DIY Clamps

[tibi]

Hi, I made John Heisz’s parallel bar clamps and they work really well - I would definitely recommend them!

Very nice, thank you. I will definitely look at the instructions.

 

[furnace]

Hi Tom,

I have started to make a toy cabinet that is 1200 mm wide, so I need to clamp that distance while gluing, but maybe I will need to clamp it only on the height side, which is 300 mm and I have plenty of quick grip clamps for that distance. In case I need to clamp also 1200 mm, I would like to build some clamps myself, as I would need to spend at least 150 - 200 € for additional 4 clamps. Or I will use a ratchet strap as was advised to me elsewhere.

At this stage I'd avoid spending too much on rarely used sizes, or clamps that are super strong. I've got a few 300mm and 600mm Record clamps which are handy as they can be joined together to make them longer. However, I hardly ever use them and far prefer to use my cheap, light, aluminium ones from eBay (Silverline or whatever). When retro-fitted with hardwood inserted into the extrusion they become immeasurably stronger.
P.S. I was hiking the High Tatras in August. Beautiful country.

 

[accipiter]

@tibi I'd be looking at getting some clamp head sets (around £20+ on Amazon) so you can then make up what ever length you need using lengths of timber - or metal - with some holes drilled in the length for varying the stops. Sets of X length timber/metal and change the head sets over as needed.

I have some I bought 30+ years ago and use with 1, 1.5 & 2 mt lengths of mahogany with them and just swap over the heads/lengths... I worked for a timber company at the time and would get staff discount. I do also have some sash clamps but the clamp heads were my cheapest option 30+ years ago.

 

[Brodinator4810]

Very nice, thank you. I will definitely look at the instructions.

Thanks - I’ve found them to be a million times better than F clamps for gluing up boards to make panels btw. Mine have got about 1200mm capacity I think (the main bars are about 1400 long) and of the four I made, three were made out of the stiles of some salvaged interior doors and the fourth out of a 2x8 and they all seem equally capable of exerting enough clamping pressure for effective glue ups. Good luck with whatever you end up going with and I’m keen to hear how you get on!

 

[tibi]

@tibi I'd be looking at getting some clamp head sets (around £20+ on Amazon) so you can then make up what ever length you need using lengths of timber - or metal - with some holes drilled in the length for varying the stops. Sets of X length timber/metal and change the head sets over as needed.

I have some I bought 30+ years ago and use with 1, 1.5 & 2 mt lengths of mahogany with them and just swap over the heads/lengths... I worked for a timber company at the time and would get staff discount. I do also have some sash clamps but the clamp heads were my cheapest option 30+ years ago.

Thank you.

I can buy similar sets at fine-tools in Germany for 19,20 EUR /set

 

[tibi]

At this stage I'd avoid spending too much on rarely used sizes, or clamps that are super strong. I've got a few 300mm and 600mm Record clamps which are handy as they can be joined together to make them longer. However, I hardly ever use them and far prefer to use my cheap, light, aluminium ones from eBay (Silverline or whatever). When retro-fitted with hardwood inserted into the extrusion they become immeasurably stronger.
P.S. I was hiking the High Tatras in August. Beautiful country.

Thank you. High Tatras were devastated by a whirlwind 19.11.2004, so they looked completely different before that time. You can see the video of the disaster here

 

[gmgmgm]

I have a lot of F-clamps (basic ones), and the Irwin Quick Grip clamps. You say you have the Quick Grips- there is a £5 coupler which joins two together. So I can join two of my 900mm clamps into a 1800mm clamp, in theory. Would a couple of the couplers give you the size you need?

I also have some sash cramps in a corner, but use them rarely.

 

[tibi]

I have a lot of F-clamps (basic ones), and the Irwin Quick Grip clamps. You say you have the Quick Grips- there is a £5 coupler which joins two together. So I can join two of my 900mm clamps into a 1800mm clamp, in theory. Would a couple of the couplers give you the size you need?

I also have some sash cramps in a corner, but use them rarely.

Thank you. That is a good idea. However, I have 3x 750 mm clamps, 2x 450 mm clamps and 6x 300 mm clamps and a few of other types, so I will not get 4x 1200 mm + out of them, but I will buy a couple of couplers for the future.

 

[Pineapple]

Hello,

I have several quick grip clamps 300 - 750 mm, but for serious work, it will not be enough.

I would need some body clamps as well. In videos almost everyone has Bessey clamps, but 100 EUR per clamp is a little bit steep for me. I have already bought a lot of woodworking tools last year, and I was told to slow down this year, so I have decided to do some DYI clamps. I have some leftovers of fir from my workshop build. Do you have any sound DYI body clamp versions that work well that I may reverse engineer?

Thank you.

I have the same problem as you - and many others.
I've found that I can reduce the number of clamps required by using a spare/tatty piece of board as a mounting surface and add a collection of home-made Fixed & Moveable Blocks on the board and Clamp my work against them with Pairs of Opposing Wedges.
( I find it easier to increase the pressure of the wedges with a screw clamp than bashing them with hammers.) When I have the tension right I can then use the screw-clamp on the next pair of wedges.
When all of the wedging & clamping is done I can set the whole thing aside & use my Bench-Top for the next process.