Multi-Functional tables can really live up to their name. Useful for cutting, work holding, assembly, clamping tasks, and more, there are a wide variety of uses for one of these tables in your workshop.
In this post I’ll provide a whirlwind tour of the different accessories that you can use.
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The Magical 2096 System
The so-called 2096 system describes a series of 20mm dog holes spaced 96mm apart, center to center.
This 96mm measure is commonly used in Europe for cabinet design. For example, shelf pins are typically spaced 32mm apart. Apparently after World War 2 they needed a standard for mass-producing all the kitchen cabinets needed as part of rebuilding efforts. As they built up the factories, the most readily available commercial helical gears had shafts on 32mm centers. This led to the standard we have today.
Bench Dogs
The most obvious use of a top full of holes is to fill them with work stops! Enter the bench dog, the basic building block of many of the tools and jigs used on this type of work bench. Your basic bench dog has a ~19.9mm shaft that slots into the table, and some type of collar that stops it falling through the table.
Pictured here are three different brands that fulfill different needs.
On the left are UJK Parf Dogs, in 12mm and 50mm lengths. I like these because they are available in pairs and both ends can be used in the bench holes.
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Shown in the center are a variety of different Woodpecker dogs in various heights. They came with different kits I’ve purchased over the years, and unfortunately you can’t buy them separately.
Lastly, on the right, there’s a set of dogs from Right Angle Design. These are made from acetal plastic (trade name Delrin), which makes them easy to modify. I expanded the hole on one of these so I could mount a lamp on my table.
Buy UJK via Axminster Tools – $16.00 for 2 x 50mm
Buy UJK via Axminster Tools – $11.00 for 2 x 12mm
Buy Right Angle Design via Etsy – $10.25 for 4
Anchor Dogs
Bench dog holes can be designed with a 45° chamfer, to make bench dog insertion a bit easier. Chamfers at the top of the work surface can also allows specially shaped bench dogs to sit flush in the hole but not fall through. Anchor dogs feature small collar that fits into the chamfer, keeping them flush to the table. To make use of these, there’s a a threaded hole that allow them to be fastened to a jig, in this case an M6 thread.
Buy UJK via Axminster – $12.00 for 2
Surface Dog
Another useful bench dog simply raises material off the table. This reduces the chances of scratching a project you’re working on, or cutting into your MFT table surface.
Buy via Benchdogs UK – $18.64 for 8
Fences
There are a variety of different straightedges that you can then mount on to a bench dog, creating a fence or work stop. These accessories allow you to square up material during assembly or support a piece that you are machining, such as adding a Domino mortise.
Buy Armor-Tool via Amazon – $25.99
Woodpeckers’ Deluxe bench dog kit included a fence that sits on top of their 1/8″ dogs to create fence that can support the material you are working on. Unfortunately this was a OneTimeTool and so ut is not currently available.
Workholding
A straight edge is very useful, but when you need to hold work materials firmly in place, you need a way wedge the material in place. Top-down clamps are useful, but what if you want to work on the entire surface of your workpiece?
Woodpeckers sells a very comprehensive 2096-compatible system for holding boards other such project materials. It consists of a range of different pieces that are held in place with bench dogs and wedges that grip the material from its side.
Buy Now via Woodpeckers – $299.99
A cheaper alternative is the UJK Cam Clamps. These feature an off-center hole that increases clamping pressure on your workpiece when rotated, and they need to be paired with fences and wedges to accommodate different material dimensions.
Buy UJK via Axminster – $11.00 for 2
Bench Cookies
Bench Cookies are a staple of any workshop, and when coupled with a Bench Dog it keeps the cookie in a fixed position on the table. Not only do they grip the material, making sanding easier, they also raise the material giving clearance for cutting.
Rockler offers a couple of different options that include a 3/4″ bench dog. I 3D-printed some 19.9mm dogs so they fit more tightly into the hole. Benjamen has a clever riser design on Thingiverse that allows you to raise the cookie above the table.
Buy Now via Rockler – $11.99 for 4
Cutting
The primary function, or at least the most popular use for the Festool MFT is cutting boards and sheet goods using a track saw. With just three bench dogs you can quickly make a 90° cut.
This method isn’t limited to square cuts, but can also be used to cut different angles by placing the dogs in different holes. A 45° cut is easy to figure out, but with the right maths it can be used for various different angles.
A simple improvement to this cutting method is a clip that holds track saw track firmly against a bench dog. Shown here is the UJK Parf Dog Rail Clip.
Buy UJK via Axminster Tools – $11.00 for a pair
You can also opt for Veritas stainless steel “Parf Dogs” from Lee Valley and their distributors.
Buy Now via Lee Valley
Buy Now via Festool Products (Tool Nut)
Angled Cutting
If you are making repeated cuts and different angles, there are squares that mount into bench dogs that give you infinite flexibility. The MTR-18 Precision System Triangle Set from TSO Products mounts on two bench dogs and allows you to cut precisely at any angle.
