Popular Woodworking 2004-02 № 139, страница 76
to apply pressure in any direction, which is great for clamping round or other irregularly shaped pieces for sanding or planing. To drill the dog holes, your best bet is to make a jig like the one shown below (middle picture). Also grab a 3/4" auger bit and a corded drill. Clamp the jig to your bench and drill the hole all the way through the benchtop. Use a slow speed. After you drill each hole you need to chamfer the rim to keep from ripping up your bench-top when you pull out a dog. The easiest way to do this is with a plunge router. Chuck a 45° chamfer bit that has a 3/4" bearing on its end in your plunge router. Insert the bearing into the dog hole, turn on the router and plunge straight down, making a 3/s"-deep cut. If you can't afford a tail vise, these Wonder dogs make many clamping chores easier.With two Wonder dogs and bench dogs you can clamp odd-shaped material. Wonder dogs This gizmo works like a primitive doweling jig. Mark lines on your top where you want your dog holes. Clamp this jig to your bench and line it up with your marks. Drill away using a corded drill. Chances are you'll cook a cordless drill. Chamfering your dog holes prevents you from tearing out the grain when you remove a stubborn dog. 5 Add a Tail Vise If you've got just one vise it's almost always on the front (sometimes called the face) of your bench. A tail vise (located on the end of the bench) is an extremely useful upgrade. The retractable metal dog on most vises allows you to clamp really long work-pieces to your bench between the vise's dog and a dog in the bench-top. It's also just plain handy to have a second vise. When choosing a tail vise, you have three good options: • You can buy a traditional quick-release metal vise with a retractable dog for between $65 and $150. It's easy to install. • You can buy a front-vise screw kit that you just add wooden jaws to. This option can be a bit cheaper (about $70) but requires more labor. The advantage to this vise is that you can add dog holes to the top or front edge of the wooden vise faces. • You can buy an expensive specialty vise that will do things your face vise won't. The Veritas twin-screw vise ($159) gives you a huge tail vise that can be used for clamping or holding almost any flat work. Or you can buy a patternmaker's vise ($220 - $550) that excels at holding irregular objects at any angle. Both of these are expensive, but worth it. 6 Add a Planing and Sanding Stop Many woodworkers clamp their work down when they don't have to. In many cases, gravity and the force of your tool will do the job. A planing stop is essentially a lip on the end of your bench that can be adjusted up and down. When you're going to plane your work you merely put the wood A tail vise, such as this Veritas, is a luxury we all deserve. Since adding one to my bench at home, shown here, I've found myself using it far more than a face vise. 74 Popular Woodworking February 2004 |
