Novice woodworking enthusiasts will find our instructions with a sequentially described process for the manufacture of carpentry clamps of several varieties will be useful. In it, we will tell you what materials to use for this and how to make a device that is exactly suitable for your own needs.
Materials for body, stop and jaws
In carpentry, clamps are used to securely and carefully hold several parts together while they are mechanically connected or while the glue dries. The pressing force should not be colossal, it is much more important not to damage the surface of the parts to be joined. At the same time, the clamp must maintain high strength and be durable.
For the manufacture of clamp parts that are in direct contact with the workpiece, it is better to use hardwood. Ideally, these are bars and planks made of larch, beech, hornbeam or birch. Such a tree has a sufficiently high strength and at the same time is elastic, restoring its shape well. The hardness of such wood is usually higher than that of the processed parts, which can be compensated by heels made of leather, light rubber, felt or softer wood.
Can be used as a clamp frame solid wood, and rolled metal products. corners or profile pipes fit well, but they need to be carefully cleaned, primed and painted in order to finished product no traces of rust left. To rule out accidental mechanical damage or punching through the parts to be joined, it is recommended to stick wooden planks over the metal elements of the clamp or stretch the loose silicone hose.
Which screw and flywheel to use
Despite not very high clamping force, conventional metric threaded studs will not be very suitable for use as a clamp screw, except for a very small one. A small thread pitch will make it tedious to choose a free stroke, among other things, a triangular profile is “eaten up” much faster.
It would be much more correct to purchase studs with a trapezoidal or rectangular thread, otherwise called a jack thread. The optimal step is about 2-2.5 turns per centimeter, so a good smoothness of adjustment and an optimal tightening force for wooden parts.
Get studs, nuts and fittings desired type you can, either by contacting the turner directly, or in the hardware store, including on the Internet. There is, however, one BUT: most factory products have a full thread, while a slightly different screw configuration is optimal for a clamp. Ideally, if there are smooth pillars at the ends of the stud: about 20 mm long for the bearing fit (slightly thicker than the thread) and about 30-40 mm for the handle (slightly thinner or the same diameter).
The handle or handwheel can be made from either wooden block, or by drilling a hole in the side of the stud and inserting a steel bar into it as a toggle lever, as in a vice.
Straight screw clamp
For the manufacture of the simplest clamp, you will need a frame in the form of a U-shaped bracket. It can be made in two ways. The first is to connect three bars at right angles on a tongue-and-groove joint, reinforcing it with glue and a pair of dowels. This option requires a fairly high qualification of the carpenter: hemming and fitting must be done with high accuracy, because the load in these nodes is very significant.
The second option is somewhat simpler, but more expensive in terms of material consumption. You can cut the bracket out of thick birch plywood by gluing 3-4 blanks 12-16 mm thick with Titebond wood glue.
When choosing the shape of the parts, keep in mind that the most reliable design will be with external slopes for greater rigidity. The stop of the bracket and its opposite part, in which the clamping screw will be fixed, must be trapezoidal. In this case, the inclined sides should diverge outward at an angle of about 30º more than a straight one. Thickening in the middle of the frame is also highly desirable.
To fix the screw, it is recommended to use nuts or nuts of the appropriate diameter, which are fixed in one of the “horns” of the clamp frame from the inside and are additionally strengthened epoxy resin. If the bracket was assembled from bars, then you need to put the screw into one of them before final assembly. If the frame structure is multi-layered, then the bushings can be replaced with nuts, which are glued into the cut of the central layer of plywood. Here it is important to follow the direction of the axis of the screw and at the same time not to allow glue to get into threaded connection- Lubricate it well with grease.
At the point where the clamping heel is attached to the screw, some kind of swivel is necessary so that the parts do not move when clamped. It is best to press a bearing, selected according to the diameter of the inner race, onto the whole edge of the screw stud. For a secure stop, clamp the pin into the drill chuck, and then cut a groove under the retaining ring with a triangular file and a hacksaw. Next, in the bar serving as a support heel, you need to make a cylindrical groove with a core drill and press the bearing with the pin into it, strengthening the fit with varnish or epoxy.
Adjustable universal clamp
Clamps with a variable opening width are more versatile in application, they are most often used for rallying furniture panels. To make such a clamp, you will need a calibrated rail made of dry hardwood, ideally beech or ash. A constant profile size is required along the entire length and the complete absence of any defects. The clamping force that the clamp can withstand directly depends on the thickness and width of the rail.
