Aluminum clamps
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13 January 2015 at 8:47 pm #123468
I am new to woodworking and I am glad I encountered Paul Sellers on youtube. I decided to follow his advice on clamps and purchased 22 of assorted sizes from a local store. They seemed good but also too light so I wanted to put in the wood stiffeners that Paul also recommended. I was really not looking forward to what seemed to be a tedious and boring job. To my surprise, it turned out to be a wonderfull learning experience. By using a saw, plane and a plough plane, I gained a lot of valuable experience. I used the plough plane to make a groove to house the little nubs that protruded into the interior of the aluminum bar. The saw cut the strips to length and the pads for the jaws. And the plane made short work out of fitting the strips into the clamps. All in all, I gained some useful experience in learning how to plough a straight groove, sawing to a line, using a plane and it was, also, a great deal of fun.
13 January 2015 at 9:42 pm #123469I to had bought a few of those in-expensive aluminum clamps when I built my Paul Sellers style bench bench over a year ago. I must say with the retrofitting like Paul did they work great and your right I had fun making the inserts and pads.
I have several heavier Bessy Clamps like Norm used and really don’t use them anymore as they are heavy and awkward to use on some of my smaller type projects.
Glad you had a good experience, I used to say you get what you pay for but so far the Harbor Freight Clamps are a bargain and do what I ask.
Steve
13 January 2015 at 10:35 pm #123472I also got the aluminum bar clamps, although from Lee Valley. After some months using them, I finally retrofitted with the wooden insert. Like you said, that was a fun exercise getting the wood piece to fit snugly. I got a little practice with a moulding plane to create a hollow for the little nubs to fit.
One question I’d like to ask here – and I hope I’m not stealing the thread. I affixed the clamping pads to the jaws’ mating surfaces with double sided tape and they keep moving on me. Do you have recommendations on how best to adhere the pads to the jaw faces?
Matt, it may be just a matter of using a different type or brand of double sided tape. I had a roll that I bought at my local Ace Hardware. I made some pads out of 1/4″ plywood and, using the tape, affixed them to my six Universal Clamp Corp. clamps that I bought from Lee Valley and cinched them down as tightly as I could using hand pressure. This was about 8 months ago and not one has come loose or slipped at all. It actually kind of surprised me, because I had tried this same tape on mortise guides and the “Poor Man’s Miter Box” and had trouble with it coming loose so I switched back to PVA for that task. Maybe it was the wood on metal instead of wood on wood with this particular brand tape? Hope this helps….
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You must be logged in to view attached files.14 January 2015 at 4:03 pm #123516I am about to go to my local Harbor Freight store and get some clamps to do the tool chest project, however I’m a bit unsure about the wood inserts bit.. Is the plow plane necessary or is there any workaround for that? I assume that one wants to fill the center of the clamp as much as possible with wood, and the force of driving the wood in is enough to hold it in place without any glue. Any tips are appreciated.
Cheers
14 January 2015 at 4:10 pm #123518I ignored the nubs and just planed off exta material until it fit.
14 January 2015 at 4:43 pm #123521I did nothing to account for the nubs. You will be surprised how quickly it tightens up as you drive it in. I used a center punch to slightly dimple the side of the clamp into the wood near the end and have no slippage problems. If you want some practice with your plow plane by all means do so, but it isn’t necessary for good results here.
14 January 2015 at 4:48 pm #123522i didn’t use a plow plane either just creep up on it with you #4 plane
14 January 2015 at 6:11 pm #123530I used super glue to attach the plywood pads. Be sure to leave a small space between the bottom of the pads and the clamps they can be inclined to catch when clamping up
15 January 2015 at 4:04 am #123551No, the plow plane is not neccessary but I had a nice one just sitting there and needed an excuse to use it. Paul has made a video about fitting the inserts.
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