With the end cap attached and in position, we can turn our attention to the dog hole strip. The dog hole strip is glued to the front of the bench and then the longer front laminate strip gets glued to that. The front laminate strip also ties into the end cap with a honkin’ set of dovetails. So let’s get to it!
The Dog Strip
“The Dog Strip”…..sounds like it should be a street in Las Vegas. Just me? OK, focus Marc! The dog hole strip is made with the aid of a routing template and a pattern bit. The dog hole itself is positioned at a 2 degree angle to offset the force that will be applied to the dogs when in use. The dog holes also feature a small “shelf” that essentially serves as a depth stop so the dogs don’t go too deep into the bench.
After routing, a strip of 3/8″ thick maple caps it off. The end result is a perfectly-centered series of dog holes that are now ready to be glued to the bench top. Notice that the dog hole strip does not run the full length of the bench. This is so that the tail vise can do its job and the movable dog block will have some room to travel. The strip is glued to the bench with the aid of Dominos for alignment.
Front Laminate & Dovetails (Condor Tails)
The bench top is finished off by attaching the front laminate strip. The only tricky part about this is the fact that we need to tie the strip into the end cap. There are several options for how to accomplish this, including something as simple as a butt joint and lag bolts. But that’s no fun! So I decided to aim for the fences and make the connection with dovetails. 
I followed Jameel Abraham’s method, published in an article called “Condor Tails” in Popular Woodworking Magazine (August 2011). The method is right up my alley as it makes good use of both hand and power tools. The tails are cut first at the bandsaw. The pins are then cut into the end cap using a clever combination of chisels and a pattern bit in the router. You’ll have to buy the back issue or join the Guild to get the details on this method. The picture below shows the dovetails in the “rough state” with pencil marks and all. After it was glued into place and cleaned up, I was truly impressed with the results. A near piston fit! Kudos to Jameel on coming up with this method for what would normally be a pretty daunting joint.
Finishing Up The Tail Vise
With the front laminate glued into place, we can now route the grooves for the tail vise rails. The rails are then screwed into place and the dog block slides cleanly in the rails. It is interesting to note that the metal nut block shouldn’t make contact with any wood. If everything is working properly, it should slide back and forth making contact with the metal rails only. 
I didn’t mention it earlier, but when making the dog hole strip I was careful to include one extra dog hole. That one was reserved specifically for the movable dog block, which is installed here in the final step. The vise has incredibly smooth action and travels quickly. I think I’m going to like this!
The Dog Breeder
The only thing missing from my new bench top is the dogs themselves. They are fairly easy to make but it can be time-consuming. So I figured I would save some time by making a makeshift routing jig that I affectionately refer to as “The Dog Breeder”. Once the shape is cut, each dog receives a piece of 1/8″ stock that serves as a spring. A little fine-tuning with my smoothing plane and the dogs slide in and out of the dog holes with ease. When full retracted, you can see they sit just below the surface of the bench.
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I’m almost to this point myself. Hope to get my wagon vise installed this weekend.
Man you guys are hauling ass building this bench with all your fancy powertools and stuff! :)
Marc,
How many hours are you going to have in this bench.
Great update!!!
My hours are hard to calculate. Lots of filming, writing, and process documenting that normally wouldn’t be there. But it is certainly a substantial chunk of time.
I was thinking about the same thing. Building the bench is long enough, but filming and editing etc? Wow! Kudos Marc, your work is quality as usual. Makes me want to join the guild!
I’m getting super pumped about this build. I can’t wait to get started on it.
Marc, great job I hope I can get mine underway soon.
Hi, I am really interested in seeing the videos for this build as I just ordered the vices from Benchcrafted. I understand the Guild has many benefits to those in the US but for those in other countries are there benefits other than the extra videos?
Hey Mark. I suggest reading the Guild sales page thoroughly. Nearly all of the Guild benefits are location-independent. The vendor discounts are pretty much the only thing our international members can’t take advantage of. http://www.thewoodwhisperer.com/guild/
The first few videos so far have been great and very educational. It looks like the bench is coming together quite well. Looking forward to the next video!
