Mods to K body type blocks

[woodchucker]

I bought 2 sets of k blocks from woodcraft... but they were not Bessey's they were woodcraft brand.. one set came with clamps (bessey clamps branded woodcraft) the other set I bought so I could do more than one set of doors, or drawers at a time.

They were useless as they were not like the k blocks... Well, I was really annoyed, and finally I thought about it.. I've had them years and haven't used them much because of the problem.

I just cut them down to look more like the bessey's on one side.. See this link you'll notice the clamps did not come close to each other. Now they do... if you were dumb enough (like me) to buy these... this simple mod makes them useful.. you only need to cut one side to make them useful.

if you cut a second perpendicular side, you would make them useless.

See:

[Leon]

I absolutely never saw the point to having the blocks.

I build lots of drawers, 2011 I build 100 drawers.

Anyway just set one pare on your work bench and set your drawer pieces on top. Then put your other pair of clamps on top of the drawer, clocked 90 degrees and pointed down. Problem solved.

Now if I pin the corners while all four clamps are in place I can take the top clamps off and only use the bottom two clamps for holding things together while the glue dries.

And BTW your are not dumb, you did not have enough information to make an educated purchase.

[Sea Blues]

Very nicely done.

Looked at you pictures saw a vacuum attachment for you band saw, how did that work out for your?

[woodchucker]

Works great.. I get a full 2 1/4 inch port.. so most of the dust is pulled in.. not all, but most. Way better than stock.

I had tried at the bottom of the guard cover, but that didn't work well. So I went back to this.. I was greedy and looking for close to 100% I think what I have is as good as it gets with a 2 1/4 system.

[woodchucker]

I have seen the value. But I bought them a few years ago and saw that there was a problem long after I bought them. I wanted to get some use out of them, and finally saw the light.

Agreed, that how I have been doing it. But it seems like less fuss to just drop the drawer in and tighten. Hoping when I am ready to do the glue ups that it will be easier.

Ok, but had I checked them out when I bought them instead of letting them sit for a long, long time I could have returned the extra set... Anyway, I think this resolves the problem to some extent... I'll get a chance to try them out the way I had hoped.

[Leon]

The biggest problem I see with them is that they align the clamps into the corner. You really want the clamps to be off set to apply pressure on the side and or end, not a combination of the two. And when you stack the clamps like the blocks require you loose about one additional inch of clamping surface.

Basically you have to cut your box joints and or dove tails shallow so that the clamp actually pushes the sides and ends together. You really want to cut the joints a touch deep. Then you just sand the ends flush with the sides or ends.

Yes if you over clamp you distort the joint but you really don't have to squeeze any harder than to close the joint. Additionally if you cut the bottom to fit precisely the bottoms will help to square every thing up and aid in preventing distortion.

When I put clamps on top they really are on the upper end/side. I use the whole clamp surface which includes the area at the bar and below the bar.

A picture might be worth a thousand words if you would like to see one.

[woodchucker]

That's why I modified the blocks because it matters when doing drawers. the slightest pressure deforms them. It's not an issue for a door, the rail doesn't really deform.

Putting pressure on the dovetail is no big deal, just a piece of cork is enough to allow it to imprint in the cork.

Again, I do that now... but looking forward to dropping the drawer in.. I can add a nother clamp on top for the one that is lower... after. But this thing is nice, in testing a dry fitting, it's much easier to square it up..

[Leon]

Not talking doors, strictly drawers.

done correctly, you don't need that.

I end up with 2 clamps while the glue is drying, I only use the 4 clamps to square it then I remove the drawer with the top end clamps and leave the bottom clamps for all of the remaining drawers. So in your case once you get the drawer squared with the bottom clamps and add the top you can remove the drawer, with wet glue, with just the top clamp.

[Sea Blues]

Thanks! It looked too much like common sense, if you know what I mean. ;) I'm going to be giving it a shot.