Soundly worked with the hands as required (6)
I believe the answer is:
needed
'required' is the definition.
(I know that required can be written as needed)
'soundly worked' is the wordplay.
'soundly' shows a homophone (sound like).
'worked' becomes 'kneaded' ('knead' can be a synonym of 'work').
'kneaded' is a homophone of 'NEEDED'.
'with the hands as' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for needed that I've seen before include "Obligatory" , "Was in want of" , "Required, necessary" , "Missing" , "Lacked something essential" .)