running too fast.
TBH I generally use my augers with a hand brace, not a power drill. I did all the 3/4" dog holes on my bench that way. I needed to resharpen the auger once part way through, but it gave very crisp entrance holes.
Mentioning drill speed is a good point. Very high speeds can overheat drill bits very quickly and just ploughing on doing multiple holes will ruin even the best quality bit.. Take your time ! Wind back the revs ! Remember, you are making a tool that will serve you for years to come and save you A LOT OF TIME IN THE LONG RUN ..
I had thought it might be good to make a spade bit jig by cutting out a "U" from the bottom of the spade bit holes so you insert it from the bottom and then into th drill. I think this would keep the shaft more aligned than just the tp of the bit?
If you go with 20mm holes you have more options on things you can use. If you know of anyone with a 3d printer have them make you up reducers. they are 20mm od & 3/4"ID. Now you can use. any size dogs or accessories in the 20mm holes
Love this build but when I do mine, I will make a 3- 4 foot long spade hole template. Won’t have to move it as much as you did.
Thanks again
If they are actually the same size, you might start with the forstner bit then switch to the spade bit to finish the hole. Easiest if you have two drills able to do the job, and extra trouble either way, but that way the top is probably going to look very good.
One other thing is to run a couple long ones down the length of the bench -- maybe 2-3 rows is all, not the full set you have on the far end. That can be useful when dealing with very long, or oversized boards... Suppose you were making a bench that was 5' x 3' (yes, I'm American. :-D)... it might be good to have a way to lock down both ends.
1:30 you only need 3 points to locate anything. A machinist friend told me that. The 4th dog on the side or bottom is redundant.
That makes sense now that you point it out, good to know, thanks
"It got really hot after half a hole". Is it possible to drill half a hole?
Did he ever mentioned the bit size for the hole itself?
Just a tip. Your auger bit being too aggressive, a simple trick. The lead screw at the tip - if you file most of the thread off it works beast and drills straight. P
Outstanding
Wow ! I hate spade bits, only use them for holes in rough work like studding. I have never had an auger bit run in too fast, they’re more likely to baulk at a knot ! Nice bench though.
Good video! Here's a drill press tip: when drilling a series of holes in piece in a straight line, clamp a short stick to the table to act as a fence. Push the work against it and line up your mark with the drill. Slide the work along the fence to the next mark and drill. All the holes will be perfectly in line.
i have literal chest pain from watching you remove those cuts from the table saw, please no matter what your confidence don't ever put your hand that close to the blade, coming from someone who has lost a good portion of his hand to a router table
Hey Ryan thanks for your concern form my safety
I had to watch it over to see what you refer to and I can agree that it doesn't look great, however the angle of the shot makes my hand look far closer to the blade than it was.
With regards to confidence, my table saw still scares me and I do try to treat it with the upmost respect.
I have a future project planned for a fold out out-feed table that should make cuts like this much safer as I wont have to worry about the wood falling off the end.
@@macsworkshop, until you get an outfeed apparatus or shelf in place, just let the piece(s) fall on the floor! Reaching over a spinning blade never should be done. (And kept secret if done.)
@@macsworkshop I'm with Sean and Ryan. Being careful HOW you do it is important but should follow consideration of WHETHER to do it. I have going on 60 years' experience and would never overreach a spinning blade. You're doing good work but that bit was truly frightening. I still have my digits but my uncle lost half a hand at age 80-plus after a lifetime of using and selling power tools, on just such an overreach.
Also, keep in mind that the very good quality of your videos may lead newbies to believe 'anything he can do, I can do.'
@@michaelmcdermott2178 Thanks Michael, I will be taking these comments to heart and am already planning an outfeed table build to try and stop this bad habit.
@@macsworkshop Don't know if this is helpful but the cheapo workbench from Harbor Freight ($150?) turned out to stand about 1/8" short of the height of my table saw so I keep it in outfeed position. Thanks again for the video, otherwise. We really need younger blood before the gray hairs like me cack.
Pythagore is watching this from Olympus and he's very pleased. He expects some kind of wooden offering, a box or something pretty.
Hehe, I love it 😆
@ 09:27
Nailed it! Guess, Now it’s time to screw up!