How do I stop a workpiece moving while I cut or drill it?

Almost every accuracy problem and a large share of the injuries in home workshops come from the same thing: the workpiece moved. Holding it properly is faster than correcting it afterwards.

Safety

What you'll need

• G-clamps or F-clamps
• workbench or portable folding bench
• scrap for sacrificial boards and packing
• bench hook (optional)
• non-slip mat (optional)

Step by step

1. Clamp before you start, not after it moves.The time saved by not clamping is smaller than the time lost to one spoiled cut, and much smaller than the cost of an injury.
2. Support the work close to where you are working.A board clamped a metre from the cut still flexes. Support within a few centimetres of the action removes vibration and improves the finish.
3. Use two clamps, not one.A single clamp is a pivot. Two prevent rotation, which is the movement that actually causes trouble.
4. Put a sacrificial board underneath.It supports the underside against breakout, protects the bench, and lets you clamp through and into it.
5. Use a stop rather than friction where you can.A batten screwed to the bench that the work pushes against resists cutting forces far better than clamping pressure alone, and it is quicker to reposition.
6. Make a bench hook for hand sawing.A board with a lip at each end, one hooking over the bench edge and one for the work to push against. It is the traditional answer and it works better than clamps for crosscutting small stock.
7. Protect the surface with packing.Scraps of ply or card under the clamp jaws stop them bruising the work. Clamps close hard enough to dent almost anything.
8. Never hold metal by hand under a drill.Small parts snatch and spin at drill speed. A clamp, a vice or a drill press vice, always.
9. Think about where the offcut goes.An unsupported offcut that drops mid-cut pinches the blade and causes kickback. Support both sides, or let the offcut fall clear.
10. Use a non-slip mat for light routing and sanding.For work that only needs to resist a light sideways force, a router mat holds surprisingly well and leaves the whole surface accessible.

Tips

• Two clamps, always. One clamp is a hinge.
• A screwed-down batten as a stop is quicker and more effective than clamping for repetitive small cuts.
• Packing under clamp jaws costs seconds and prevents dents that take much longer to sand out.

Common mistakes

• Holding the work with a knee or a spare hand — It cannot resist the sudden forces a snatching blade or bit produces, and it puts a body part in the path of the tool.
• Clamping only at the ends of a long board — The middle flexes under tool pressure, which spoils accuracy and, on a saw cut, lets the kerf close and pinch the blade.

If it doesn't work

Questions people ask