Steve Lansdowne
02-09-2005, 08:37 PM
Here is an idea for an inexpensive small clamp that can be made from scrap hardwood and some carriage bolts. It can be used in place of a bar clamp. I needed some to clamp up a laminated stem while the glue sets and didn’t want to spend $10 each for some F clamps.
I made these of ¾” stock that is 1” wide and 7 inches long. I used 8” long 5/16” bolts to get a clamp that spans a maximum of 6”. Here is one assembled and one not yet put together.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid157/p3d665ca98b2162bdf09d735eb3e712c8/f52e94d6.jpg
The middle bolt goes through the base and is hammered in so it won’t turn in the hole. The diameter of the hole it goes through should be no larger than necessary. The outer bolt is set into a shallow hole recessed into the end of the base and is held in place by a small piece of wood secured by a single screw. Make the recessed hole only deep enough to cover the rounded head of the bolt and still allow the square section that is adjacent to the head to protrude. Hammer the outer bolt into a snug hole in the smaller piece of wood to secure it and thus prevent it from turning. If you make the recessed hole too deep, use bits of inner tube as padding to raise the level of the bolt head in the hole. The holes in the top piece should be at least one size larger than the holes in the base to allow the top piece to easily slide over the bolt threads.
This clamp can be adjusted by turning the nuts as needed with the fingers and giving the final tightening using a wrench. Its span is limited by the size of available carriage bolts, though I suppose you could get creative with threaded rod to make a longer version.
I made these of ¾” stock that is 1” wide and 7 inches long. I used 8” long 5/16” bolts to get a clamp that spans a maximum of 6”. Here is one assembled and one not yet put together.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid157/p3d665ca98b2162bdf09d735eb3e712c8/f52e94d6.jpg
The middle bolt goes through the base and is hammered in so it won’t turn in the hole. The diameter of the hole it goes through should be no larger than necessary. The outer bolt is set into a shallow hole recessed into the end of the base and is held in place by a small piece of wood secured by a single screw. Make the recessed hole only deep enough to cover the rounded head of the bolt and still allow the square section that is adjacent to the head to protrude. Hammer the outer bolt into a snug hole in the smaller piece of wood to secure it and thus prevent it from turning. If you make the recessed hole too deep, use bits of inner tube as padding to raise the level of the bolt head in the hole. The holes in the top piece should be at least one size larger than the holes in the base to allow the top piece to easily slide over the bolt threads.
This clamp can be adjusted by turning the nuts as needed with the fingers and giving the final tightening using a wrench. Its span is limited by the size of available carriage bolts, though I suppose you could get creative with threaded rod to make a longer version.