How do I hold work steady when I have no vice, or nothing that reaches?

Everybody runs out of clamps, and everybody eventually meets a workpiece no clamp reaches into. The way out is not more clamps but a change of question: instead of asking how to grip the thing, ask which way the tool is going to push it and what could resist that. Most of the time a stop, a wedge or the floor answers it.

What you'll need

• Offcuts for stops, cauls and wedges
• A sheet of rigid insulation or a sacrificial board (optional)
• Non-slip router mat or an offcut of carpet underlay (optional)
• Screws, for fixing stops to a sacrificial surface (optional)
• Whatever clamps you do have

Step by step

1. Work out which way the force goes.A hand saw pushes the work away from you. A plane pushes it forward. A chisel pushes it away and down. A drill pushes down and tries to rotate it. Once you know the direction, you often need a stop rather than a clamp, and a stop is free.
2. Use a stop wherever the force is one-directional.A batten screwed to a sacrificial board, a bench hook, a block clamped at the far end, or the bench dog in a vice. The work is pushed against it rather than held by it, and it never needs adjusting between pieces.
3. Put the work on the floor for anything big.A sheet on rigid insulation on the floor is supported everywhere, cannot fall, cannot tip, and lets you kneel on it. For cutting sheet material it is not a compromise; it is the best method there is.
4. Use folding wedges for real pressure.Two long shallow wedges laid together and tapped in opposite directions apply very large force in a small space. Trap the work between a fixed batten and the wedges, tap them together, and the work is immovable. It is old, cheap and startlingly effective.
5. Use a non-slip mat for light work.A router mat, an offcut of carpet underlay, or a rubber shelf liner under the workpiece stops it sliding for sanding, carving and light routing. It resists sideways movement without clamps in the way, and it is the reason those mats exist.
6. Extend your reach with a caul or a bar.Where a clamp cannot reach into the middle of a panel, a stiff batten laid across the panel with a clamp at each end applies pressure at the centre. The batten does the reaching and the clamps stay at the edges.
7. Screw into the waste.If the piece has an area that will be cut off or covered, screw through it into a sacrificial base. It is the most secure fixing available and it leaves no mark anywhere that matters. Double-sided tape does the same for lighter work.
8. Gang small pieces together.Several small parts clamped or taped as one block are far easier to hold, and cutting or sanding them together makes them identical, which is usually what you wanted anyway.
9. Add mass rather than grip where you can.A heavy weight on the work, a sandbag, or your own knee. For low-force operations, mass is enough and it does not obstruct the tool.
10. Stop and rethink if you are holding it by hand.Holding a workpiece against a power tool with your hand is the mechanism behind a large share of serious workshop injuries. If you cannot see how to hold it, that is information, not an obstacle to push through.

Tips

• Cauls — slightly curved battens laid across a glue-up with a clamp at each end — apply even pressure across a whole panel from only two clamps. The curve is what makes the middle contact first.
• A quick-grip clamp holding a stop block is often better than the same clamp holding the work, because the stop can stay put while the workpiece changes.
• Sacrificial MDF on the bench, with battens screwed wherever you need them, is how most people should be working. It costs a few pounds and it turns any flat surface into a jig.
• For round stock, a V-block cut into an offcut holds it far better than any flat clamp jaw, and stops it rolling.

Common mistakes

• Holding work by hand against a power tool — The tool wins. A router, a grinder or a saw can throw a workpiece faster than you can react, and your hand is usually in the path.
• Relying on one clamp in the middle — It becomes a pivot. Two clamps, or one clamp and a stop, prevent rotation; a single clamp usually does not.
• Over-tightening a clamp on a hollow or brittle item — Plastic, thin metal, laminated panels and mitred frames all crush before they grip. Spread the load with cauls or use less pressure and a stop.
• Clamping onto the cut line — The clamp is in the way of the tool or the offcut drops onto it. Plan where the clamp goes before you mark out, not after.

Questions people ask