I would like to make my own cam clamps like in the attached picture but have not found any specific details on these. By any chance does anyone have detail of this? I’ve looked closedly at various pictures and am not clear if the steel bar needs to have serated edges, how to determine shape or lift of the cam and what to use for the steel pins -presumably something hardened?
Any suggestions would be appreciated
“Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!” -Goethe
Replies
We have had them in our shop and I thought they were fairly useless. You might buy one and try it out before you go through a lot of trouble making several of them. If you like the way the test one works you can get the details of the construction off of it.
John W.
Fair comment, what drew my attention was this video on youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsqyJfgusV4
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
I was referring specifically to the clamp you showed in your first posting, the clamp in the video was shop made and not a bar clamp style.
John W.
Thanks for the suggestion to try one out first before spending the time making a bunch. Basically I wanted a fast way to get more clamps without much expense. However as you pointed out these are not too popular. "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Hey, Gary,
I have no personal experience using cam clamps, but I can tell you of two books that have some info. on similar clamps.
"Making Woodwork Aids and Devices" by Robert Wearing (pg. 32)
"The Fine Art of Cabinetmaking" by James Krenov (pg. 78)
Wearing's book has a plan for a cam clamp that uses an aluminum bar. He doesn't mention any serration on the bar's edge.
Krenov shows a clamp that he likes for light work that is similar to, but not an actual cam clamp. He makes his own, completely out of wood. The clamping force is produced by squeezing on the back sides of the jaws and friction between the movable jaw and the bar holds the pressure on the work.
Gary, I hope this is helpful in some way. Your public library should have Krenov's book. It may be harder to find Wearing's. Both books very nice.
John, you mentioned that you had tried some cam clamps before and found them lacking. What exactly, was it that you did not like?
Regards,
Randy
Hey Randy - next time I am near a library I should look up your suggested reading.
I imagine cam bar clamps do not create the kind of pressures other clamps do. I'm thinking a way to improve them is to have a pivoting jaw on the cam end of the clamp to help with alignment. I wonder would increasing the rate of the cam travel so that the pivot jaw travels further be useful without reducing clamping pressure. Perhaps 2 cams could work together, the first to get rough alignment and the second slower-rate cam to provide clamping pressure. And maybe, just maybe, this is simply one really daft idea!
Regards - Gary"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Hi, Gary,
I think the cam clamp was invented by guitar makers. They need a lot of light weight clamps for their work. The virtue, as I see it, is that a craftsman could make up a bunch of clamps for himself on the cheap. If you need a more robust clamp, I suggest you make a bar clamp like the one shown on pg. 50 of "Fine Woodworking on The Small Workshop". This clamp is made of wood but uses a steel bolt and a nut to provide the pressure, just like a store bought pipe clamp.
What kind of work do you do? Would I be rude to assume that you are new to woodworking, and you are primarily interested in it as a hobby? If so, may I suggest that you not get too hung up on making your own tools? The precision needed for making many types of tools is too great for a beginner who is further handicapped by a shortage of the very tools you are trying to make for yourself. Many people have successfully done what I am advising against, but they belong to an exceptional group. Try finding good second hand tools at a good price, and dive into making simple furniture that your family can use now. If you start making tools first, there is a strong chance that your family won't see a table or blanket chest for years. I recommend that get all the tool catalogs there are, go to all the fancy woodworker stores, go to Home Depot, and... don't buy anything, just study the prices! That way, when you see something for sale somewhere, you will have a clue whether it is a good buy. There is a lot more to say on the subject of equipping a shop, but the best advice I ever heard was to select a simple project to build (this is a project that your family needs, mind, not one for your shop, ha,ha) then buy just the tools you will need to complete that project. The next project may require one, or two more tools. Over time, you will no longer need to buy anything else. Well that is the fantasy, ha,ha.
Well, Gary, I don't know if I answered your question about the wisdom of trying to soup-up a cam clamp. If you feel the need to try it, go ahead. Maybe you will invent something really helpful to all the rest of us splinterheads.
Regards,
Randy
Forget the clamps. I'm gonna build that Godzilla of a work bench!!!ONWARD! THROUGH THE FOG.
Chuck
Hi Randy - good point on simply using a bolt to apply pressure, this could function as a the second cam possibly with a wing nut for hand tightening. A fine thread would allow for more pressure than course thread. Again I'm not sure this would really work and likely I am better off using what is already developed. It is fun to tinker though.
I would be a novice and hobbyist and have been since I did woodworking classes in school 35 years ago. I only got my first full size cabinet table saw and planer last year but have had most other tools in a one car garage workshop space for 20 years. Only in the last 3 years has woodworking become my primary hobby that I spend 4-20 hours a week on. I have a small variety of clamps -pipe, bar, G, screw and spring. I plan to get my first k-body clamps this year and from what I have heard these will fast become favorites.
My next project is to design and build a console that houses a motorized lift for a 50" LCD tv, for the living room. Liftbox make a unit complete with remote control that at $950 is kind of expensive but probably worth it. What's different from commercially available consoles is that this one will house speakers that flop out the sides and front as the tv raises. My 'real' life long obsession is being an audiophile where my fondest possession was a pair of 6-foot high magnepan loudspeakers, however my wife dislikes such boxy things and she thinks ones that are hidden most of the time are a dream come true. Fortunately http://www.orbaudio.com/ make speakers that probably aren't half bad for tv sound and these should fit easily into a box. Liftbox make a unit that lifts 200lbs that with a few extra levers and pulleys should do the job. I should make a separate post of this as it would be valuable to get other's input on this.
The wooden steel bolt clamp you mention sounds mighty interesting. I routinely scavange garage sales for used tools (does anybody not do this?) - 2 weeks ago I picked up a 14" Stanley #5 and a Sargent block plane both in good condition for $14.
Regards -Gary
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Edited 7/14/2007 8:55 am by GaryPC
Gary, do you have a .jpg of your TV console? 560kb is a pretty big file.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Hi, Gary,
It looks like you know your way around a shop as well, or better, than I do, so I don't need to act like some kind of expert, which I am not. I am also not an expert on audio equipment. The cost of admission is a bit too steep for me! Sounds like you have some really nice stuff, if I knew more about it, I'm sure I'd be green with envy!
Forestgirl, what's up with you gals not liking the looks of really good speakers? Poor Gary has to hide his most prized possessions, it seems a shame. Why can't you ladies just think of them as giant cubic Hummel figurines! ( Oh, that did it, I'm in trouble now! )
Gary, gotta run now, Forestgirl is after me with a nail gun! Aaaahhh!
Cheers,
Randy
Hi, Randy,
For my part I always appreciate it when people take the time to respond and I certainly got value from your well put together responses. Very thoughtful of you.
Yeah the loudspeakers appearance issue sure does seem to be gender based. The Magnepan 3.6 or Maggies as they are often called are propably the best value speaker on the market, measuring 24"w x 71"h x <2" deep. And we guys are superficial???
Cheers- Gary"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Sorry, Randy, you'll have to try harder than that to get me "armed and dangerous." LOL!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
You're the best, Forestgirl!
There are occasional indications of a love affair developing between picture-taking woodworkers and PDF files. Absolutely do not understand it. Those files are humongous for what little they actually provide for the eye to see. Leaves the dial-up folks in a lurch, for sure. Been there, suffered that, wasn't fun.
forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Edited 7/15/2007 12:13 pm by forestgirl
Sorry forestgirl somehow I missed your earlier post re a smaller jpg and this one until now. I don't know how that happened.
I see eddiefromaustralia kindly converted the large pdf to a 30kb jpg. It is a really rough idea of what I'm looking at.
I'll keep file size in mind in future :-)
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Here you go Gary - same image as above
30kb versus 500+ that is a big improvement in file size.
Good luck with the drought I hear the cotton industry is suffering
Cheers- Gary"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Hi Gary,
I believe FWW #71 has an article on making cam clamps.
As another possible option for your speaker issue, I offer you the following:
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/YSP1/idx_ysp1000.htm
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Hi Bob,
Thank you much. The yamaha would certainly be worth listening to.
Regards,
Gary"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Gary,
There was blog on FWW about an entertainment center a while back and the system featured the YSP. I Googled it and read the specs., then went to Tweeter and listened to the YSP-1000.
You wouldn't believe the sound! I'm making an EC also, but quite a bit different than most. It's going to be in the Queene Anne style lowboy and I want it to look like a piece of furniture not an EC. Flat panel on the wall behind will get picture framed.
Best of luck with yours.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 7/16/2007 1:19 pm ET by KiddervilleAcres
I've made several of these when I was into making musical instruments. They're essential for some operations in that field, but have limited application in other areas of woodworking.
I made mine with 1/4 by 1 inch aluminum bars. I used 1/8" roll pins for pins.
There's no need to serrate the bars. They hold just fine without them.
I don't remember where I got the plans for them. It may have been "Making Woodwork Aids and Devices " previously mentioned.
Rick W
Gary, I just saw this thread. If you're interested I've done a dimensioned SketchUp drawing of a cam clamp such as what you are asking about. From it you could build the clamps you want. I could e-mail the SKP file or, if you don't have SketchUp, I could make some image files for you.
Dave
Dave - thanks - thats a good looking detail. I see you don't use pins in the cam jaw at the bar?
Gary"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
The clamp I based the plan off of was made without pins on the lower jaw. I guess you could add pins easily enough. I could even draw them in if needed.
If you don't really need a cam clamp but rather a lightweight clamp with a deep throat, here is a clamp I designed. I designed it to be very lightweight but strong, inexpensive to make and also quick to make. I made a dozen of 'em one morning so I could get on with planking the baby cradle I built for my son.
Now that is clever. I see I've been thinking in a smaller box and am beginning to see that all kinds of designs are possible. "Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
here's a good description with drawing:
http://www.woodshoptips.com/tips/050304/index.htm
-bingo this is just the ticket. Thank You.
Gary"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
I own several of those clamps and use them a lot to dry fit pieces and when gluing pieces that do not require a lot of clamping force.
The thing I like about them is that they are light in weight and have cork pads on the clamping faces.
I get it about reduced clamping pressure with a cam clamp especially with a wooden bar. There are plenty of times my pipe clamps are the only thing that will do the job. It occurs to me that in an ideal world where everything is properly dimensioned and cut and the timber is stable ... I would not need more that 200lbs clamping pressure?
I've just added cork to my hand screw clamps - wow!"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Update time: I did build 4 of the cam clamps and after using for 3-4 months think it was well worthwhile. They are light weight and the the cam action allows for light pressure which I've found useful when sneaking a cabinet up to a good fit. They are a pleasure to use and the light weight is a real plus. I also now have Jet parallel clamps which are downright fabulous.
"Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now!" -Goethe
Edited 3/22/2008 8:08 am by GaryPC
Another positive thing I failed to mention was that the clamps can be used side by side to each other because of the cam not needing to be turned like a hand screw. Every linear inch of a piece can have pressure with cam clamps because of that.
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