Sawing aid.
Posted: Wed Jan 13, 2021 5:00 pm
Hi folks.
I couldn't be bothered to set up any power tools just for a couple of cuts in some wooden batten, so, I ended up looking for my bench hook, after about an hour or so looking, I realised I'd left it at my daughter's 240 miles away. Yes, I should have reached for my jigsaw. Anyway, I'd already got a bee in my bonnet about using it, so, I quickly knocked one up out of some bits of scrap wood.
So, why am I telling you this, I've no idea, but it made me think of sharing this simple tool with you, because I'm sure some of you won't have heard of it, or would have forgotten about them from your school days.
This is a bench hook.
Made from a piece of 18mm ply, 26cm long by 22 cm wide. With two pieces of 2 by 1 (4.5 by 2cm approximately) prepared timber, 18cm long.
As you can see from the picture, I've glued and screwed one batten along each of the two shorter edges (ends), which are square to the sides. These battens are close to the edge of the left side, and short on the right. Left handed people should fit the battens the opposite way around, close to the right edge etc. When you flip the hook over end to end, it should look the same either side.
Lay the hook down on the bench and push away from you till the underside batten jams against the bench edge, with the upper batten furthest away from you.
Now you can hold bits of wood or tank firmly while you saw them. Alternatively, place your mitre block on the hook while using it to stop it moving about.
Don't worry about damaging it, this is new, my old one is covered in saw cuts, especially near the end of the batten on the right of both sides.
So there you go, a third helping hand when hand sawing, which doesn't have fingers to worry about damaging.
Note, it is best to glue the battens on, I'm using screws till the glue sets. Sadly, screws are not saw friendly, therefore you can remove the screws if you'd prefer.
Note, after the glue has set, there's nothing to stop you adding a couple of angled saw cuts in the battens to use it as an open mitre block. You could even use 2 by 2 (4.5 by 4.5cm) prepared timber for the end batten's for a deeper mitre guide
I couldn't be bothered to set up any power tools just for a couple of cuts in some wooden batten, so, I ended up looking for my bench hook, after about an hour or so looking, I realised I'd left it at my daughter's 240 miles away. Yes, I should have reached for my jigsaw. Anyway, I'd already got a bee in my bonnet about using it, so, I quickly knocked one up out of some bits of scrap wood.
So, why am I telling you this, I've no idea, but it made me think of sharing this simple tool with you, because I'm sure some of you won't have heard of it, or would have forgotten about them from your school days.
This is a bench hook.
- 20210113_155459.jpg (239.3 KiB) Viewed 2565 times
As you can see from the picture, I've glued and screwed one batten along each of the two shorter edges (ends), which are square to the sides. These battens are close to the edge of the left side, and short on the right. Left handed people should fit the battens the opposite way around, close to the right edge etc. When you flip the hook over end to end, it should look the same either side.
Lay the hook down on the bench and push away from you till the underside batten jams against the bench edge, with the upper batten furthest away from you.
Now you can hold bits of wood or tank firmly while you saw them. Alternatively, place your mitre block on the hook while using it to stop it moving about.
Don't worry about damaging it, this is new, my old one is covered in saw cuts, especially near the end of the batten on the right of both sides.
So there you go, a third helping hand when hand sawing, which doesn't have fingers to worry about damaging.
Note, it is best to glue the battens on, I'm using screws till the glue sets. Sadly, screws are not saw friendly, therefore you can remove the screws if you'd prefer.
Note, after the glue has set, there's nothing to stop you adding a couple of angled saw cuts in the battens to use it as an open mitre block. You could even use 2 by 2 (4.5 by 4.5cm) prepared timber for the end batten's for a deeper mitre guide
