Help holding thin parts

[Tim Elett]

I started with a toy car project I think my dad started, some parts on plan call for small thin pieces like 3/16 thin, any suggestions for holding the parts after the band saw cut, then I run threw a table top planer ,then holding them on a belt sander is the challenge, all ready I have thought of slowing down the belt sander.

[Jim Becker]

Thin material is always a challenge for things like a thicknesser that has knives...a drum sander is generally better for that but in either case using carpet tape or the painters tape and CA holding method and a sled can help. Even for hand planing using mass like a piece of MDF as a temporary substrate can help keep things from ripping apart.

[Edward Weber]

Glue big, cut small
When parts get too small to safely handle, I glue them to something larger. That way I can safely hold them and then cut them off of after machining.

[Tom Bender]

Files and rasps can be used safely. You can make custom ones by gluing sandpaper to bits of wood. For a good bit of wood you might want to go to the store and get a popsicle.

[Jimmy Harris]

One thing I'll do with small pieces is to use some double sided tape and tape them to a larger piece that I can clamp or run through machinery. Though, if it's too small, I probably wouldn't run them through a power planer, as that tool can damage delicate things really easily. I'd probably plane that by hand instead. Or sand it. Just be careful when separating the smaller and larger pieces. I like to put too small pieces of tape, as small as I can get away with, on two far corners, an let them overhang just a bit. This gives me a spot to slide something underneath and in between the two pieces of wood to help work them free (like a chisel or ruler or something). And if need be, you can soak the tape in mineral spirits or naphtha to dissolve the adhesive.

[Lee Schierer]

Double sided tape the small pieces to something larger that will hold them in the position needed for the next operation.