Is there any practical reason to use square bench dogs over round?

I think if you are going to use bench holdfasts, then round holes may be more versatile by allowing a round holdfast post to be rotated to any position 

I am leaning heavily toward going with round bench dogs for a number of reasons.  I am just trying to figure out if there is anything that square dogs offer that I am overlooking.

My bench has round holes so I can’t speak intelligently for square devices. One thing I’ve seen is that square dogs usually have some sort of spring mechanism that holds the dog in any vertical position above the bench top. Round dogs usually drop down and rest on the dog’s “head”. 

Round dogs with one flat face. Can be rotated to help from any direction. 

4D 

I have round holes and use the LV round dogs. There may be some advantage to the square ones (I have no idea) but I know you had best plan for the square holes while the bench is being built. A lot easier that way. The round ones are a piece of cake to put anywhere one an already built bench (my case).

it's easier to drill round holes....

 

Thanks guys, 

 

When I first started down this path I was thinking I was going to do this from a “traditional” perspective and to some degree, that is the intention, but I am certainly not opposed to deviating on things that are going to enhance functionality.  Yeah I could have sourced wooden  vise screws and all but opting for metal hardware just makes more sense.  Likewise, to me the round dogs made more sense from both a construction and versatility perspective.  I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t missing anything other than the “traditional bench dogs are square” argument.

long, long ago, it was far easier for the blacksmith to forge out a square nail or square bench dog than to make a nice round one, so the woodworker adapted and made the holes square to fit the dogs that he was provided.

 

but now.....

 

i have some orange plastic ones that once belonged to a workmate.  measure diameter, drill matching holes, done.

 

so unless you know a blacksmith.....drill some round holes and move on.

 

the point of woodworking is the finished project, not how many extra steps you took to get it done that no one sees or appreciates.

Square holes aren't hard depending how you glue up the benchtop. Leave gaps in the row where you want your dogs to rest. Make the row just as wide as the square dogs. Just take care to make sure the square holes remain square when clamping down the glue-up. 

 

Making square holes in a solid bench you start with a round drilled hole, then use a 4-sided mortise chisel to square them up, 

On my Tage Frid design workbench that I made many years ago,  there are square holes in the front and on the tail vise.  The dogs are sort of F-shaped.  The kit came with 2 metal ones, but I soon made wood ones so I could have a dog in every hole.

 

My second-hand WorkMate came without any, but has round holes.  I made D-shaped dogs that would work for either square or rounded pieces.

 

Both work OK.

 

On my assembly table, I have some T-tracks and made some square and rectangular blocks to hold things, but they don't clamp left to right.