DoubleGroove™ 20mm Smart Connect Bench Dogs

TSO is excited to partner with Ron Paulk to offer a bench dog like no other: the Smart Connect Dog. Unlike traditional bench dogs which protrude from the work surface to act as a material stop, Smart Connect Dogs feature a chamfered lip that seats flush or slightly underneath your work surface. If you've been following Ron's latest bench and router table designs, you'll see him relying on layered panels to create flexible, expandable, portable work surfaces—and we love the idea. When it comes to layering or connecting work surfaces, rather than relying on clamps (expensive, imprecise, subject to getting knocked out of alignment) or traditional 20mm bench dogs with collars (which take up worktop space), Smart Connect Dogs used with our economical M8 Star Grip Knobs or more premium M8 SpeedKnobs provide strong clamping action, precise registration and won't interfere with your work. With a body length of 28mm, Smart Connect Dogs are perfect for layering/connecting two 15mm (or 5/8") thick plywood panels with knobs clamping from underneath, as Ron demonstrates in the video to the right. This is just one creative use for Smart Connect Dogs; we know the TSO user community will come up with even more great ideas! (And please share them with us.)

To flush mount Smart Connect Dogs, you will need to chamfer the 20mm holes on your work surface. We recommend using a trim router with a quality 45˚ chamfer bit, as this allows you to perfectly adjust the depth of the chamfer to match these bench dogs. We do not recommend using the fixed-cut-depth of the UJK Chamfer Tool which is not suitable for plywood.

To secure your DoubleGroove™ Dogs, consider adding M8 Star Grip Knobs or premium SpeedKnobs™ (sold separately). We think you'll find these knobs to be far and away the fastest and easiest-to-thread option; they're the best we've ever tested.