I just finished a glueup with 5 pairs of 2x4 cauls held together with 5 pairs of bar clamps, the bars sticking up in the air like an iron jungle. Next time I want the clamps as integral parts of the cauls. I'm thinking lengths of threaded rod pivoted on the bottom caul and then flipped up into a slot in the end of the top caul and tightened with a knob. But I know some of you old hands must have already done this and can share some photos (and advice) on how you did it.
==> Dick
I give up. I've got to ask the dumb questions. What's a caul. I tried to find out myself and all I could find was "large fatty omentum covering the intestines".
Bob
In woodworking parlance, it is a bar or board used to flatten out multiple workpieces in relation to each other when clamping for a glue-up.
They sometimes have a slightly curved edge in order to exert more pressure on the pieces being glued, and are often clamped to the work surface.
IOW, say you have a large panel glue-up and the pressure of the clamps causes the panel to bow up in the middle. You would place a caul across the workpiece and clamp said caul to the work table on both ends, thereby flattening the bow and insuring a flat panel when the glue is dry.
There are other meanings of the word, and there might be an alternative spelling, but the above is the one you will run across most in ww circles, at least in my experience.
My understanding of a "caul" is a piece of wood (or other material for that matter) that sits between the piece you are working on and the jaw of the clamp. The idea is to protect your work from the clamp marking it up in any way. There may be other definitions but this is what was taught to me.
Yes, that describes many of us. Ed
This kind of arrangement is not uncommon. I bet a quick perusal of woodworking magazines and/or books at the library will get you some good pointers. Especially if you look at issues a few years old. Seems like the rise of vacuum-clamping systems is driving out the use of cauls, and thus articles addressing caul design, especially in flat work, which is what I assume you have been doing.
I hate when I get my caul stuck between the clamp and the workpiece.
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