The bench hook is a very useful article to have about the work bench. It is made of hard wood, preferably maple. The drawing is shown in Plate 3. The main piece is made 7/8" × 6" × 12". Two cross cleats are made, one being 7/8" × 1-1/2" × 6" and the other 7/8" × 1-1/2" × 5". Holes are bored and countersunk at the places shown in the drawing. Great care must be taken in cutting these three pieces of wood to see that every edge is square and true. One of the cleats is attached on one side of the board even with the end, while the other is placed on the other side on the opposite end. These are held in place with glue and 1-1/4" No. 8 flat-head screws. By referring to the drawing and the sketch the idea may be readily seen. It will be noticed that the short cleat has its end even with the left-hand edge, thus leaving a space of an inch at the right. When used with this side up it is for the purpose of sawing off small pieces of wood with the back saw, and when used with the other side up, on which the long cleat is attached, it is for the purpose of planing the end of a piece of wood across the grain.

If a piece of wood is set up in a vise for end planing and the planing is done across the grain, the fibers on the further edge have no support but break away, as shown in Fig. C, Plate 3. In using the bench-hook the wood lies flat on the board and fits tight against the long cleat, and the plane is laid flat on its side and pushed back and forth. (Plate 3, Fig. A.)

It can be readily seen that supported as it now is, the piece of wood being planed will not splinter or break on its further edge. Pains must be taken, however, to keep the plane flat on its side, not raising it on its edge at all, for by so doing the resulting planed edge will not be square. This bench-hook may be made quite easily by the beginner and besides being a good problem, is a very helpful addition to the tool outfit. It works very well when planing wood not over six or seven inches wide. Wood wider than this should be planed as follows: Place the piece of wood upright in the vise with the end grain uppermost, and plane about three-quarters of the way across the edge. Then turn the piece and plane the remaining part back in the opposite direction. By so doing the end of the wood will not be split.

Figures A and B, Plate 3, show the operation of the bench-hook for both sawing and planing.