Looking for advice for my new workholding setup

The problem with a lot of these methods, is that without something backing-up wood, you’ll get some tearout.

Take a look at the pics in this thread:

…and you’ll see my solution. It is my binder-clip hold-down method. It is a piece of wood that is routed to create a lip around the edge. Then the workpiece can be held to the wood using binder clips, and you can even place a piece of disposable something between the workpiece and the jig to prevent tearout.

It really works well, I almost always come back to it when I need a high quality finish or if I want to crank-out several of something quickly.