What is a bench hook, and how do I make one?

A bench hook costs nothing, takes twenty minutes, and turns hand-sawing small stock from an awkward two-handed struggle into a controlled operation. It works because the force of a saw is directed away from you, so a single batten is enough to resist it — no clamp, no vice, nothing to set up between cuts.

What you'll need

• A flat offcut of 18mm ply, MDF or hardwood, about 300 by 200mm
• Two battens of about 25 by 40mm hardwood
• Screws and a drill
• Glue (optional)
• Saw and a square

Step by step

1. Choose a flat base.18mm birch ply or MDF, or a piece of hardwood, around 300 by 200mm. It must be flat, because everything you cut on it registers against it. A warped base makes every cut out of square in a way that is hard to diagnose.
2. Cut two battens.Both the full width of the base, about 25mm thick and 40mm deep. Hardwood lasts far better than softwood here — the far batten takes a saw cut every time it is used.
3. Fix one batten on the underside, at one end.Glue and screw it flush with the end, across the full width. This is the batten that hooks over the front edge of the bench and stops the whole thing sliding away.
4. Fix the other on the top face, at the other end.Same again, on the opposite face and opposite end. This is the stop the workpiece bears against. Countersink the screws well below the surface — a saw will find them otherwise.
5. Keep the screws away from where you will saw.Put them near the ends of the battens, not in the middle third. The middle is where the saw will cut into the far batten, and hitting a screw ruins both the saw and your afternoon.
6. Square the far batten carefully.It is the fence the work registers against, so its face must be square to the base. Check it with a try square before the glue goes off, because everything cut on the hook inherits its angle.
7. Use it.Hook it over the bench edge, hold the work firmly against the far batten with your left hand well clear of the cut line, and saw. The saw's forward stroke pushes the work harder against the batten, so it holds itself.
8. Add a 45 degree kerf if you want.Sawing a shallow 45 degree slot part way through the far batten gives you a rough mitre guide. It is not precise, but it is convenient for beading and small trim.
9. Make a shooting board next.The same idea for a plane rather than a saw: a stepped board where the workpiece sits on the upper level against a stop, and a plane runs on its side along the lower level, trimming the end grain exactly square. It is the traditional way to get a perfect square or mitred end on small work.

Tips

• Make two while you have the material out. One for the bench and one for wherever else you end up working.
• Screw rather than glue the far batten if you want to be able to replace it once it is sawn to pieces — it is a consumable.
• A strip of adhesive-backed sandpaper on the top face stops small work slipping sideways.
• For cutting a lot of identical short lengths, screw a stop block to the top face at the right distance from the saw line. Every piece is then the same without measuring.

Common mistakes

• Using softwood for the far batten — It compresses and splinters under repeated saw cuts and stops being a straight fence quite quickly. Hardwood lasts years.
• Screwing through the middle of a batten — That is exactly where the saw will eventually cut. Keep fixings at the ends.
• Making the base too small — A hook that is smaller than the work is unstable and the work overhangs unsupported. 300 by 200mm is about the minimum that is generally useful.
• Not checking the far batten is square to the base — Every crosscut made on it will be out by the same amount, consistently, and you will blame your sawing.

Questions people ask