Marc, what blade are you using on your band saw? What is the advantage of the tooth configuration over more typical such as on wood slicer? Thanks for the progress pix and overview.
I am still going back and forth on the round vs square dogs. A recent BC blog post pushed me to the square side. Then I made some hickory dowels as a rehab project and came back to rounds. Now seeing your pix, maybe I’ll turn again. Either way I am sure I’ll dig having a nice workbench.
Yesterday, my wife took some pix while I planed some table top edges on my flimsy bench. She asked, “doesn’t it bother you that the bench rocks and wobbles while you are planing a delicate edge?” “Just you wait,” says I. Looking forward to a better tomorrow in woodworking.
Hey Tom. I use a Laguna Resaw King on the big guy. The primary advantage is it cuts more like a tablesaw with its fairly large teeth. These teeth can be sharpened too, which makes it a pretty solid investment. The Wood Slicer is a very capable blade too but I think the Resaw King has the edge on cut quality. It also cost 2-3 times as much. :)
As for round and square, I have to say I am really enjoying the square. Frankly, its mostly aesthetics. I don’t think the actual practical differences between square and round really amount to much. But I definitely take a little more pride in my bench having put the extra work into it.
What would your recommended process in adding square dog holes to an existing bench?
Isn’t one advantage of having round holes the aftermarket dogs (i.e. holdfasts, wonder pups, etc). However, I like the cheaper route of making your own dogs.
you can certainly make your own round dogs too. as for adding a square hole strip to an existing bench, you can always just glue the strip to the front of the bench if you dont mind making it deeper. but I dont know if the extra effort would be worth it. Nothing wrong with round holes.
Mark,
I am very interested to build one of these benches, however, I think I’m going to wait till you produce the final DVD to see if this is something that I will be able to accomplish.
I’m definitely interested to see how yours turns out. I’m sure it will be great!
Dave
Fantastic job Marc. Wow.
Hey Marc did you ever consider adding a quick-release for the tail vise? How long does it take to get the vise to the desired position?
Sam.
Hey Sam. I did not consider that on this bench. I’m pretty much following the original Benchcrafted design which includes only their vises. There’s really no need for an additional vise for standard work-holding.
Its hard for me to estimate my time but it is NOT a quick process. The vise does have to be located precisely.
Sam can correct me if I’m wrong but I think the question about getting the vise in position is more about how long it takes to crank the wheel around to adjust for various clamping jobs (vs other vises that have quick releases). From all the videos I’ve seen of this style of vise, it looks pretty quick since you’re clamping via the dog strip so you can easily just move your dog to the nearest hole that makes sense for the work piece, and then spin the wheel a few turns to apply pressure.
lol good catch. And thanks for giving the answer as well. :)
Yep Mike you got it right, he he. Marc seems to be in auto pilot since I think he got asked a million times how long it takes him to build the bench!
Marc,
That’s a sweet dog breeder. I just got the OK from the misses to move my shop out of my freezing cold garage into my warm basement – now this build is tempting me even more since I’ll actually have room for something this size. Could be fun!
Marc,
I’m wondering why the sliding part of the tail vise is so small considering the distance it has to travel from end to end.
Does it make more sense that the total distance the vise would travel would not be much more than the distance between two dog holes?
I’m thinking that the total travel distance would be less or that the moving part of the vise might have more then one dog hole.
Andy
Hey Andy. Keep in mind that the space between the dog strip and the sliding dog block is in itself a clamping surface. So if you use a larger sliding block or if you limit the range of travel, you lose that space as well. Ultimately, a single dog in a small block is really all that’s needed.
Mike Pugh…………….If you move at a snails pace and do not move your fixed dog in your bench the vise will take about 15 seconds to traverse its full distance.
what is the clamping force of this vice compare to a more traditional one that has a sliding handle which seems to me would give more leverage than the handwheel
I don’t know and I’m honestly not sure it matters. You should never really need to crank down on these vises. Once it’s snug, you nudge it a little further and you’re done.