Buy via TSO Products – $445
Sacrificial Fences and Wings
Another useful accessory is a sacrificial fence. In this example, I used 1575 Faztek aluminium extrusion, fastened a strip of MDF on top, and mount some 3D printed bench dogs. This allows me to freely cut into the surface, keeping my Formica bench free of cuts. I use these when I am breaking down a sheet before the pieces are a manageable size.
My DIY fences also expands the size of my working area by supporting materials hanging over the edge of the table. This is particularly handy for clamping.
Clamping
Bench dog holes can also be used for clamping, and there’s plenty of different clamps to choose from. Not only does the Bessey Ratchet Clamp slots into track of a track saw, it can also be used to hold projects down.
Buy Now via Amazon – $38.68
Buy Now: Festool Clamp via Amazon
Final Thoughts
A bench top equipped with a 2096 hole system can be very versatile, with broad capabilities that can really expand your ability to work on different phases of a project.
Given that the system is metric, there’s a lot of innovation coming from European brands. As a result this post does includes links to a few companies in the UK, don’t be put off by this option, as shipping from the UK can be cheaper than ground shipping within the USA. We also have plenty of European readers, and so I’m sure they will appreciate the links to a local company for a change.
I hope this has opened the Pandora’s box of options available to you.
fred
I really like what you’ve built here.
These are what the modern workbench has transitioned into.
I’ve seen a variety of assembly and welding tables from folks like Barth, Demmeler, Siegmund et. al. – during my sojourns to Germany. Even for the business – the prices always scared me off a bit. I could never quite work out the cost/benefit on some of them. I did like the fact that many offered hydraulic/pneumatic scissor-jack lifting.
https://www.barth-maschinenbau.de/en/produkt/assembly-table-vakuulift-s/
Meanwhile – I guess I’ll soldier-on with the home shop bench I made back in the ’70’s. – Like yours I can walk around it, use the 4 vises (2 Wilton, 2 Columbian) and their aligned dog holes – plus some holes positioned for holdfasts (both the pound-in variety – and some Marples/Record screw down ones that work with embedded collars). What I’m missing is the uniformity and number of hole spacing’s across the top that gives you much more flexibility. What I probably gain is that my old maple and oak bench is solid enough to allow me to really pound on something if need be.
Plain grainy
The current tables out there are pretty expensive to buy. The Kreg and Festool come to mind.
fred
The basic Barth table starts at around $10,000 – fully tricked-out it can cost you $20,000. You can buy a lot of Kreg and Festool stuf for that money – but they are no where near as robust or capable.
Plain grainy
Those Barth lift tables are amazing.
HTG
Thanks for this summary, Ben. It’s remarkably comprehensive, and yes, I am very envious of all the widgets you’ve been able to photograph on your own bench!
A couple of additional bits, though…
You mention Bessey ratchet clamps. Instead, I have a pair of DeWalt track clamps. Not only were they cheaper, but they are the single-handed trigger-style clamps, which can make life a lot easier. One hand to steady the loose workpiece, and then the other to tighten the clamp. Much as I love Bessey clamps, team yellow seems to win here. Even if the clamps are black.
There’s also yet another variety of clamp, and it has somehow not made your extensive list! Festool make things called the MFT-SP:
https://www.festool.co.uk/accessory/488030—mft-sp#Overview
The idea is you can clamp 18mm sheet goods flat on the table and place the track straight over the top. Unfortunately, being made by Festool, they are extortionately expensive. I was too mean to stomp up the cash for these, so I picked up these from Banggood:
https://www.banggood.com/2pcs-Quick-Ratchet-Release-Speed-Squeeze-Woodworking-Clamp-Clip-Kit-Spreader-Gadget-Tool-DIY-p-1454253.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN
They definitely aren’t as good, and in particular, they are deeper than18mm, so there are some restrictions to when you can use them. They probably won’t last so long either. However, the clamp type that is parallel to the table is probably the one I use most. Cam clamps and wedges are more fiddly, I think, mostly because the throw is less than the 96mm between diol holes so you usually need some wedges or offcut blocks to pad things out. I’ve got some Veritas Bench Blades (http://www.veritastools.com/Products/Page.aspx?p=513) too, and they are also much less useful because of their short throw.
I reckon a useful starter kit to cover most eventualities would include:
• At least a couple of low dogs, over which the track will run. UJK and Veritas are both nice for me. Push the workpiece against them to square it to the table.
• A pair of tall dogs with rail clips means you can square up a track trivially. Now you can cut square, which is sort of the point of the MFT table.
• A pair of MFT-SPs or the like, for clamping most things. They also come with dogs to push against, so they can add to or sub for your collection of other low dogs.
• The track clamps you probably already have will almost certainly work for top-down clamping.
There’s an infinite variety, and an even large infinity of money you can spend on this sort of widgetry, but this seems to be a solid place to start from, where frustration at not quite having what you need is reduced to an acceptable minimum. I do use all the things I have collected occasionally, including the Bench Blades, but the ones I use the most really do dominate.
fred
Seneca is another source for some of those widgets:
https://www.senecawoodworking.com/collections/mft-accessories
Ben V
Thanks HTG
Funny you mention the Dewalt clamps, I had a set but sold them when I sold my Dewalt Tracksaw (after buying the Festool TS55). You are right they are easier to use than the Bessey, maybe not as much clamping force but for holding materials in place they are definitely functional! I might look into getting another pair.
