I first made this bench hold down clamp over 20 years ago, but it was temporary then, and not sure where it went (probably into another project) today I am making a new one, modular, so I can use different top components with it like wood, or steel angle-iron for bench clamping different kinds of flat wood to my bench.
The bench clamp is quite easy, but does have a few features that if you just look at it, you can easily miss.
Note: This article does NOT have further info on the phone App Woodworkers Companion, it's free to download and use from the Apple App Store or Google Playbooks, and only take a few minutes to download and begin using, or you can go directly to website here - http://www.mywoodapp.com
First of all, I wanted the top to be interchangeable with other woods, that might be thinner (for more spring) or even angle iron, that I could apply even clamping from edge to edge, such as for gluing veneers or something similar.
Since the goal of the clamp was to be somewhat permanent, when the holes in the block were drilled, in order to NOT have the hanger bolts pull out, reinforcing them into the Chestnut block I had selected would be important. For this, Starbond THIN was selected as the watery consistency tends to soak into the wood hardening the sides for for the screw threaded hanger bolts.
To be interchangeable, the top needs to be easily replaceable which is why I decided to use Hanger Bolts for this. To be truly interchangeable the tops need to have identical hole patters. This is where my Dowelmax came in, I installed the 1/4" hole block and decided I could use any two holes where there is a blank hole between them. 
Of course the real test comes with the clamping effort. I decided to use some of the Anti Skid material I so often use, for 2 reasons, it works well as anti skid or anti slip, but it also cushions the wood to help prevent any bumps, dents or other marks the clamping might make.
One of my main goals was to be able to have the wood hanging off the end of my bench which allows me much more flexibility on how I tackle the work, such as joinery with my Paring Chisels as show below.
For many who are not familiar with Paring Chisel, these are NOT hammering chisels, but more carving chisels used by hand, in woodworking joinery to trim or carve the wood, similar to what hand planing work achieves.
The main purpose of the clamp is for an upcoming stool build I want to make and a way to "scoop" out the seat of the stool for conform to the "sitters bottom", a more comfortable sitting position.
Again, some folks in woodworking may not be familiar with "flap wheels" or "flap sanding" which merely means a sanding device most often attached to either a drill or in this case an angle grinder. These are more often use in metal working to smoothing, rust removal and rougher polishing.
For reader who are still waiting for the notice that the Mosrite Guitar I gifted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has gone on display, here is a picture of it, located in a new section call "Garage Bands" as of February, 2026
If you are have not watched the video, and are interested, the link is below
Colin Knecht
woodworkweb
