After writing last month about the “doe’s foot” appliance in A.-J. Roubo’s plate 14, I decided to make a couple of these devices that resembled the ones shown in the plate.
For the last couple years, I’ve been using a doe’s foot that is about 1/4” x 2” x 24”. Roubo’s looks shorter and wider. So today I made two doe’s feet that were 3/8” x 5” x 14” and tried them out on the bench.
The big advantage of the ones shown in Roubo is that their increased size makes it easier for them to be positioned anywhere on the bench. Because they are wider, a holdfast is much more likely to find them.
Its shorter length makes it easier to secure the doe’s foot without hitting the shop wall – assuming your bench is up against a wall.
Because I am a woodworker, I couldn’t help trying to improve the doe’s foot a bit. While it works fine as-is, I added stick-on sandpaper (#150-grit) to the underside of one of the appliances and tried the two side-by-side to compare, naked vs. grippy.
The one with the sandpaper was almost impossible to slide laterally. The one without sandpaper was secure enough, but I could rotate it with the pad of the holdfast serving as the centerpoint. So I like the addition of the sandpaper.
— Christopher Schwarz
Plate 14 and 384 more plates are all shown in our forthcoming “l’Art du Menuisier: The Book of Plates.” You can still order this book with free domestic shipping until Nov. 19, 2014. The book ships on Nov. 19.
I made a longer slim one myself several months back. I had a little success with it, but had to keep re-positioning it. I had a thought to make a wider one, but never did. I can see the sandpaper being useful as well.
I have some Osmo Polyx antislip oil used for floors and stairs. I suspect a coat or two of that on the underside will work just as well as stuck on sandpaper and look much better. I’ll give it a go this weekend.
I also meant to mention that a typical approach to keep the doe’s foot from slipping would be to drive in three or four brads, snip them close and file the points.
I had been thinking for a while that a bigger on just made sense so this is good to see in practice.
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Maybe another alternative to the sandpaper would be to use your toothing plane on the underside, so it grips the toothed surface of the workbench?
On behalf of Jennie Alexander:
Jennie here
I do not like sandpaper grit on my bench.
When I need friction I use non-slip safety tape for concrete.
For example, the wooden chock I slide back and forth under my shaving horse work surface has safety tape for concrete on both top and bottom. The surface is quite rubbery,. When the covering is peeled from the underside the glue of all glues is exposed for work. And, work it does! Check out the concrete exit steps in the modren building of your choice. The steps have been edged by this tape since the building’s completion. I have two tapes. One is quite thin. When I make a better notched thingee I will tape the underside.
I recognize and applaud your sensitivity about receiving gifts. I have lost the names of the suppliers and have no connections. If you like, I will be delighted to send you a starter kit of a few feet of both tapes. One is almost paper thin. $ in you way? Pick up some rubber stair tread at the Home Center.
But, they are thicker.
Jennie Alexander
I made mine to the same size that I could remember from my Grandfathers. It turns out that it is close to the CS improved design. I will try using some non slip mesh to see if it improves the hold although it has seldom moved and usually because I have not tightened the hold down enough. I do not like sandpaper near my steel tools and keep it away from my bench as much as possible. Abranet does not seem to shed abrasive so it is sometimes allowed.
I thought Richard Maguire showed the pivot as part of the doe foot’s function? Pivot to the board you wish to lock in place. I like the Roubo version, because I could see the longer length being problematic.
If you want it to stay in place, maybe try some of the rubber mesh drawer liner? I use that a lot to hold my piece in place while using an orbital sander.
Yep, I’ve got the wall problem. A shorter doe’s foot works just as well as the longer one, of course. I haven’t made mine quite that wide, but it does become harder to lose in the shavings that way!
So on plate 11, stuck to the left leg of the workbench, is that a doe’s foot? I have been wondering for a while what that item was and why it had such a prominent position.
naked vs grippy. I’ve finally found the title of my first novel (non-fiction).
It’s also a landmark Supreme Court case we all studied in college.