No Vise? No Problem With These Work-Holding Hacks

It’s a workshop axiom: If you can’t hold the workpiece securely, you can’t work on it well. Sure, there are lots of times when you can hold something with one hand and cut or drill it with the other. But there are other times that the workpiece has to be firmly clamped because you need two hands to operate the power tool or hand tool.

A firm hold on the workpiece is no problem in most cases when you’re working in a fully-equipped shop with a workbench. But it can be maddeningly difficult to keep a workpiece secure when you’re away from the shop. Whether you’re in the shop or away, the problem becomes even more acute when the workpiece is small or oddly shaped.

Occasionally, there’s also the problem of access to the workpiece. Access to do the work is as important as keeping the workpiece locked down and there are many instances when a typical bench vise or machinist’s vise will secure the part but not permit as much access as you need.

You just have to be inventive. These hacks come to the rescue.

There’s an old workshop saying: you can’t have too many clamps. Good advice. Parallel jaw clamps, pipe clamps, woodworking clamps of various types, and old-fashioned hand screws will allow you to hold most anything. When used in conjunction with a bench vise or a machinist vise, you should be all set. Throw in some double-sided tape when all else fails.

So when I’m away from my shop for a big job, particularly when I'm working on something unusual where there is a high-degree of uncertainty about how it’s going to go, I bring a bunch of clamps of various kinds.

Which brings me to the three basic principles of these improvisations

1. Two-clamp rule: To solve basic work-holding problems, use two clamps. One holds the workpiece and the other clamp secures the first to the work surface.
2. Add a third clamp for access or working height: Two clamps may secure the piece so that you can work on it, but a third can change the work height or position to be more favorable or open access to multiple sides at the same time.
3. C clamps and locking pliers also help: When woodworking clamps won't work, C clamps and locking pliers will often save the day.

→ C Clamps

A C clamp can be combined with a vise or another clamp to hold and position small parts so that they can be worked on. Here, the C clamp holds the part horizontally so that it can be cut easily. The C clamp’s body can be moved up or down in the vise to permit an ideal cutting height.

C Clamps can be ganged together, used in conjunction with other clamping tools, or act as an auxiliary vise with an existing bench vise.

→ Hand Screws

Two hand screws and a parallel jaw woodworking clamp are ganged together enabling access to the front, top and sides in one clamping position. This setup enables you to make holes or saw cuts in these faces without having to reposition the block.

When a vise isn't available, old fashioned hand screws can be grouped together to make a surprisingly effective clamp apparatus.

→ Locking Pliers

Locking pliers provide not only an excellent grip but can be paired together in surprising ways, providing stable work holding and maximum access. This can be put to particularly good use when all you have for a work surface is a piece of plywood supported on sawhorses.

Locking pliers can be paired together or clamped in a bench vise when you need to clamp a small part and have better access than the vise jaws would permit.

→ Pipe Clamps

A pipe clamp with two parallel jaw clamps forms a rudimentary woodworking vise. Here the pipe clamp holds the workpiece edge facing up so that it can be lightly planed to remove saw marks.

Pipe clamps are normally used to bring pieces of wood together so that the parts can be glued into a larger assembly, such as a panel. But they also substitute as a vise to hold a workpiece edge up, face up or end up.

→ Double-Sided Tape

Apply a piece of double-sided tape to the workpiece and lift off its backing paper. Press the workpiece against a clean and flat work surface to hold the piece in place.

Once it’s held firmly to the worksurface by the tape, a piece of wood can be sanded, drilled, sawed or shaped with a router.

Okay, double-sided tape is not a clamp. Even so, it still works. The material can be employed to stick a workpiece to a work surface, hold a block of wood to a woodworking jig, and do other oddball jobs, like hold two parts in position prior to driving screws through them.

Roy Berendsohn

Senior Home Editor

Roy Berendsohn has worked for more than 25 years at Popular Mechanics, where he has written on carpentry, masonry, painting, plumbing, electrical, woodworking, blacksmithing, welding, lawn care, chainsaw use, and outdoor power equipment. When he’s not working on his own house, he volunteers with Sovereign Grace Church doing home repair for families in rural, suburban and urban locations throughout central and southern New Jersey.