LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Project Information

I saw something like this at Rockler yesterday. I already had everything I'd need to build it myself, so that's what I did. I used a piece of 14 ga unistrut with a strut angle bolted on one end. I cut a piece of steel wide enough to fit inside the channel and tapped a 1/2-13 hole at one end. I used a piece of 1/2" allthread with locked bolts at one end.

It probably isn't strong enough to clamp a cutting board together, but it'll work great for picture frames and other things I'll tackle.

Gallery

Comments

· Registered
Joined
·
9,145 Posts
Neat Mark. You'll need a power source to turn the nuts to bring it up the rod fast.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
396 Posts
Cool Clamps!
 

· Registered
Joined
·
9,509 Posts
Very nice. Let us know what you think after you try it out.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
939 Posts
Nice set of clamps. Like Wayne, I would be interested in hearing how well they work for you.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
2,489 Posts
Mark,
You might be surprised how much you can clamp. It had to be cheaper than the door clamp. I've thought about making some kind of door clamp but haven't gotten around to it. Thanks for sharing. I'm sure it will speed up what ever I do.
Tom
 

· Registered
Joined
·
1,043 Posts
Thats pretty slick, Mark. Not only did you improvise and build your own, you also saved $190.00. Ya can't beat that!
 

· Registered
Joined
·
1,410 Posts
Woooo Hoooo! Great idea please keep us posted?
And where do you buy unistrut?
 

· Registered
Joined
·
109 Posts
I got the strut from a construction supply place. Electric supply places have it as do most big orange or blue stores.

Now if I could only figure out how to build a jointer….
 

· Registered
Joined
·
9,509 Posts
There are plans for one (jointer) in the Shopnotes Tools and Jigs publication. It uses a router for edge jointing. I belive it will joint up to almost 2".
 

· Registered
Joined
·
204 Posts
Great idea. Ive got the supplies at work, Ill give it a try.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
46 Posts
Great idea for off the shelf hardware. Ive got one very similiar, using the narrow profile unistrut and inlaid level with the top surface four struts tit tat toe style across my four foot by four foot laminated 2×4 glue up table. Then used midified pipe clamps by attaching four hole angle brackets to each then using unistrut nuts to attach the clamps they slide into place then lock down with unistrut nut and bolt. The whole table surface is level to work on. Its adaptable to any situation. Unistrut clamps could be made diagonal (like a panel saw) for those with limited space.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
1,490 Posts
Lowe's and Home Depot both carry Uni Strut. It's called/brand Super Strut and can be found in the conduit racks.
 

· Registered
Joined
·
8 Posts
Simple to make but vewry functional ! I like it….Very functional I mean!
 

· Registered
Joined
·
14 Posts
I did something similar once upon a time and actually used it for a cutting board. I had gone to the local roofing/garage door installation company and taken a few of the old garage doors with the long acme lead screw thingie and used that for the clamp. (Highly technical terms, I know) The door comes with one, but you can either buy extra nuts for it, or if you know someone handy with a lathe, they can crank a few out for next to nothing. Or if you aren't planning on putting much pressure on them, I say great job, anyway! My four foot clamps just collect dust until I've used up my home built couple.
 
Top