So, manufacturing should begin with fixing a perpendicular stop at one end of the longitudinal rail. It is better to make it from two bars that fold and clamp the rail in two symmetrical grooves, or fill it in the manner of a hammer. Thus, the workpiece for a clamp with a fixed stop acquires T-shape, and the length of the stop on the working side should be greater than the departure from reverse side no more than 3 times. The connection of the stop with the rail can be strengthened with furniture ties, it is also possible to connect on 2-3 dowels and PVA glue.
The reverse part of the stop is designed to secure the bowstring. A straight steel bar with a diameter of 10-12 mm is ideal for it. At the end of the bar, thread should be cut and spread between the end stops with nuts from the inside. Holes for the bowstring should be drilled as close as possible to the back edge of the stop. In this case, the indentation from the edge should be sufficient so that the wood does not split. After installing the bowstring, it is necessary to mark a number of notches on the end of the bar facing the clamped part, in increments of 15-20 mm, make cuts up to 2 mm deep with a hacksaw using this marking, and cut the notches with a knife.
Next, you should make a movable clamp block. A through eyelet of rectangular section is made in it, the dimensions of which exactly correspond to the thickness and width of the longitudinal bar. It is ideal to gouge a groove with dimensions 2-3 mm smaller, and then bring it to desired shape square rasp. The bar should sit snugly in the last, but at the same time allow relatively free movement along the clamp and its inclination for locking on the notches. Under the string you also need to do through hole with the expectation that the bar is located strictly perpendicular to the rail, and the block slides freely along it with a slight backlash.
On the reverse side of the hard stop, you need to fill another block, which will fasten the bar with the bowstring parallel to each other. To do this, you can use a small piece of the bar, in which a groove for the bar is made with a chisel and an incomplete hole for the bowstring is drilled. Dowels or bolts are used to fix the pads. As for the clamping screw and the heel, they are installed by analogy with a conventional clamp. It is enough to drill a through hole in the movable block not too close to the edge and paste a futorka or nut into it from the inside. So when the part is clamped, the nut of the screw mechanism will rest against the wood and sit even tighter.
Angle clamp
The most difficult to manufacture can be called a clamp, which ensures the fixation of two parts at a right angle. At the same time, it is the most useful and sought-after tool in the carpenter's workshop.
The basis for the corner clamp will be a piece of thick plywood. It is better to take a square plank of about 300x300 mm with a thickness of at least 14 mm. In the corner of the base, you need to fix two bars of hardwood, which for convenience we will call reference. These pads must converge at a right angle facing the center of the plywood board, the thickness of the bars is at least 25x25 mm. Their fastening should be as rigid as possible: it is recommended to first glue the bars, ensuring their perpendicularity with the help of a bench square, and then strengthen the connection with ties or bolts.
From the center of each block, you need to draw a perpendicular line, coaxial with which the screw studs will be located. It is necessary to retreat from the bars by a distance of 20-30 mm more than the maximum thickness of the parts to be tightened. After that, two more bars are rigidly attached to the base parallel to the previous ones. It is advisable to glue the nuts immediately, and then proceed with the stop bars in the same way as with the reference ones: first position on adhesive bond and then reinforce with ties. For greater convenience, you can immediately screw the screw studs into the nuts.
After fixing the thrust bars, it remains only to press on the bearings fixed in the movable blocks. The cross section, dimensions and material of the latter should be similar to the reference bars. Finally, you need to fill the handles or insert the toggle levers and cut off the excess base of the clamp, removing the protruding corners for free rotation by the screw handles
Individual clamps for specific operations
In any carpentry workshop, homemade clamps show themselves to be more adapted to local working conditions than purchased in a store. You can use a wide range of variations of the three designs described above.
For example, on one rail, you can fix not one, but two adjustable pads for positioning parts at a great distance. Such a tool will be very useful, for example, when assembling door blocks.
Instead of a handle, you can weld a regular hexagonal bolt cap onto the stud. This is true if, when assembling parts, several clamps need to be often clamped, released and rearranged. At the same time, it will be convenient to rotate the clamping screw using an end head with ratchet Or even a screwdriver.
To assemble products of complex shape, you can make clamp stops and movable blocks of a more complex configuration, which are well suited for working with irregularly shaped parts.
Clamp (German Schraubzwinge, from Schraube - screw and Zwinge - vice) - a tool used to fix any parts or materials at the time of processing: sawing, gluing, joining, drilling, welding. Clamps are made of various materials: metal, plastic, wood and are different in design: screw, lever (quick-clamp). Clamps are used for carpentry and locksmith work. Clamps for plumbing and welding work usually made entirely of metal. Clamps for carpentry work can be made of metal, wood and plastic.
Clamp types:
F - shaped clamps usually consist of a metal bar on which a fixed jaw and a movable jaw are mounted. Sometimes the fixed sponge is an extension of the tire. A clamping screw with a wooden, plastic or metal handle is installed on the movable sponge.
H and the movable jaw can be equipped with a quick-clamping mechanism that allows you to quickly fix the material. F - Piher shaped clamps with a special clamping mechanism allow you to fasten materials with high forces up to 10,000 N. The double clamping screw is protected from dirt.Double clamping threaded screw - the rotational movement is converted into translational, which prevents the workpieces from moving when they are clamped.
To fasten "delicate" materials that do not require strong clamping force, clamps with wooden sponges are used, on which cork linings are glued. Have the big range of thickness of the fastened materials.
G - shaped clamps– the tire, upper and lower lip are a single one-piece cast structure, a clamping screw is installed on the lower lip. The main advantage is the absence of backlash sponges. The disadvantage of these clamps is the small range of thickness of the fastened materials.
Angle clamps- allow you to clamp parts at a right angle. Angle clamp consists of a body and one or two screw clamps, on which clamping heels are installed.
End clamps (clamps for edges)- allow you to press the material to the end face of the part. Similar in design to G - shaped clamps, but have two additional clamping screws.
Quick release clamps - have various designs, the most common quick-clamp clamps consist of a metal bar on which plastic jaws are mounted. The movable jaw is pressed with a lever mechanism, it is also possible to rearrange the fixed jaw to the opposite end of the tire and use the clamp as a spacer.
Band clamps - the design of the clamp has a metal or synthetic tape and a clamping screw that tightens the tape. Tape clamps are used to assemble and glue oval, round and polygonal structures
Corner clamp, Piher A-30, 30mm
Angle clamp, Piher A-30. The thickness of the clamped workpieces within the shoe - from 0mm to 80mm outside the shoe - from 0mm to 27mm. The height of the jaws is 30mm. Weight - 1.05 kg. The block material is light cast iron. Screw material - steel. Plastic handle for easy screw tightening. Production - Piher (Spain)
$3,390
Clamp Piher Maxi F, F-shaped, 9000N
Clamps Piher Maxi F with clamping force up to 9000N (900kg)!Opening width - from 20 cm to 150cm. Weight - from 2kg to 5kg. Depth of a clip - 12 cm. Jaws made of durable ductile iron. Powerful tire made of rolled steel with a section of 35x8mm. The special clamping screw is completely protected from external influences. Double clamping threaded screw - the rotational movement is converted into translational, which prevents the workpieces from moving when they are clamped. Removable articulated handle. Pmovable sponge provided with a roller.Grooves for clamping round workpieces.Production - Piher (Spain).
Many home craftsmen have questions about clamps. What are they used for, how are they used and which is better? For those who do not know, it is worth noting that the clamp is a clamp for temporarily positioning parts for their subsequent fastening. Clamps are different types and are intended for various tasks. Those who are engaged in carpentry know that the more you use these clamps, the more applications they find. Therefore, in the workshop there should always be reliable and easy-to-use clamps. various kinds and sizes.
Joiner's clamps - general description
Joiner's clamps are made of wood and metal. Having installed such a device on the surface, you can work with both hands.
The simplest manual the clamp consists of the main frame and movable elements, which are equipped with clamps in the form of screws or levers. They not only fix the moving part, but also regulate the compression force.
There are lever devices that are based on both a system of axles and levers. Most often they are called clamps or clamps. With their help, you can make a quick fixation of the workpiece. To do this, you only need to apply a little effort to move the handle, and a decent clamping force is created instantly.
Types of locksmith and carpentry clamps
Clamp models differ in mechanisms, therefore they are divided into the following classes:
- angular;
- mounting;
- screw;
- manual;
- quick-clamping.
When choosing such a device, it is necessary to pay attention to the distance over which the clamps are moved apart and to the working stroke. The most practical are clamps that have the highest of the above indicators. With their help, you can work with products of large sizes (from 20 to 350 mm).
Not everyone can afford to equip their working workshop with a complete set of carpentry clamps. There are many types and sizes of them. Therefore, it is worth considering only their most common types.
