How to hold down the items your working on?

Bench cookies work really well if your piece is heavy enough to make the friction prevent sliding. I hear bench hooks are good for planing stops, too, though I’ve never tried them.

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=30951

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_hook

I use a piece of carpet pad, or those perforated black rubber tool drawer liners to hold some of the smaller pieces still while sanding and hand planning. If I need more holding power for like routing I’ll add a bench hold down to that. I have one hole in the bench for the hold down to go through.

-- I don't make mistakes, I have great learning lessons, Greg

bench hook is a good idea
but make a pair so longer boards is on the same level
while you are at it make a shootingboard too

take two boards 1×8 and a 2×8 the thin one about 10 inch longer than the other
screw them together about 3 inch from the end of the thin board
in the other end of the 2×8 you can make a short stopblock that is raised all from just a few mm
to 2 inch over the 2×8 now you can clamp the thin board to your table or what ever
with out the clamps get in the way when you using planes on the project/boards
for heavyer cuts make two sawbenches they come in handy when sawing ofcourse :-)
but also as low tables when you work on other higher things
that wuold be too high to have on a table but too low to have on the floor
beside they can be used as stepstols and the place you enjoy a mug of coffee :-)
two sawhorses is a good thing to have toooo
a haevy duty sawhorse where the beam is made of a 6×6
you can have a moxon vice on a planing stop and a legvice isn´t so bad to have either :-)

Dennis

I do all of the above, and another trick. If size allows, I’ll clamp a board to the back of my bench behind my vice, so my piece is hanging off the edge just a little. I usually use a 1/2” thick piece so when working with 3/4, I have some room. Then I put a piece of wood in my vice sticking up just below the piece I am working on. I crank the vice to hold the piece snug

-- http://www.etsy.com/shop/KandJWoodCrafts

built a shooting board already, love that thing. guess im not sure what a bench hook is, what is the best type of top mounted hold down.

Here’s a bench hook http://lumberjocks.com/projects/3000

I’ve never had a bench with bench dogs and have used many of the above techniques

-- W James Brokenbourgh Custom furniture maker http://artisticwoodstudio.com/

If you have saw horses and two short parallel clamps (my preference), then you can use these to do edge work on your boards. Put the horse close together and hook up the clamps, alternating them front and back of the horses. Put the board upright between the horses using them as jaws. The board holds strong. It’s like a poor man’s Workmate, only more substantial when using bigger horses.

-- jay, www.allaboutastro.com

I use a pop up planing stop, Grammercy holdfasts, bench hooks, and if I have to… my vises.

It’s amazing how useful good holdfasts can be, even with power tools.

-- It's all good, if it's wood...

Rookie, there are a whole bunch of improvised methods for holding stock which are really only limited by your imagination I guess.

I would like to suggest that a good workbench is more conducive to proper stock holding chores and because of that, is safer for you and your tools.

It sounds like you are invested in the hobby enough to warrant a bench and while there are some benches out there that cost a good sum of money, you do not have to buy a new expensive one. I have seen decent workbenches for sale on Craigslist, so if you don’t want to make one, you have other options. If you are interested in making your own (highly recommended, I built my first one), you would be surprised to find it doesn’t take much time and doesn’t cost very much money at all. FineWoodworking has a video series on a simple bench which was very easy to make.

http://www.startwoodworking.com/getting-started/season-two

This bench includes a vice and dog holes for holdfasts which coupled together will perform most stock holding chores. One nice thing about building your own is you can modify the plans to fit your own needs. Maybe add a second vise or build provisions for a tail vise, whatever. And there really is no better accomplishment than building your own tools and putting them to use (a workbench IS a tool).

That’s my two cents, Good Luck!

-- Mike

Members of LJ have many ingenious ways for dealing with your problem. And many turn out great pieces of work using only the most basic of tools.

But paratrooper is right. A good bench is actually just a clamping tool. Your work will become so much easier when you can work on the full face of a piece and reposition it in seconds, and have it held rock steady. Heck, you might even be able to use handplanes.

But if a bench isn’t in your future, you can sure do a lot of things without one.

-- Trees, a wonderful gift --Joe--

When I use the ROS I use a piece of short nap carpet. It holds the work down and you don’t even need to hold on to it.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.

Before I could afford an MFT3, I purchased a Festool top and built
my own base and made a movable bench.

If you run cleats on the wall, you can make it sturdy enough
to use hand planes. It’s fun as well.

Bernouli clamps are another way to go.

-- Bondo Gaposis

Cam clamps are easy and work well.

-- Superdav "No matter where you go - there you are." http://chiselandforge.com