Legends of the Fall (around 20:00). What an incredible soundtrack. I hope it doesn't get flagged for copyright. The Pachelbel's Canon in D arrangement that followed was a bit too fast and varied for my preference. :) I've learned a lot about auger bits from you today. I confess I was in the "auger bits are auger bits" camp, but all I've ever used are power drill construction varieties, especially 18" (+ shank) ones I use for wiring in open framing before drywall. I have also used them to aerate sections of my lawn that don't drain properly. Nice, deep holes through all of the thatch and clay. But it doesn't have to hit much of a rock to destroy the tip thread. Fortunately they're very cheap at Harbor Freight. For my own large bench build I'm drilling my dog holes with a carbide Forstner bit in my drill press (actually a mill drill; I'm spoiled that way) before the final glue up. Personally I favor the technique of angling the dog holes about 1° toward the vise (and the vise holes toward the bench) to compensate for the deflection when you clamp. I don't know if it really matters, but it certainly makes sense to me, especially with wooden bench dogs. Anyway, thanks for the insights about the auger bits. And I like your drilling jig. I didn't catch it if you mentioned, but it should also minimize tearout that is common with auger bits.
Thanks for the kind words. By trade I'm a machinist so I totally get why people use power tools and feel the necessity to obsess over accuracy or precision. The jig I used was simply to make sure I didn't booger up and drill through the side of my chop at an angle or something since I only have about 1/2" on either side... all my auger bits produce super clean holes without the jig in nice wood with tight grain but the two boards I ended up drilling down the bench were unfortunately not tight grain in the slightest (just construction grade) and i ended up having not so pretty a hole there (but still pretty clean and very functional). I learned SOOOO much while making this bench and and jotting down all my lessons learned to not only make my next bench (years down the road) much much better but also so I can share with everyone else eventually. Case in point with the dog holes... if you are making a construction grade lumber bench and you know which boards are going to have your dog holes, hake sure they are some of your better tighter grain boards, simple stuff like that. My next bench will be a work of art ha. Thanks again for the comment, Cheers!
That's right, I remember now when you mentioned the center drill and I got the impression you're a machinist, then promptly forgot it. :) I unexpectedly inherited a mill/drill, 10" lathe, and compact surface grinder when I was in the middle of my Roubo workbench build. That forced me to rearrange everything in my shop and I ended up building a 12'x3' bench (steel tubing construction with double plywood top) to hold the machines and make better use of my space. I'm almost done filling it with drawers. Once I fill up the drawers I'll have room to once again work on the Roubo. It's been on hold for over a year and it's driving me nuts. But the good news is that I've learned enough that I can make my own Benchcrafted style hardware for it. :) Funny you mention about the bench dog boards. Mine has two strips of "hardwood" (red alder) specifically for that purpose. The rest is all tongue and groove white pine scraps from a shop where I used to work. Just shy of 4" thick after cutting off the tongues and grooves. I'm working on setting up a channel for my stuff (but it's so hard to find time to record, never mind edit), and I think you'll appreciate what I've done to make efficient use of a very small shop for both wood and metal working. Not much to see yet (just a quick clip of grinding down welds on that bench build at night because it looked cool), but eventually I'll get some more up. Not sure how to link to it from my phone, but the channel name is Glue and Sparks.
it is nice being able to make all your own hardware that's for sure. Sub'd to your channel, now you have make some videos to share haha. I totally get the time issue too, i'm seriously thinking about starting to do some editing, every time I think about how much time it will take me to learn editing, i think about how much woodworking/tinkering i would be missing out on and the thought fades away like a fart in the wind. Hence why i never edit. looking forward to your next video ;--)
I couldn't have put it better myself. I'm actually a professional photographer so I have a computer that couldn't be much more perfect for video editing, but I can't seem to bring myself to spend the time to learn it. I know there are a ton of tutorials right here on RU-vid for ever video application, but I would always rather watch woodworking and machining videos instead. :)
