Drill perfectly square bench dog holes in your work bench

To make the most of your workbench, it needs dog holes!
Dog holes really let you appreciate that your workbench isnt just a work surface but annother super important tool in your workshop.

In this video I show you how I drilled dog holes in my work bench using a 3-4-5 triangle to get them perfectly straight and square with each other without the need for expensive alignment tools

The dog hole accessories I used can be found here

Similar items from Amazon

Some of my tools:

[macsworkshop]

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 🙂

[FuelFire_]

All I could see was your fingers so close to the blade. OMG. sooo much faith in that sawstop.

[glencrandall]

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. 🙂🙂

[wolflahti]

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.

[jakeqwaninne]

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

[StuartSanborn]

i have seen some people use a peg board but I admire you dedication to triangles.

[borgc]

Great video mate. I followed the instructions in your video and achieved perfect 90 degree dog holes. Thank you for sharing

[misterdubity]

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!

[johnbarbuto]

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.

[bobnicholas]

This is a great strategy for doing this. I hated watching you reaching over the running saw blade to pick up the wood!!😢

[CredibleHulk]

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! 👍🏻

[Itsnotmethistime]

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!

[MarkusBurrer]

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.

[vootienabootie]

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.

[williamdavis]

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.

[johnbarbuto]

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.

[tomcavell-taylor]

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

[starfishsystems]

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.

[G.I.JeffsWorkbench]

A DIY version of the pricey UJK Parf guide. Love it. Thanks for sharing.

[ReRoy]

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. .