Well, I'm starting back from my winter hiatus.
I was going through a dry run glue up tonight and realized that I don't have clamps long enough for what I'm trying to do. I have the quick grip type clamps - 36" and 24" variety. But I need to clamp about 40" wide.
I thought I had seen somewhere before how to combine two clamps together to make a longer one. Was this on the quick grip style clamps or another kind? Or am I going to have to resort to buying more clamps?
Thanks
Being a woodworker you should know you can never have enough clamps. Combining clamps means using bar or pipe clamps. You really wouldn't have to do that with pipe clamps, since you can use any length pipe. Good luck. Joe
Corey wrote:
Oh noooo..!!! The dilemma!
Pipe clamps have always worked for me. But get good ones. I think most of mine were Pony's..but there were a few crappy ones too.
I had a few K-Bodies. I used those for glueing bisquit joined cabinets. They are a must for that kind of job.... where 'square' matters.
I completely agree with tiredofspam (IF that's his real name). The quickGrip kind just ain't got it. They're supposed to be okay for some things, but I have yet to figger out what. I bought a bunch of clamps at a welding store. C-style. Then I made some
3/4" UHMW Polyethelyne shoes for them.(With a dove tail bit on a router table)..... I use them to hold down guides, templates and jigs. When there is a lot of vibration, say from a router with a 1 1/2" radius Bullnose bit, an aged bar-clamp can pop open. DAMHIKTTue, Feb 15, 2005, 3:21am (EST+5) snipped-for-privacy@myhouse.com (Corey) laments: Well, I'm starting I don't have clamps long enough I thought I had seen somewhere before how to combine two clamps together to make a longer one. Was this on the quick grip style clamps or another kind? Or am I going to have to resort to buying more clamps?
I don't know about combining two, but you could cut the bar in half, and rivet a piece on each half.
Or, you could make cam clamps. I made some 48" long. But, wound up only using shorter ones, so cut the long ones short. Cam clamps work neat, and they are cheeeeep.
Or, you could do like th other guys said, and get pipe clamps.
JOAT Intellectual brilliance is no guarantee against being dead wrong.
- David Fasold
"Corey" wrote in news:8VdQd.27251$uc.10336@trnddc04:
There are clever ways to 'clamp' without buying more clamps (says the fellow who just did a quick mental inventory of over 100...) The best of them rely on a workbench and/or assembly table, and fashion a clamping/squaring jig.
Pocket screws function as sort of a clamp, as can screw blocks into a piece of plywood...
The Revered Plaid One uses a couple of brads, until the glue dries.
Wedges. Rope and a twist stick. Bungee cords. Tie down straps for your pickup truck or backpacking gear. A long belt. Bricks wrapped in brown paper bags and/or duct tape. Sprung sticks against a ceiling or wall. Air bags.
Fast setting glue.
Different joinery.
Or you can buy more clamps. Assuming you're going to do more of this, they are a long term investment.
Betcha JOAT has even more ideas, including some of these I 'borrowed' from his inspiration.
Welcome back.
Patriarch
You can make extensions from scrap wood and clamp to the extensions. I've done this once and it worked well, but after that I bought 3/4" Pony pipe clamps which I used for 10 years until I bought some Bessey clamps. The pipe clamps are nice in that you can add extensions to them when needed. If you think you will be doing woodworking for many years ahead, go ahead and buy good clamps. No matter how good they look, stay away from clamps made in China.
I have quite a few of the harbor freight pipe clamps. They're cheap
but the quality of their cast> If you can't afford a good set of bessey or pony cabinet master clamps,
-- makesawdust
HF has, or at least had, two grades of 2/4" pipe clamps. One with a straight handle and one with a crank handle. I've bought both. The straight handled ones are now rusting in some garbage dump. I use the crank handled ones all the time.
You are right about that wood straight handled junk. The best I have I got in a yard sale for about $5 for the lot. they have a wheel about 3"diam. You get a good grip with the entire hand, and don't need to hold the clamp with one hand while jacking the handle around with the other. More force, more easily applied = less effort. I haven't seen them in stores [prefer auctions and yard sales and house sales], but that would be my first and only choice.
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