The clamp is auxiliary tool, which is used to fix the boards when they are connected in a given position. The clamp is also suitable for holding boards while sawing them, for routing hacksaw blade, connections various elements. Parts that require machining can be inserted into the tool. Then, using a movable element, they are clamped with jaws and begin to work. To securely hold parts in the desired position, it is recommended to use two or more clamps.
Homemade clamps are often made of metal or wood, and in terms of their characteristics they are not much inferior to purchased, factory-assembled ones. Since the design of the clamping device is simple, it will not be difficult to understand the principle of its operation in order to make it yourself.
Making a metal screw clamp
Before starting work you will need to prepare necessary materials. For the base of the structure, a steel sheet one centimeter thick, or any even trim of the same thickness, is suitable. The length of the workpiece is arbitrary, but they try to choose it taking into account the working distance of the clamp.
Main materials of manufacture:
- steel sheet;
- long bolts;
- nuts
A drawing is being drawn up. The future body of the tool is marked on the workpiece material, which in appearance resembles the letter “C”. Instead of steel sheet you can use a section of profiled pipe, bent in the shape of the letter “C”. There are no special requirements for the thickness of the workpiece, but the design must be reliable. The choice of length is made taking into account the dimensions working area, processed parts.
After marking is applied, the part is cut out of metal. At home, small pieces can be cut using a grinder. But when making clamps of large dimensions, it is recommended to use a gas cutter or an acetylene torch. Next stage– processing, grinding of the workpiece. All sharp edges and beads formed when working with gas welding equipment are knocked down using a file, and the surface is ground. sandpaper. This must be done so that when clamping the workpieces, you do not cut yourself on sharp edges.
Having prepared long bolts M 8, M 10, proceed to fastening the moving element. Why are nuts welded on one side of the workpiece under the selected bolts? If there are no bolts, you can select hexagons or steel rods of the required length with pre-cut threads.
A flat piece is welded to the inner working end of the screw. smooth part, which is assigned the function of sponges. On the reverse side of the screw, a lever is attached by welding from scraps of a stud. Its presence will speed up the process of clamping workpieces , further reducing the amount of effort applied. This completes the assembly of the clamp with your own hands.
Corner clamp device
When making corner tools for furniture assembly, it is important to accurately maintain a right angle of 90°. Main available materials are corners with steel strips. To work you will need:
- 40 mm steel angle 3-4 mm thick;
- steel plates 40-50 mm;
- threaded studs;
- rods for gates;
- nuts;
- welding machine;
- electric drill, taps.
The corner clamp is the most difficult to manufacture, but when carrying out some types of work you cannot do without it. On initial stage Corners are welded to the steel plates at right angles, and nuts are attached to each corner, which will serve to create a worm-type structure. Another option is to drill a hole in the corner and cut it using a tap. internal thread. The width of the working gap is selected taking into account the size of potential workpieces, but too large a stroke of the clamping wheel reduces the strength of their fixation.
To process parts of different sizes, it is recommended to prepare several clamps!
The stud is screwed into the welded nut. At its end, a stop is assembled from metal washers of various diameters, which should rotate freely when the pin rotates. WITH reverse side The driver drills a hole for a metal rod. Used as a lever, it will transmit more force, so it will hold workpieces more reliably.
Wooden clamp - made from leftover boards
The most popular is a wooden quick-release clamp, but a tool of a similar design can also be made of metal. Despite the simplicity of the design, it is very convenient when performing various tasks.
The presence of two identical clamps expands the scope of their application!
For assembly you will need to prepare following materials:
- pieces of boards;
- studs with pre-cut threads;
- nuts and wings corresponding to the threads of the studs;
- slats.
