Axminster 4 way clamping system

[Steve]

I'm doing a load of doors for a study in hard Maple (luverly stuff) and needed a cost-effective way of clamping up lots of panels at the same time. Enter the Axminster system, which at less than £20 a hit seemed like a good idea. I was also attracted by its simplicity - being a simple man meself.
I'm therefore delighted to report to my peers on this 'ere forum that they are a treasure! They provide an excellent means of joining panels and apply pressure on all four planes. Nice, flat, square panels every time. Now what more could you ask for?
If anyone's interested, the part code is FWCS.

Steve

 

[trevtheturner]

Steve,

Perhaps this is a stupid question but, looking at your pic., the system also looks ideal for clamping up table tops by easily setting up the clamps to the size needed

What do you think?

Trev.

 

[Steve]

Hi Trev,

Absolutely. The capacity of the clamps is obviously governed by the length of the timber you use. I've been using relatively short lengths for the door panels, but my next job is an Oak and Elm table and I'll have no hesitation in trying them out. It strikes me that if you're a bit clever with the grain and select timbers with a slight spring, the downward pressure would be maintained on a big width. Haven't tried that yet, but I'll let you know! I've been using plain old CLS, dirt cheap and very effective.
The capacity in terms of depth is over 50mm, so it should pretty much cope with anything. Compound blanks for turning come to mind... :wink:

Steve

 

[trevtheturner]

Thanks, Steve, for your helpful reply.

An oak dining table, for home, is on the cards at some stage and your posting seems to have answered one of the questions I had been mulling over as an alternative to spending loads on a number of large, expensive Besseys at this stage.

Compund blanks for turning, too - yes, maybe. :wink:

A very useful posting - and shows the value of these forums, eh!

Cheers, Trev.

 

[Mike.C]

Hi Steve,

Now i know that i am going to regret asking this question (stupid comes to mind) but here goes anyway. Don't you need more then one of these clamps to glue a panel together? I know that it all depends on how long the panel is, but even on fairly small panels i usually use 3 clamps (2 on one side and to stop it buckling 1 on the other), or does the pressure on 4 sides deal with this?

Alright you don't have to laugh.

Mike.C

 

[SimonA]

The picture hes using is the stock photo from Axminser site and it only shows one clamp........but yes you would be right to think that you would need two or more clamps depending on the size of area you where glueing up.

SimonA