Dedicated Clamping Cauls

Jay Pique · 2009-06-09T00:15:08+00:00

Quite some time ago I had Morris make me up a clamping caul"template". Basically it's a 48" long piece of Masonite with a curvecut on one edge to a radius of 2000.5 (inches, I believe). The goalwas to have the ends be 1/8" higher than the center when place on aflat surface. Well just recently I got around to making the actualcauls themselves. I had a bunch of baltic birch rippings left over,so I laminated three pieces together and template routed the curveinto one edge. The finished dimensions are 1.5 x ~3 x 40". I madethem 40" because that maximized usage of material, and because Ineeded them for a 36" round table top. I ended up making six of them,and they really worked like a charm. I used them in pairs, top andbottom, but I suppose if you had a really rigid bench you could justuse one on top to push it flat. In that case, though, maybe you'dwant them a bit wider - say 4" or so.And, for those who think it ridiculous to go through the trouble ofobtaining a CNC'd template to make a clamping caul.....you're probablyright! To me a fair curve seems like it should apply more evenpressure across the width of the panel, so that's why I wanted it.Thanks, Morris!JP