Making Wooden Clamps

[Al Mock MD]

I've begun to venture into the construction of small hand tools. My experience has been limited to simple chisel mallets, spokeshaves, marking gauges, etc. Very primitive but tremendously rewarding. I'd like to try my hand at constructing some wooden clamps but I'm having difficulty locating a primer on the subject. I like the look of cam clamps but decided to try an opposing dual-screw type first. I'm having trouble locating alternating threaded rod. Should I be looking into threading them myself? Is there a source I'm overlooking? Anyone love them as much as I do? Thanks in advance, Al

[Wes Bischel]

Al,
Woodstock has some "kits" with the screws necessary. I'm not sure how good they are though.

http://www.woodstockint.com/Products/14004001/

Wes

[Geoff Harris]

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but I bought the Beall threader and have found it to work well for making threaded things out of wood.

You can check out http://www.bealltool.com/products/threading/book.php

This book is a companion to their wood threading tool but it contains plans for several types of wooden clamps (hand screw, C-clamp, bar clamp, and at least one other).

[Bill Houghton]

The February issue of Popular Woodworking, available as a back issue online (Google "Popular Woodworking"), or you might find it in a local newstand that keeps older issues around, has a great article on two-screw hand clamps.

[Al Mock MD]

Thanks a bunch & I'll check out all your sources. If successful, I'll post an update. Thanks again, al

[Bob Smalser]

Ditto the Beall. If you have to buy hardware, you might as well buy the whole hand screw intact, for as little as you save.



Wood handscrews have shorter lives but are just as effective after a little practice, and are free.

[Keith Outten]

Al,

I love wooden handscrews, use them all the time in my shop.

.

[Maurice Metzger]

Al, for well-behaved wood the thread box and tap sets that Highland Hardware and others sell work OK. I'll post some photos in a bit.

Maurice

[Maurice Metzger]

Al, this is a thread made with a 1 1/2" thread box in hard maple. The thread box is pretty easy to use, but the cutter is fiddly to adjust after sharpening.

DSCN0915.JPG

[Alex Yeilding]

Al, for well-behaved wood the thread box and tap sets that Highland Hardware and others sell work OK.

I'll second that. I found that the resulting pieces were extremely tight, but better too tight than too loose. I ended up having to sprinkle some silicon carbide grit on the threaded rod and run it thorough a couple of times before I could hand-turn the threaded rod through a 3" thick threaded female piece. But after clean-up and finishing both pieces with a drying oil and wax, they work great for my bench vises.

[Jerry Palmer]

I bought some of those hardware kits Wes linked to and though they do work, they are miles below the quality of the handscrews made by Adjustable Clamp here:

http://www.adjustableclamp.com/hand_pg.htm

Adjustable Clamp does have hardware kits available, but you have to get them through one of their distributors, and will likely have to have the distributor order them for you as they don't generally carry them in stock.

[Gary McKown]

"...I like the look of cam clamps..."

Some years ago there was a post on another forum about making cam-type clamps with a single threaded post for tightening.

Picture two arc-shaped wooden jaws, hinged together at one end (dowel hinge). About halfway up is a threaded rod (can just be a bolt + wingnut) that draws the "jaw" ends together. Sorta like a clamshell. You can get fancy with thicker, rounded jaw tips, etc. The beauty is they can be made to span relatively large distances (with modest clamping force).

It's one of those things I keep meaning to make someday, and meanwhile have lost both the printed copy and the link.

[Dean Lapinel]

Hi Bob,

I was curious about where you buy buy the whole hand screw intact. Beall doesn't show that on thier web page.

Also, do you think the life time is shorter because of the higher TPI (thus shallow threading)?

Dean

[Bob Smalser]

Hi Bob,

I was curious about where you buy buy the whole hand screw intact. Beall doesn't show that on their web page.

Also, do you think the life time is shorter because of the higher TPI (thus shallow threading)?

Dean

I'm saying that for as much as the hardware alone costs, buying a commercial handscrew is the route I'd take rather than doing just the wood myself. Making threads with the Beall jig is fast, accurate, and your only cost is time. An excellent way to use up all those hardwood scraps making jaws.

I find the shop-made, all-wood handscrews have shorter lives because the smaller ones can break after they swell up in the damp and get harder to turn. If you work in a heated shop rather than outdoors, that won't be an issue.

I've probably made over a hundred. They make good gifts in return for using someone else's machine I don't have, like a big thickness sander. Avoid woods that get fuzzy like Tulip, and cut the threads for a slightly looser fit than your instinct says is right. Linseed on the jaws so glue doesn't stick and hard wax on the threads.

[Al Mock MD]

I'll second that. I found that the resulting pieces were extremely tight, but better too tight than too loose. I ended up having to sprinkle some silicon carbide grit on the threaded rod and run it thorough a couple of times before I could hand-turn the threaded rod through a 3" thick threaded female piece. But after clean-up and finishing both pieces with a drying oil and wax, they work great for my bench vises.

The sprinking of the SilCarb is a brilliant idea. Truth be told, I hadn't even considered wooden threads because I feared the male-female tolerance requirements would be prohibitive. I'm now imagining massive bench vises & cider presses, giant threaded....I gotta go get a threader. Thanks to everyone for their wonderful advice. al