Lathe Dogs - Places to buy?

[Brent H]

Hey folks,

Anyone have a good source to buy, or some extra lathe dogs kicking around?

I have a 3/4 bent tail and that will do for some things but would like to pick up a 1", 1-1/2" and possibly a 2"

These can be made - no issue there - but it seems like they have fallen off the face of the earth as a lathe tool these days. I picked up one that Busy Bee had on sale a couple months back and low and behold, they don't carry them anymore. They only had the 3/4" one.

They are not used much, but can be handy. I will check KBC tools but they might be a bit pricey?

Thanks

 

[Brent H]

Just back from KBC tools web site...I guess they are not too pricey...

I will keep an eye on the yard sales as well....

 

[PeterT]

I have a few of the KBC ones. They are relatively inexpensive but also not the prettiest things.
https://www.kbctools.ca/CatSearch/237/lathe-dogs

The issue I have there seems to be loose standards on the design of dogs - size of hub area vs reach of arm vs right angle pin part as a function of diameter it can hold. But I don't have a proper dog plate, that is another thing that is getting more rare. You see some people use a face plate slot which allows the typically larger head stock dead center in the spindle. But the FP slots may be too narrow on larger dogs & you have this large disc in the work space. Some people rest the dog on a chuck jaw & grip a center which they tune up-in-situ (therefore not a hardened center). That seems like another clunky workaround. I think I'm going to make a dedicated dog plate out of a common D1-4 backplate adapter plate which can be reasonably priced. And then make a more universal dog with different pin positions or slot for sliding the pin. The tricky bit is machining the teardrop internal hole to accommodate a range of diameters if the dog is say 1/2" steel or so. waterjet comes to mind. If you're interested I'll pull up some drawings i did a while back.

 

[Brent H]

Sure!

that would be great. I was thinking to machine an offset circle and then come in with a smaller end mill to make the V? Would leave maybe a 1/4 notch at the base of the V

 

[Dabbler]

I've gotten mine at Busy Bee, Online, and at KBC. I figured I should get them soon, as they seem to be getting more rare. (I guess I could build some...)

 

[YYCHM]

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/search.php?tabName=Products&term=lathe+dogs

 

[PeterT]

Hmm.. I always assumed the tear drop shape was a prerequisite because you get 3 points of contact (including the screw end). The LMS are basically a chunk of round, so 2 points of contact & kind of tangent to tanget. Easy to replicate, I wonder if they work?

I'll try & remember what was in my brain last year. I think I omitted the integral 90-deg part. Its easy to cast that shape but PITA to machine from solid. I really wonder if the cutting pressures got high if that solid steel arm is going to break before the part just starts spinning in the grip portion. If that's the case, the overall body could be slimmed down a bit. Anyone have any real world experience?

I was told the early ones were forged so tough stuff, but nowadays they are cast from recycled tuna cans. I would thing an assembly from 1/2" steel plate & pins would do the trick, no? What shaft size range are we talking? I'm getting itchy Cad fingers now LOL

 

[YYCHM]

I have a tear drop shaped dogs leg dog that works for a range of stock sizes up to it's max capacity. I have used the LMS donut style ones and they worked ok provided the dog size selected is close to the stock size you're working with.

 

[Dabbler]

it's not very hard to machine the vee into a home lathe dog, either...

 

[Tom Kitta]

BB used to have very inexpensive dogs in two small sizes. Otherwise online, auctions etc.

 

[Brent H]

Broke down and just bought what I was missing from KBC tools. Too many projects - LOL $60

here is the happy family: