Hello to all at Knots,
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In an upcoming issue of Fine Woodworking, we’re planning to do an article on small clamps. We’re defining small clamps as those with a throat capacity of 6-in. or less.
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With that in mind, I’d like to find out how you use small clamps in the shop for both routine and unusual clamping tasks.
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Post your comments here. If we use your clamping method, we’ll give you credit for it in the article, plus we’ll send you a free Fine Woodworking baseball cap.
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Thanks.
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Tom Begnal
Associate editor
Replies
Would this include home made clamps with a 6-inch throat?
For the article, I'm interested in commercial clamps.
That said, a shopmade clamp might be a candidate for our Methods of Work department. Feel free to email shopmade-clamp ideas (or, for that matter, any good workshop tip) to [email protected].
I keep 4 of those small (I guess they open about 4") Irwin Quick Grip clamps next to my bench whenever I need an extra pair of hands.
That's a long list if small is 6" or less. I use little Bessey tradesman clamps (f-style) for all sorts of things. Off the top of my head:
- with packaging tape covered thin offcuts to prevent sticking and marring on the ends of joints in panel glue ups to aid alignment before the bar clamps are brought to bear
- at the ends of cauls (wood bars again with clear packing tape) used to ensure alignment of the midsections of edge joints on panel glue ups
- tiny irwin quickgrips are useful for repairs like gluing a broken chunk of an edge back in place
- face gluing laminations for stuff like bench or pedestal table legs/feet (e.g., gluing the faces of two wide 8/4 maple boards together to arrive at stock that can be milled down to a 3.5 inch square).
My shop is in my garage and I have an unfinished ceiling.
I store most of my small clamps and Quickgrips clamped to a joist in the ceiling. Sometimes I take two 6" Irwin bar clamps and hang a spotlight upside down from the ceiling to give me light where I need it. I have plugs in the ceiling, so sometimes I use the clamps to string an extension cord to my work area, which isn't always at the bench. I also use them to hang unused extension cords and rope from the ceiling.
Although I'm improving, I still spend a lot of time looking for tools. Never my small clamps, though.
Josh
glueing back on a chipped peice of wood
holding a pencil on a peice of wood for a large compass
"It is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer: it feels so good when you stop"
Edited 1/29/2008 9:15 pm ET by andyfew322
I use the little one-handers to keep a stop attached to my table saw or miter saw fence for repetitive cuts. Also use them to hold primitive fences to table top of drill press, band saw, router table. I'm using a 4" C-clamp to keep my wife's potting stand from tilting too much under the stairs on our uneven basement floor (too lazy to level the legs - we've moved that thing 8 or 9 times). I use 4" F-clamps to hold my granite plate on plywood base steady on workbench for "scary sharp" tasks. I use them to hold pieces in place before hitting them with the nailer during assembly. I used two small C-clamps in my garage door runners to keep door from falling on my head when making repairs. I definitely have taken advantage of the suggestion in "Working Alone," using a 6" C-clamp as a handle to haul sheets of plywood up to the roof. I used them to clamp a 2X12 to two short sawhorsed to create scaffolding for me to paint the gutters, soffit and fascia on my ranch house. Man, these came in less than a minute of thinking. I'm not sure I could do without them.
Tom,
If by small clamps, you can include the old style wooden jaw "handscrews" cabinetmakers clamps, here is one method I use occassionally:
Sometimes I need to run small workpieces past a router bit. It is much safer to use a router table rather than a hand held router, but this still puts my fingers closer to the bit than I feel comfortable with. Placing a wood jaw handscrew flat side down on the table, and clamping the piece in the jaws not only keeps my hands away from the bit, it provides a more secure grip of the workpiece.
Thanks, Gary
Hey Gary,
I can't get enough handscrews! Wish I had a lot more and all different sizes.
They're great for holding odd shaped pieces for just about anything. Used in combinations you can come up with all sorts of clamping positions. On some I glue strips of coarse sandpaper to aid in gripping the pieces.
Here's a pic of some scraps left over from some cabriole legs. Just messing around and will glue them together for my scrapture.
Regards,
View ImageBob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
- to hold temporary fences and stops on stationary tool tables like the table saw, band saw, router table, or drill press
- to hold straight edges on panels for cutting things like dados or just ripping with a circular saw
- to hold jigs to the bench or to the work piece
Gluing parts on a boat. You can never have too many clamps. Attached are two photos my friend Tony took while we were at the Wooden Boat School a couple of years ago. This is fairly common to see this many clamps while working on a boat. You will have slightly fewer clamps on a traditional boat where you are using fasteners to attach members.
Bob
BTW. Attending the Wooden Boat School is probably the best vacation you can ever give yourself.
Are you talking about the Landing School in Kennebunk? My high school buddy went there.
Dustin
This is the school operated by the Wooden Boat Magazine. Go to the magazine web site and there is a link to the school. They operate during the summer and offer one and two week courses.
bob
I do (mostly) onsite repair work. I keep two small Bessy F-clamps and two small QuickClamps in my tool tote and use them for many things:
- A third hand to hold parts in place (or out of the way) while I'm working on another end.
- Hold pieces in place while gluing, nailing, screwing, or marking
- Holding jigs such as Kreg pocket hole jig, straightedges, fences, hole-drilling locators, corner squares, etc.
- Pull parts together that have moved out of position or joints coming apart
- Pull together fractured corners & edges in particle board or MDF while I apply CA glue to re-amalgamate prior to repair.
- Apply cauls to reglue veneer bubbles, splinters, loose edge banding
They're always there, right on top.
Tom,
I find that a small handscrew itself works incredibly well as a fence stop, whether it be for a miter saw, miter gauge, drill press fence, etc. They are also indispensable for small repairs such as a chipped corner and keeping boards even when edge-gluing. Odd shaped pieces can be clamped in the handscrew which is then clamped in a vise.
F-clamps are a mainstay for laminations. Their swivelling head is especially useful for bent laminations and they provide a lot of force.
PS: Why don't you have an expert symbol after your name?
Chris @ flairwoodworks
- Success is not the key to happines. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
I have a dozen of the small German made light duty clamps purchased from Garrett Wade a few years ago and use them every time I am in the shop. Latest use was to clamp cauls on both sides of a thin panel of aromatic cedar being glued up for a drawer bottom to keep them flat.
I also use them to hold temporary fences on the drill press table.
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