Bench Cookies / Work Grippers

Work grippers -- Rockler's "Bench Cookies" is the name most people use, and other makers have their own -- are small pucks or wedges with high-friction rubber on both faces. Four of them under a panel raise it off the bench and hold it against sliding purely by friction.

What they are for

The specific problem is sanding and routing a flat panel. Clamps hold it beautifully and are exactly where the sander needs to go. Grippers hold it well enough for the sideways forces involved and put nothing above the work surface at all.

The lift is the second half of the job. A panel raised 20mm off the bench lets you:

• Rout or sand the edges without the bench in the way.
• Get a finish over the edge without it welding itself to the bench.
• Keep dust and chips from packing under the workpiece and denting the face.
• Get fingers under it to pick it up.

The limits, honestly

They resist sliding. They do not resist lifting, tipping, or real force. A router grabbing on a climb cut will move the workpiece and the grippers with it. Anything involving significant lateral load -- planing, chiselling, aggressive belt sanding -- wants proper clamping or a hold-down.

They also only work as well as the surfaces are clean. A layer of fine dust between rubber and workpiece is a lubricant, and grippers are the last thing to keep working on a genuinely dusty bench. Wipe them.

Stacking

Most are designed to stack, either on each other or with matching risers, which is how you get enough height to clear a router bit or to bring a piece up to a comfortable working level. Stacked, they get progressively less stable -- fine for sanding, not for anything with side load.

For finishing specifically, painter's pyramids do the lifting job with far less contact area, which matters when the contact point will otherwise stick to a wet surface.