The Bench Hook Plan · Free Plan Nº 03

Sheet 2 · The build

A bench hook hooks over the front of your bench and holds small pieces while you saw them by hand. It's an old shop jig that costs almost nothing and makes your crosscuts straighter right away.

The bench hook hooked over a workbench edge while a hand saw cuts a piece held against its fence — What you're building: the finished bench hook.

Tools

Saw
Drill with countersink bit
Square

Materials

3/4" plywood scrap, at least 9" × 12"
1x2 board, 2 ft (hardwood if you have it)
1-1/4" wood screws, 4
Wood glue

Cut list

Name	Qty	Size
Base	1	3/4 ply, 9 × 12
Top fence	1	3/4 × 1-1/2 × 8
Bottom cleat	1	3/4 × 1-1/2 × 8

Sizes in inches: thickness × width × length

Steps

Cut the base and both cleats. Check that the fence ends are square, because the fence is what your work pushes against.
Glue the top fence B across one short end of the base, flush with the end and flush with the left edge. That leaves 1" open on the right for the saw (use the other side if you saw left-handed).
Turn the base over. Glue the bottom cleat C across the other short end on the underside, flush with the end.
Drive two screws through each cleat into the base. Keep the screws in the middle of the cleat, well away from the open end where the saw runs.
To use it, hook the bottom cleat over the front of your bench, hold the work against the fence, and saw in the open gap.

Shop note

After a while the saw will cut into the fence. That's fine. The kerf in the fence becomes a guide for square cuts at that spot.