Dave R
04-10-2007, 04:58 PM
I had a request someone for a drawing of the planking clamps I made. I thought, on the off chance there's any interest I would post the sketch here.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/weekender410/plankclamp.jpg
These clamps have a six inch throat as designed but the could easily be enlarged if needed. I made mine from 12mm Baltic birch ply because I had it on hand. I imagine any other plywood could work, too. I designed these clamps with the idea I'd be making a number of them and I didn't want to spend a lot of time on them. The hardware consists of a 5/16" carriage bolt, a flat washer and a wingnut. If I'd had more time to spend on them when I was making them, I'd have made some cam levers using cross dowels to make them easier to tighten. I've designed the cam but never made it.
The construction process is as follows.
Rip pieces of plywood to the desired length of the jaws. Make one for the top jaw and one for the bottom jaw and make them each long enough to get out twice the number of clamps you're going to make.
Plow the grooves for the bolt and cut the rabbet on one edge for the hinge link.
Cross cut the plywood in half and glue the two pieces together. Use waxed keys in the slots for alignment.
Make a template for the jaw shape. I used 1/2" MDF for that. Trace the template out on the plywood nesting the jaws. Use a square to make sure you keep the template aligned properly across the width of the plywood. Cut the blanks out on the bandsaw. If you don't have a bandsaw, lay out the jaws leaving room to cross cut between them. Clean up to the lines. Drill for the hinge pins. Set up a fence and stops on the drill press for this.
Cut the hinge link stock to fit the grooves. Make it a long piece enough to make all the links. Clamp a pair of jaws together in the closed position. Slip the hinge link stock into the slots. Drill for the dowels. (I used 1/4" dowels on mine) Drive the dowel stock into the holeuntil it comes flush with the opposite side. Cut the dowel off flush with the clamp. Repeat for the other pin location. No glue required. Cut the link stock off close to the clamp jaws. Move on to the next clamp. Once they are completed, sand the hinge link flush with the jaws.
I made a dozen of these in about an hour and half not including the glue curing time. I used Weldwood for gluing and left the plywood in the clamps for about an hour.
I covered mine with packing tape to prevent glue from sticking.
Thanks for looking.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v506/weekender410/plankclamp.jpg
These clamps have a six inch throat as designed but the could easily be enlarged if needed. I made mine from 12mm Baltic birch ply because I had it on hand. I imagine any other plywood could work, too. I designed these clamps with the idea I'd be making a number of them and I didn't want to spend a lot of time on them. The hardware consists of a 5/16" carriage bolt, a flat washer and a wingnut. If I'd had more time to spend on them when I was making them, I'd have made some cam levers using cross dowels to make them easier to tighten. I've designed the cam but never made it.
The construction process is as follows.
Rip pieces of plywood to the desired length of the jaws. Make one for the top jaw and one for the bottom jaw and make them each long enough to get out twice the number of clamps you're going to make.
Plow the grooves for the bolt and cut the rabbet on one edge for the hinge link.
Cross cut the plywood in half and glue the two pieces together. Use waxed keys in the slots for alignment.
Make a template for the jaw shape. I used 1/2" MDF for that. Trace the template out on the plywood nesting the jaws. Use a square to make sure you keep the template aligned properly across the width of the plywood. Cut the blanks out on the bandsaw. If you don't have a bandsaw, lay out the jaws leaving room to cross cut between them. Clean up to the lines. Drill for the hinge pins. Set up a fence and stops on the drill press for this.
Cut the hinge link stock to fit the grooves. Make it a long piece enough to make all the links. Clamp a pair of jaws together in the closed position. Slip the hinge link stock into the slots. Drill for the dowels. (I used 1/4" dowels on mine) Drive the dowel stock into the holeuntil it comes flush with the opposite side. Cut the dowel off flush with the clamp. Repeat for the other pin location. No glue required. Cut the link stock off close to the clamp jaws. Move on to the next clamp. Once they are completed, sand the hinge link flush with the jaws.
I made a dozen of these in about an hour and half not including the glue curing time. I used Weldwood for gluing and left the plywood in the clamps for about an hour.
I covered mine with packing tape to prevent glue from sticking.
Thanks for looking.