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Bettesworth Construction
Bench Dogs

How to Drill Straight Dog Holes in a Workbench

A drill-press-bored guide can keep a handheld drill square to your bench. Learn how to lay out, drill and chamfer dog holes, plus a router-guided repair for an angled hole.

By Bettesworth Construction Team 3 min read
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To drill straight dog holes when a drill press cannot reach across the bench, use a guide drilled square on a drill press, clamp it over your layout, and bore through it with a handheld drill. Choose the hole diameter to match your bench-dog system first; the guide controls the drill’s angle, while a backer board helps limit tear-out at the exit.

Choose the dog-hole diameter and layout first

There is no universal dog-hole diameter: match the hole to the dogs and other workholding hardware you plan to use. Lee Valley says its Veritas round bench dogs fit a 3/4-inch hole and can be used in vertical or horizontal holes. Those round dogs are 4 3/8 inches long; the shorter 2 3/8-inch Bench Pups are intended for bench sides with tighter clearance. Check the specifications for your chosen system before drilling. Lee Valley’s Veritas Round Bench Dogs

Plan the row around the vise and the reach you need for workholding. Lee Valley’s portable-workbench project gives one example—not a general standard—with the first 3/4-inch hole 2 3/4 inches from the left side and subsequent holes 4 inches apart; its vise-block hole lines up with the row. Lee Valley’s portable workbench layout

Make a guide for the handheld drill

WOOD Magazine’s method uses a straight guide with holes bored square on a drill press. The guide establishes the drilling axis; holding a handheld drill by eye does not ensure that a hole will be perpendicular to the bench.

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  1. Prepare the guide. Start with a squared 2×4 and machine it to 1 3/8 × 2 1/4 inches. Crosscut it to the width of the bench area where you will drill the row.
  2. Transfer the hole centers. Mark the planned dog-hole centers along an edge of the guide. Use a square to carry the outermost center marks around the guide’s sides and end as reference marks.
  3. Bore the guide holes. On a drill press, bore through the guide at the marked centers with a 3/4-inch Forstner bit. Back the bit out regularly to clear chips.

This guide method’s dimensions and bit details come from WOOD Magazine’s 2019 instructions. WOOD Magazine’s guide method

Align the guide and drill the bench

  1. Mark the row on the bench. Lay out the centers based on your vise and workholding plan. Mark a crosshair for the first hole.
  2. Position and clamp the guide. Align its reference marks with the marks on the bench, including the first-hole crosshair, and clamp it firmly in place.
  3. Support the exit side. Clamp a backer board beneath the bench at the drilling location to help reduce tear-out as the bit exits.
  4. Bore through the guide. Use a 3/4-inch brad-point bit in a handheld drill, keeping the bit seated in the guide as you drill each hole.
  5. Ease the edges. After drilling, cut or rout a small chamfer around each opening to remove the sharp lip.

The cited method uses 3/4-inch tooling; if your chosen dog system calls for another diameter, make the guide holes and choose the bit to suit that system rather than assuming 3/4 inch is universal. The backer board addresses exit tear-out; it does not control the drilling angle—the guide does. WOOD Magazine’s drilling and finishing steps

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Other options and when to use them

  • Commercial vertical drill guide: Consider one if you do not want to make a guide. Check that its bushing and bit match your intended hole diameter. Levoite Tools describes a jig for 3/4-inch or 20-mm holes and says its kit includes a template, Forstner bit, and bushing; those are the seller’s claims, not an independent assessment. Levoite Tools’ vertical drill-guide listing
  • Router-guided repair: If an existing dog hole is angled and the dog will not sit flat, WOOD Magazine describes a way to correct it without simply redrilling the hole. Redrilling can make the fit sloppy, so this is a repair option rather than a guaranteed fix.
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Correct an existing angled hole with a router guide

For the repair, WOOD Magazine’s method uses a scrap MDF or plywood jig long enough to reach from the bench edge to the hole. The jig guides a plunge router so it removes material around the existing hole in controlled increments.

  1. On a drill press, bore a 1-inch hole square through the scrap jig.
  2. Fit a 3/4-inch guide bushing to a plunge router and install a 1/2-inch straight or spiral bit.
  3. Center the jig over the existing dog hole and clamp it in place.
  4. Rout around the hole in 1/4-inch depth increments.

WOOD Magazine says this removes little material and may allow the dogs to fit snugly and sit flat, but the result depends on the hole and fit. WOOD Magazine’s angled-hole repair method

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