On 9 May, 10:36, NoSpam wrote:

Any other bench I made would have to have some sort of moving dogs in
the top surface (like Frid's tail vice). These are much more useful for
joinery than any iron vice I've ever had.

My plan is simply to put dog holes in the hardwood facings of the end
vice - these can then be used to clamp boards against dogs in the bench
- what's the advantage of moving dogs in the top surface?

One of the things I don't like about my bench is that it only has the
usual single row of dog holes. A second set about 6" further back
would be wonderful for clamping wider and non-square pieces against
loads that are offset from the dog-line. Certainly dogs don't want to
be too close to the front edge, or every planing load is trying to
skew the workpiece sideways.

There's a lot to be said for the Veritas round-hole Wonder-dogs with
their built-in clamp screws. I would favour square dogs over round for
use in a moving vice, but those adjustable ones in a piece of thick
ply with holes in are great for clamping awkward glue-ups.


and the whole idea of a "tail-mounted vice" is a red herring that has
grown up around them.

With dog-holed wooden facings it will be useful for holding boards

It's a dog-carrier though, not a vice as such. Look at the iron screw
kits (Axminster and Veritas) and see if they can give you something
better.

It's also important to have adjustable dog spacings. A row of holes a
few inches apart gives you coarse adjustment and a bigger range than
the screw thread alone. A single dog in a vice facing doesn't have
this - you rely on the other dog moving and you're always going to be
working right on the end of the bench. I have over a foot or so of
dog holes on my front moving jaw. I've even considered putting an
asymmetrically placed dog hole in (3" and 5" apart rather than all at
4") just to get some rapid change in spacing without having to screw
the vice in and out all the time.


There will be an insert plug fitted when the router isn't needed so the
bench top will be flat,

I don't believe in convertible benches. They're always full of router
when you want to plane on them, or full of crap when you want to rout.


I hadn't thought about waxing the MDF - why wax rather than oil or PU?
(and which wax?)

You need something glue-resistant, especially on MDF as it otherwise
tends to delaminate when you pick glue splashes off it. I've never
had much luck soaking oil into MDF but wax and a hairdrier (just the
cooking Liberon Black Bison) seems to do it. I also wax all my MDF
jigs to keep the damp out.

Even better might be to make it from self-coloured MDF like
Valchromat. More resinous, harder surface, better damp and glue
resistance.