I was actually hesitating in including clamps because I wasn’t sure I could do that topic justice! There’s quite a few ‘horizontal’ clamps like those Banggood\Festools ones, including some nice ones from Armor Tools.
Cheers
Ben
Drew M
I’d love to see some overlap between the “2096” sort of system and welding tables.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJVZjhRTEfs
I often wonder why “woodworkers” seem to try to reinvent the wheel when another industry already has an excellent system.
Bob
Drew M I agree with you. That fireball tool video came right to mind. It’s funny we both thought out of the same thing. I’m in the market for a welding table. That video was an awesome very comprehensive review.
My only hesitation with using a welding table for woodworking is if you slip off the piece of wood your working on you’re going to ruin your chisel, plane, saw blade etc. It definitely could be a market for welding table companies like Certi flat. They could sell the weld table and offer some sort of wood sacrificial cover that matches the weld table holes as a consumable. When it wears out you just replace it. You can put a lot of clamping force on something like an acorn style table. Great for my crappy joints that need the BF hammer to go together haha
Only other issue is sawdust catching on fire if you go back to welding. Nothing a shop vac can’t take care of tho.
Drew M
Wasn’t Certi-flat the only one that wasn’t flat and bent easily when clamps were added?
fred
You might want to take a look at Demmeler:
https://www.demmeler.com/products-shop/original-3d-clamping-systems/3d-welding-tables
Plain grainy
Fine dust particles in the air, then introducing an ignition source? Sounds like a recipe for an explosion.
Bob
All my brushed a/c motors ark a little. My unisaw has seen 70 years of fine dust particles. It probably would survive an explosion but I mean I don’t see any chard paint or anything so I don’t think it’s ever exploded Lol.
Fairly confident if you use your head you will be just fine.
And yes I think certi flat was the most out of flat but I think it was only a few thousands more than the rest? For wood, which moves, probably good. But if your going duel use Im with you, might be better options. I was just thinking them because I think they water jet cut their tables (I really should rewatch that video)? They could easily swap to cutting wood sacrificial sheets with a water jet as opposed to a plasma cutter that would just burn the wood. One of the companies used a laser to cut their metal table. Can you cut wood with lasers? I guess it’s really not that hard to invest in a CNC router table if it’s a business model they want to go after. Probably better than a water jet anyways it’s going to get the wood all wet and warped.
Bob
*Arc as in sparks not that Noah guy. Haha
Wayne R.
From Fireball Tool, his welding table review: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJVZjhRTEfs
I know it’s not the same thing as a workbench, but this is fascinating and Jason obviously knows his stuff.
Wayne R.
Oops, Drew beat me to it…
TonyT
Talking about table trivia, optical tables typically come with a 25mm grid of screw holes (e.g. 1/4-20 or M6). While I’m sure they’re much more precise than MFTs, I doubt they’d stand up to typical wood-working….
An example here:
https://www.newport.com/p/M-INT2-36-6-N
Flotsam
Superb article!! This is the kind of unique content that makes Toolguyd great.
Question: for US made work benches what is the typical spacing for those?
Stuart
As far as I am aware, traditional USA workbenches have 3/4″ dog holes, and the spacing was never fully standardized (that I’ve seen), with only recommendations of maybe 4-6″. Dog holes were commonly used in conjunction with woodworking vises, and so vise opening widths and capacities could play into dog hole spacings to ensure you could properly clamp materials of different widths.
Lee Valley’s workbench slabs have dog holes in a 7-3/4″ grid.
Their worksurfaces have a denser grid, but it’s still not any specific standard. https://toolguyd.com/veritas-worksurface-with-dog-holes-t-tracks/
Workbenches from Sjobergs, Lie Nielsen and others also have widely spaced hole patterns.
fred
When I built my bench – now almost 50 years ago – the recommendations were to measure the maximum opening of your vises – then to subtract 2 inches and round up/down to the nearest inch to get the dog hole spacing along the centerline of the vises. To select spacing of the other dog holes across the bench top – I took my holdfasts and used them as a guide – so that I’d have enough holes to use the holdfasts. So on my 4 foot deep bench – I have holes set to correspond to the 4 inch reach of my holdfasts. So my holes are spaced at 8 inches apart.
Ben V
Yes that’s the logic I read about and used on my first bench.
Nathan
I was going to ask what the normal US hole size and spacing was. For some reason 3/4 was in my head with 1.5 inch spacing. 96mm seems rather far apart.
Although regardless the grid size it’s useful. I’ve thought about adding holes to my normal take down work table but haven’t done it yet.
DId you buy that table top pre-made or cut the holes yourself? Is there a benefit to using the metric pieces?
Ben V
I created the top using the UJK Parf Guide System II.
I stuck with metric because that’s what I was brought up with. There’s no real benefit, except it’s just more logical 🙂
As noted in the other comments, there’s no real standard for an imperial table, so there’s no tools that specifically rely on a standard spacing, that I know of. With a metric table there’s a lot of tools that rely on the 96mm spacing.