FEATURE
Woodworking
Left
Bench hook with left
shoulder. The fence is
shorter than the base.
Fine-tooth back sawMake aMake a
bench hookbench hook
Create this useful
workbench accessory
I
n my woodworking journey, I
soon realised that accuracy and
repeatability are critical to
precise joinery and mitres that fit
correctly. Trimming small parts to
precise lengths is important. Often, a
band-saw or table saw are used. Although
precision is achieved using machines, the large
capacity of a band-saw or table saw is better suited
to large wood parts. With small parts, the saw-blade
kerf can equal the amount to trim. In other words,
large machines are not conducive to working with
small furniture parts. Additionally, cutting small parts
on a machine is not safe, as your hands are close to
the blade.
A better solution is the bench hook. When used
with a fine saw, it provides accuracy when trimming
small parts. It has a fence for a small workpiece to
be held against, which is also the guide for the
handsaw blade, and the action of sawing the
workpiece keeps it tightly against the fence.
You can easily make a bench hook from scrap
wood. It consists of three components; the base,fence, and hook. The fence is the business end; the
hook attaches underneath, and keeps the bench
hook against the edge of a workbench. The fence
and hook are at opposite ends of a flat base, which
can be a small piece of plywood. Plywood is
dimensionally stable and lends itself well to a bench
hook. The fence and hook are made of softwood or
hardwood. Hardwood is preferred as it wears.