Lining clamp pads - what to use?

[Larry Blanchard]

$19.99???????? The same pads are $3.71 on Amazon. Seems like Walmart isn't *always* cheaper :-).

[dadiOH]

There are lots of ways to improvise clamps. I used to do what you are doing without *any* pipe clamps. I used the fence of my radial saw one one side; for the other, I clamped a 2x4 to the table and used wedges with it. No reason you can't clamp or nail a couple of 2x4s to a piece of plywood and use wedges on both sides.

[Sonny]

I have an assortment of ply and solid wood scrap for buffering clamp jaws. For non-stick surfaces, I have some scrap laminent flooring pieces.

Often times, I have furniture that needs repair/reclamping (during the upholstery process). The surfaces are finished, so I have a dozen or so blocks wrapped with scrap upholstery fabric (stapled on the backside), that prevents marring the furniture finish.

Sonny

[Greg Guarino]

That idea appeals to my practical side (which is all sides really), but wouldn't wedges apply pressure unevenly, perhaps putting the pieces out of square? I must not be visualizing it right. Maybe you use two wedges facing in opposite directions, laying down on their sides?

[RicodJour]

Yep. Or attach the block to match the wedge angle.

R

[dpb]

BTW, you asked about materials...it's not terribly important, I used cutoffs of some soft maple for the ones I've done. The individual pieces aren't very thick, half-inch or less w/o looking; the cauls are nearly full inch thickness to be pretty stiff for load dispersal.

On the thing about the original plastic pads--I've some Jorgy bar clamps w/ the orange pads and have never noticed them leaving any marks or stains. Then again, if one lets a piece of oak touch a black pipe clamp and glue, after the tannic acid stain there, a little spot on the edge won't seem so bad... :)

--

[Greg Guarino]

I made a pair of the "price tags" this evening after work, using the material I mentioned above. I cut them maybe twice the size of the metal jaws, drilled 1-1/8" holes to accept the pipe and rounded the edges and corners a bit. It took all of five minutes and they fit the clamp nicely. If they work well in use, I'll make a bunch more. Thanks again.

[dadiOH]

Wedges are always used in pairs.

[Larry Jaques]

...unless you wish to clamp something which is not exactly square to the faces of the clamp.

-- Worry is a misuse of imagination. -- Dan Zadra

[Greg Guarino]

Makes sense. If you wouldn't mind furthering my education (again) should I decide to make myself some wedges, what angle do you recommend?

This could become useful pretty soon, as the desktop I'm making is 6 feet long. I have actually unearthed one very old bar clamp of sufficient length (among the debris of an old plumber/kitchen installer), but one clamp won't do the job. I could buy some longer pieces of pipe, but this idea intrigues me.

[Doug Houseman]

To keep your cork or other facing material in place, use double sided tape behind it. It will hold until the clamp is lined up. I use carpet tape to do this, it is better than double sided scotch tape. If you take it off the clamp as soon as you are done, very little adhesive stays behind to clean up.

[Larry Jaques]

I think 7-10 degrees is the norm. Steep enough to work but shallow enough not to self-release.

Also look into cam clamps.

them store-boughten wuns diy

-- We are always the same age inside. -- Gertrude Stein

[dadiOH]

Never measured so I just did...they are about 18 degrees.

The less the angle the greater the mechanical advantage but you also have to move them more to "spread" them a given distance.

Mine are fine for me. One tip, don't smooth the mating edges...if they are rough there is much less tendency for them to slip (which has never been a problem for me).

Larry Jaques mentioned cam clamps. They are handy too. In case you don't know what they are, they are cut out of a piece of plywood (usually) and look like a giant comma. The head of the comma is fastened down via an off center hole; when you rotate the tail of the comma, the distance of the head - being off center - to whatever you are clamping varies.

[Greg Guarino]

I made 5 sets of the "price tags" for my current project. They were a vast improvement over loose pieces of scrap, but they did tend to spin, as you mentioned.

This became a bit of a problem because I had to run some of the clamps

*under* my desktop project. I had really long clamps running above it, in the long dimension. The Jorgensen clamps (two of the regular bar clamps and one Cabinet Master) had enough jaw depth to span over the other clamps, but my "pipe" clamps did not. The work piece was resting on sawhorses, so I enlisted my wife and daughter to help position the clamps that had to run underneath, and orient the "price tags" correctly.

I didn't bother covering them, figuring I had some fairly serious sanding to do anyway. They did indeed leave a mark, or at least the round ones on the crank-adjustable end did. The one on the sliding jaw did not. Curious.

My project should survive it, but that's pretty poor performance on the part of a manufacturer who has known about this problem for many years.