# Lathe Dog Questions



## RVJimD (Jan 29, 2015)

Morning All,

I plan to order an assortment of lathe dogs but how does the straight tail version work?  I was planning on ordering the bent tail versions.

and, are face plates all slotted the same width?  This photo is from the Enco site shows the two types but I don't see a spec of the tail.



jim


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## Billh50 (Jan 29, 2015)

I always made my own lathe dogs. Just drill a hole larger that the part at one end of some flat stock. Drill and tap the end for a setscrew through to hole. Drill and tap for a bolt to stick out to grap for turning. Cut the head off the bolt and good to go.

Usually enough 3/8 - 1/2" flat stock cut off pieces laying around for this.


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## Dinosaur Engineer (Jan 29, 2015)

I doubt whether ALL face plates/drive plates have same slot width. If the lathe dog won't fit slot then normal practice is to fit drive pin in the slot ( & secure from rear of plate)  or use tapped hole in drive plate. Using a separate drive pin in a drive plate gives more flexibility. It's a lot easier to fix the drive pin to the lathe dog to prevent any undesired movement.


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## T Bredehoft (Jan 29, 2015)

For those with little experience with Lathe Dogs, once you are set up to turn, with the dog on the piece and it's tail (whether forged or home made) in the slot ,or whatever, use a piece of rawhide shoelace to lash the dog in place on the driving member.  Otherwise it's liable to bounce around, causing all sorts of chatter.


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## Bill C. (Jan 29, 2015)

T Bredehoft said:


> For those with little experience with Lathe Dogs, once you are set up to turn, with the dog on the piece and it's tail (whether forged or home made) in the slot ,or whatever, use a piece of rawhide shoelace to lash the dog in place on the driving member.  Otherwise it's liable to bounce around, causing all sorts of chatter.



Definitely old school, also stops the dog from rattling in between cuts. Good for threading between centers since there will not be any gap when the threading bit and the work piece meet.


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## cathead (Jan 29, 2015)

Personally I would save my money and make one to fit the job. 
Then you have the satisfaction of making it yourself, it would be
made to your needs, and you could have it immediately. 
It would be a fun welding, heating and bending and tapping project.   

The straight tail version would require a bolt mounted in the slot and
sticking out far enough to catch the dog.



RVJimD said:


> Morning All,
> 
> I plan to order an assortment of lathe dogs but how does the straight tail version work?  I was planning on ordering the bent tail versions.
> 
> ...


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## chips&more (Jan 29, 2015)

I have a few lathe dogs somewhere in the shop but can’t recall where I left them about 40 years ago. Don’t get me wrong. I use my metal lathe all the time but not the lathe dogs. A steady rest would be a good thing to have. And I have a following rest, but have not used it yet. Now, if I had a cylindrical grinder that would be a different story, you will need lathe dogs for that…Good Luck, Dave.


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## RVJimD (Jan 29, 2015)

I hadn't even thought about making my own, why not.  You can tell I'm still in low gear and coming up to speed.

thanks for the tips!

jim


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## Bill Gruby (Jan 29, 2015)

I made this one for gear cutting. It's overkill to some . It has interchangeable Brass inserts to change stock size. The range is 1/8 to 1 1/8 diameters. The drive bolt can also be moved to accommodate different tooling.

 "Billy G"


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## Smithdoor (Jan 29, 2015)

Most time  straight tail is use for grinder
Most time bent is use for turning 
Now some of the new lathe  face plate is set to use a straight tail
My self I use bend type only, for both turning and grinding there a lot more bend type than straight tail. Also if you need for heavy turn the bend type will work with 3 & 4 jaw chucks.

Dave



RVJimD said:


> Morning All,
> 
> I plan to order an assortment of lathe dogs but how does the straight tail version work?  I was planning on ordering the bent tail versions.
> 
> ...


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## Hawkeye (Jan 29, 2015)

My 'new' lathe was made in 1943 in Sweden. It came with a drive plate with a pin protruding from it. The dogs are straight pin type.

Everything old is new again.


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## road (Jan 30, 2015)

Here is a pic  of a simple drive dog I made for my mini lathe


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## Splat (Feb 3, 2015)

Make your own using the suggestions here or use shaft collars and either weld a stud on or drill and tap or use a bolt and nut for the stud. Cheaper than buying "real" dogs.


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## digiex_chris (Feb 3, 2015)

definitely make before you start stocking up on them. You might find you use them less often than you thought. I almost always come up with other ways to drive stuff, like holding one end in a 4 jaw chuck. If it's worth setting up with a dog so I can remove and replace a couple of times, then it's probably worth my time to make a quick dog for it.

I often find the pre-built dogs don't fit in the setups I want to use them in anyway. Like the bent one doesn't fit when I want to use my chuck, and turn a center in a bit of stock held in the chuck. I wanted a dog to place against the chuck jaw, but had to make a shorter one to fit.


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