| Blog series by George_SA | updated 221 days ago | 8 parts | 12402 reads | 16 comments total |
Part 1: The bar and front jaw
You can never have enough clamps, right? I have a odd assortment of bar clamps, including some homemade clamps I made from 25mm (1 Inch) square tubing and a few wooden clamps that work with wedges. I also have some cheap pipe clamps of which the back jaw keeps on slipping under the clamping pressure. The other day I stumbled across this YouTube video i.r.o. homemade heavy duty wooden bar clamps. I drew some plans to get started And so the journey begins.I started b...
Part 2: Securing the nut for the front jaw
Thanks to some good suggestions from fellow LJ’s (derosa and Kova) I secured the nut by using a nylon lock nut that I managed to get in town today (the local co-op only has 10 & 12mm nylon lock nuts) and just to make doubly sure I used a pin as well. This is probably over engineering, but I don’t want the nut to come loose after the jaw has been glued together. I have some 5mm nails which supplied me with a tight press fit pin After peening the pin, I’m sur...
Part 3: Back post
First I cut the mortise and tennons A nice tight fit thanks to my kerfmaker A 25mm hole for the nut and a 16mm hole (not shown) for the threaded rod. Six nuts pinned to the threaded rods The nut is press fitted into the hole A test dry fit The problem with the hinge holes from the door post fixed Previous blogs1) The bar and front jaw2) Securing the nut for the front jaw4) Back jaw
Part 4: Back jaw
Previuos blogs in this series1) The bar and front jaw2) Securing the nut for the front jaw3) Back post
Part 5: Front Jaw
The components for the front jaw A whaser in the front of the nut and at the back of the nut inside the jaw Insert the dowels after gluing Put the pressure on! Before and after sanding Poly drying in the sun Now to drill the half holes in the bottom of the bars. Clamp two clamps bottoms to each other Use a drilling jig to get the holes evenly spaced or use a caliper to mark them. (I switched to the caliper after the first pair as it was faster than moving the ...
Part 6: Saddle supports for the bar to rest on
The original plan was to affix feet to the bottom of the bar. I decided however to make some saddle type supports in which the bar fits. Six pairs stacked Partially finished clamp resting on the saddle supports Bottom view of the saddle support sitting on the bar. It is not fixed and can be moved around to suite the table space availble. I still need to ad the winding handle Almost finished. Phew this is taking longer than I thought it should!
Part 7: The crank handles
The clamps are almost finished! All that is needed are the crank handles. First I cut some 10 mm round bar from my steel scrap heap,. which had to welded together. Next I filed a notch in the threaded rod. and then I welded the crank handle to the threaded rod
Part 8: Reflections on the journey
I have one working clamp and five in the last stages of finishing, so the journey has not quite ended, but it has progressed far enough for a final blog entry. I found this an interesting and satisfying journey with some knowledge gained and skills improved. Insights gained: 1) This journey took longer than I at first anticipated, but isn’t that part of life? Projects are almost always over budget and they take longer than planned. Fortunately I did not make a specific budget ...
