Are dogs a man's best friend?

Of dogs it can be said they be to every man his best friend and so I thought to introduce some thoughts on the Veritas planing stops. A little different than dogs but none the less doggedly reliable and doggedly simple. To contrast this with my no nonsense clamp-in-the-vise method, the planing stop anchors boards frames and panels for those who prefer surface anchorage. Combining my 13” bench top with the 10” opening of the vice I gain support over about 20-22”. Wide enough for doors of generous width and indeterminate length. I like them for planing and also for holding larger items such as this tool chest. One is sufficient for most planing operations, but sometimes I found the combination of two stopped sideways slippage. Combining two, the longer version and the shorter one, is great but with the vise dog as shown it secures the work nicely, squarely and more than adequately to stop an lateral shift. I liked the compactness of these stops as basics around the work area, but I especially like the distribution of pressure along the longer distances. This minimizes or actually eliminates the associated risk of bruising with bench dogs.