# Woodpeckers Flat Bars



## mramseyISU (Mar 3, 2014)

Anybody else seen these flat bars Woodpeckers is peddling? 
http://www.woodpeck.com/flatbars.html

Looks like a fancy overpriced set of clamping cauls. At first I thought they looked like a great idea but the more I stared a them the more I wondered why couldn't you just buy a hunk of Unistrut and cut it to the length you want and be done with it. So I think I'm going to buy some unistrut tonight and make my own.


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## Loren (May 30, 2008)

You might consider, for the money, investing in a pair of 8" 
deep throat clamps.

I never used cauls and seldom used bicuits or anything like
that in the past. Sometimes I would hammer a waxed wedge in
under a pipe clamp over an area where a board was bulging.

Now I have a plano clamp which makes all this clamping 
panels easier.


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## pintodeluxe (Sep 12, 2010)

Yes, they look like clamping cauls to me. I use hardwood 2×2's that have a slight crown. I set the cauls convex side against the panel to be glued up. That way clamps placed at the edge of the cauls can exert force evenly across the panel. I put duct tape on the side of the caul that will contact the panel to keep it from sticking to the panel. Works great.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

I'm sure the Woodpecker bars are not crowned, but simply a 1×1-1/4×24 or 36" piece of 6061-T651 aluminum bar. The retail price from a metals supplier is $15.26 for a 24" long bar and $21.48 for a 36" long bar. Multiply that by 2 for two bars and the material costs $30.52 and $42.96 for the bars. Of course they get the bars at wholesale. The price sounds fair as the raw material constitutes a large % of the overall cost. If you wanted to make your own, you could buy the bars yourself at http://www.onlinemetals.com/ and save half.


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## Ocelot (Mar 6, 2011)

This is interesting info. Thanks MrRon. We've got a mechanical engineer here, but I wouldn't want waste his time asking about materials. It looks like 6061 is the right stuff at the right price.

I wonder if Woodpeck machines theirs flat or just uses what the supplier sends.


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## JohnChung (Sep 20, 2012)

I won't buy them. Easy fabricated with scrap wood.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

Ocelet; I can't be positively sure, but I work with these sizes of aluminum all the time and find they are as straight as it is possible as shipped from the supplier. If you want to make your own, get some 1×1x1/8 steel angle and drill holes in the ends for bolts and nuts. You will need an assortment of hole spacings because you want to place the bolts as close to the edges of the wood you are clamping. Too far apart and you will end up with bowed members


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## mramseyISU (Mar 3, 2014)

Ron; that's exactly why I think buying a 10' stick of unistrut would be the way to go here. It's pretty rigid as is and you've got the holes already. One 10' chunk goes for about $15-$20 and you'd have enough to make a pair of 2' bars out of it with a bit left over.


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## ducky911 (Oct 6, 2010)

why not put mult. holes so the long ones could do any width??

When I have felt rich and bought woodpecker stuff I have been happy…really like using my small t square


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## mattjrogers (Jan 2, 2013)

Unistrut is a great idea. I have some long pieces that have holes every few inches and got them used for cheap. They are seem to be very stiff. I also have a set of wooden cauls - 2×3 ash with one set dead flat and the other crowned. I place the flat ones down on the bench and lay out the material, then sandwich the panel with the curved ones after the clamps are lightly tightened.


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## MrRon (Jul 9, 2009)

"Ron; that s exactly why I think buying a 10 stick of unistrut would be the way to go here. It s pretty rigid as is and you ve got the holes already. One 10 chunk goes for about $15-$20 and you d have enough to make a pair of 2 bars out of it with a bit left over. " 
- mramseyISU
I didn't think unistrut would be strong enough, so I suggested solid angle.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

I bought 20' of Unistrut and made several pair of clamps for face to face laminations, and to keep edge glued panels even.
I have only one complaint. They are heavier than he!!.


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## 33706 (Mar 5, 2008)

And don't forget, with Uni-strut you can use those spring-loaded, captive nuts for quick assembly with threaded knobs. You can put something together really fast, using 5/16" or 3/8" hardware. Perfect for keeping large glue-ups completely flat.










A perfect fastener for fixtures like Gene Howe made above.


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## Manitario (Jul 4, 2010)

I use cutoffs of plywood with packing tape over it so the glue doesn't stick and a couple of F-clamps…


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## mramseyISU (Mar 3, 2014)

That's what I'm talking about Gene. Do you have any problems with it splaying out on the lips?


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## camps764 (Dec 9, 2011)

never would have bought them from wood pecker, but I will be giving my plumber buddy a call to see if he's got any scrap unistrut laying around his shop


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

mramsyISU,
There is no way I'm ever going to exert enough pressure to deform that Unistrut in any dimension.


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## mramseyISU (Mar 3, 2014)

That's what I expected. I've got a lot of panels to glue up in the near future so I'm thinking this is without a doubt the way to go.


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## Dovetail777 (Jan 17, 2016)

I received an email from Woodpeckers advertising these cauls. So I thought I would do some research and see what folks had to say. While these are a few viable ideas in this thread, no one has really looked at or used Woodpeckers cauls. MrRon - You are incorrect on two counts - Woodpeckers cauls ARE crowned and ARE NOT aluminum. Perhaps you should take moment to look them up on Woodpeckers site before misleading us.

I don't own these cauls, but have found EVERYTHING I purchased from Woodpeckers to be very well engineered and fabricated.


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