F clamps
These fixtures are a combination of a fixed jaw at the end of a flat steel base and a sliding adjustable jaw. F-shaped clamps have a deep mouth, which allows you to fix the part far from its edge. The sliding head can be fitted with an adjusting screw or an eccentric lever on the jaw of the clamp.
Clamps are divided into two types:
- Light duty (for light use). Such rather thin and narrow devices They don't weigh a lot and don't take up much space.
- Heavy duty (for heavier work).
F -shaped clamps are simple and therefore relatively cheap. However they are not very comfortable to work with., since you have to hold them with both hands and then twist them.
Tape clamps
It is difficult to imagine work in a carpentry workshop without band clamps. The basis of such a device is a nylon or leather belt, with the help of which clamping force is transmitted to the mating parts.
Tape clips will provide a uniform pressing force and a strong hold on any workpiece. They can be used to make or repair frames, wooden chairs, countertops, aquariums and more. With the help of this universal fixture it is convenient to connect, drill and glue the fixed parts of the structure at a precisely specified angle.
The length of the belt in the belt clips is such that it can be wrapped around the body of any multi-dimensional design while tightening all connections at the same time. There is no risk of damaging the tightened parts, since the metal parts of the band clamp will not touch them.
However, in some cases it is not very convenient to work with this type of clamps. This is due to the fact that when installing a corner on one side, on the other, it may fall. In addition, it is impossible to increase or decrease the pressure on one specific plane or axis.
When using tape without corners, it is easy to damage the edge of the edge of the workpiece. Therefore, in addition to the band clamp it is recommended to purchase special corners, which will significantly expand the functionality of the clamp.
Pipe clamps
Pipe clamps are made from water pipes in ½ or ¾ inch, on which a fixed stop and a movable jaw are screwed. You can make a fixture of any length by cutting a thread at one end of the pipe and screwing an emphasis on it. The clamp can be rearranged at any time to a pipe of a different length or dismantled.
You can buy threaded pipes in any hardware store. At the same time, you can purchase not only ordinary pipes, but also elements with electroplated. Movable clamp sponge will be best to slide over black pipes which are also quite cheap. The advantage of galvanized pipes is that they are protected from corrosion. In addition, in contact with the adhesive, unlike simple pipes, elements with such a coating do not leave dark spots on the workpiece.
To protect the protruding threads, you can use special removable caps. To prevent long clamps from bending when tightened, it is recommended to use stiffer elements with a diameter of ¾ inch.
If, when gluing a large structure and there is no clamp of the required length at hand, two short devices can be used. To do this, they will need to be connected by a coupling.
G clamps
This type of clamp is used for most work, so it is recommended to purchase them as much as possible. They are different sizes, but most often used devices with a working width of 100 and 150 mm.
G clamps must be mandatory good quality , since the staples of cheap clips bend and work with them is quite difficult. However, quite cheap lightweight clamps of excellent quality are found on sale.
There are specialized G-clamps with increased grip depth. With their help, you can reach places inaccessible to ordinary clamps. To fix the overlays, edge clamps are produced that can press the workpiece in two directions at once.
Devices are divided according to the type of material of manufacture:
- Forged steel clamps allow high clamping forces. Therefore, they can be used even during welding to fix steel beams.
- Cast iron clamps are less durable, since brittle cast iron can burst from excessive force.
When choosing a G-clamp, you need to make sure that the screws are large, the surfaces are flat, and the knob is thick and has a rounded end.
Carpentry clamps should be maintained in the same way as the rest of the tool. Stops, rods and jaws of fixtures must be cleaned immediately after gluing. Dried glue is difficult to remove and leaves notches on the wooden parts. In order for the screws of the clamps to rotate smoothly, it is recommended to lubricate them with wax. oil and silicone grease it is better not to use, as they can stain the product.
Being practically another "one hand" of the master, clamps can help out if any part needs to be fixed for processing, "hold", and both hands are busy. Difficult to assemble without them homemade furniture or gluing any wooden parts that need to be pressed tightly against each other and connected. Therefore, for carpentry and other work it is recommended to have carpentry clamps of various sizes and types without forgetting to take good care of them.
When performing many works, it becomes necessary to fix the workpiece in a certain position. For this purpose, clamps and clamps are used. We present the main types of these tools in this review.
There is a great variety of different clamps. To perform basic work in the home workshop, it is enough to have classic screw clamps and practical quick-clamping clamps. But if it becomes necessary to process some workpiece of an unusual shape, then a whole set of special clamps will be required.
Classic: screw clamp
Screw clamps are distinguished by their shape - some resemble the Latin letter F, others the letter G. F clamps consist of a metal tire with fixed and movable sponges installed on it. Sometimes the fixed sponge is integral with the tire. The movable jaw is equipped with a clamping screw with a wooden, plastic or metal handle.
G clamps designed so that the tire, upper and lower lip are a single one-piece cast structure. The clamping screw is installed on the lower jaw.
For high-quality products, the pressing jaws are equipped with removable plastic pads that prevent the formation of dents on soft materials, and for optimal fixation, the head on the clamping screw is made movable.
A good clamping screw is always galvanized and has a trapezoidal thread. A solid handle - made of wood or plastic - should not slip in the palm of your hand.
Ribbed edges on inside tires provide reliable fixation of the clamp when compressed.
Quick clamps
Two hands are needed to secure a traditional screw clamp. Sometimes you even have to resort to the services of an assistant to fix the workpieces in the desired position. It is especially problematic to fix something while standing on a stepladder. But quick-clamp clamps can be unclenched and squeezed with one hand, without intercepting the handle.
Quick-release clamps open and close with one hand on the levers. 
Clamps of this type have various designs, the most common quick-clamp clamps consist of a metal bar on which plastic clamping jaws are installed.
Practical accessories
Wolfcraft offers useful gadgets, with which you can turn quick clamps into multifunctional tools. Some devices, such as bench clamps, can also be used as normal quick clamps.
Clamps for all occasions
In addition to screw and quick-clamp clamps, there are other models, some of which are good for everyone to have. home master. Ratchet clamps are indispensable in modeling and when working with small workpieces where strong compression is not required. The one who often stands behind the workbench will not interfere with the clamps fixed in the holes on the working plane of the workbench. Lever clamps are used in cases where very strong compression is required. They are significantly stronger than spring steel clamps but require more space to install.
Pliers with ratchet mechanism
1. The ability to finely dose compression and light weight make these clamps indispensable in the manufacture of small crafts.
2. Ratchet pliers are inexpensive. They can be used to join very thin materials with more or less compression.
Spring steel clamps
Spring steel clamps (pictured with grip for metal pipes) have a certain flexibility in compression and therefore will hold the workpiece firmly even when the structure is shaken.
Lever clamps
Lever clamps are professional tools that provide extreme grip.
Spring clamps
For gluing small workpieces without strong compression, it is best to use simple and inexpensive spring clamps.
Clamps for workbenches
Convenient workbench clamps fit into 20mm holes on the work surface.
Two or more clamps can securely fix the workpieces being processed.
Narrow specialists
If you need to craft items unusual shapes or perform other non-standard work, then you can’t do without special clamps. Some of them are very inexpensive, others will have to pay a lot of money, for example, for clamps for fixing edge tapes in the manufacture of furniture. But if such work has to be done only occasionally, then wooden wedges can be used instead of an edge clamp, as described in the information on the right.
Angle clamps: for fast and easy fixing of boards and frames at an angle of 90 degrees, use corner clamps. In addition to the angular ones, they can also be used to make T-shaped connections.
Wooden Clamps: These tools are used for gluing battens, skirting boards and edgings of all types for which a steel clamp is not suitable due to its weight. In wooden clamps, compression does not occur through tightening the screw, but by pressing a lever located on the side. The pressure is applied directly by hand to the lever and can therefore be dosed more carefully than when working with screw tools.
Tape clamps: with the help of these devices they glue drawers and furniture cabinets. These clamps are also used in the manufacture of objects A of non-standard H shapes, for example, for hexagonal furniture bodies. Tools provide uniform pressure on all joints of elements.
Wedges will help
When gluing the edge tape to the furniture blank, you can do without a special clamp. Take two wooden wedges and insert them with their sharp ends towards each other into the space between the fixed screw clamp tire and the edge band. By moving the wedges towards each other, it is possible to exert the necessary pressure on the edge.
Cheap but not angry
Poor quality materials often fail high pressure. The tire on the tool in the photo buckled under tension. The clamp can still be used, but the workpiece will be pushed out from under the clamping jaw due to broken geometry.
Spare parts
Even the most good clamp wears out over the years. However, in this case it is not always necessary to buy new tool. Many well-known manufacturers offer spare parts for their products. In the end, it is always profitable to buy high-quality products.