First, two studs of the same diameter with threaded threads are prepared. They must be 200 mm long. The nuts are matched to the threads of the studs. Two slats are prepared, preferably from hardwood. Best choice there will be oak, beech, birch, ash. The slats are adjusted to same size. To do this, the excess length is sawed off and the cut is sanded. After this, two holes are drilled in each of the slats with a small tolerance. Moreover, the locations of the holes on each of the workpieces must match perfectly, and their diameter must correspond to the diameter of the studs.
Strips of plywood can be glued to the surface of the slats. They are adjusted to the size of the wooden blanks and holes are drilled. The studs are inserted into the resulting holes and securely fixed with nuts on one of the rails on both sides. To prevent material from pushing through, washers are placed under the nuts. This bar will always be stationary, but the other one will be able to move freely along the guides in the form of pins.
Another bar is installed. To do this, thread it through the studs and push it into place. The clamping is carried out using ordinary nuts and an open-end wrench, but for convenience and increased performance it is necessary to install wing nuts. Check the movement of the fastener; if it is difficult or additional adjustment of parts is required, or other defects are found, then they are eliminated. The work on assembling the wooden clamping device can be considered completed; all that remains is to test it in action.
Properly assembled clamping devices allow you to securely fasten wooden parts during carpentry work. The designs of the listed types of fasteners are popular and are so simple that they can be made independently from scrap materials using a minimum number of tools.
Reading time ≈ 5 minutes
A clamp is a tool that resembles hand vice, which is used for securely fixing or gluing two elements. For example, in carpentry it is used to connect two planes while drying adhesive solution. However, this tool is not always at hand, so you can resort to making a quick-release design yourself. To properly make a metal clamp with your own hands, you need to follow step-by-step instructions with photos and video master classes.
Design Features
A clamp can quickly fail, which is why it is so important to know how to make homemade instrument. Components This metal structure consists of a lever part, a frame, clamp lips and a moving part.
What are the advantages of clamping tools:
The clamp can also be made from wood, however metal structure more practical and reliable. Its production does not require special knowledge and skills; you only need the use of welding equipment, a hacksaw and a torch. The whole process with step by step instructions shown in the video.
Models of clamping tools are divided into the following classes based on the operation of mechanisms and structural features:
Manufacturing technology
A do-it-yourself metal clamp is much more reliable and practical. wooden structure. To manufacture homemade units, you will need welding equipment and plumbing units.
Tools for making any type of clamp
1 option
Following the instructions, you can make a homemade clamp from metal reinforcement. 
Option 2
To do it yourself angle tool for clamping, we will need the following materials: steel scraps from the corner 40*40, 50*50 and 30*50, 200 mm each, 2 F-clamps and strip 10*50 up to 250 mm long. 
Let's get started:
Purchasing clamps in hardware stores is quite expensive. Everyone wants to rid themselves of extra costs, if there alternative options. You may need several such tools at once, this is especially true when assembling, manufacturing or repairing pieces of furniture. Homemade clamps will replace your hand vice, as you can choose the model, type and size of the tool. By following the instructions in the photo and video, you can quickly understand the manufacturing mechanism and quickly make a manual clamp from scrap materials.
In the process of woodworking, in most cases it is impossible to do without a carpentry clamp. Whether it is necessary to glue wooden blanks, secure a sheet, board, or slab during cutting - you will definitely need a clamp. On sale similar products there are, but, according to reviews from experienced craftsmen, they are characterized by two significant drawbacks - size limitations and low strength, since soft metals (alloys) are mainly used for their production in order to reduce costs.
Those who have to work with wood quite often prefer homemade carpentry clamps. How to make such a device with your own hands, what to pay attention to and take into account - this is discussed in the article.
There are many modifications of carpentry clamps - corner, G-shaped, edge, universal. Some are used for permanent job with different workpieces (in area, thickness), others are manufactured for a specific technological operation (for one-time use).
The author considers it advisable to dwell only on those that are most often used by “home craftsmen”. If the principle of their functioning becomes clear, then you will be able to make any type of carpentry clamp with your own hands, to suit your own needs. If, of course, you turn on your imagination and think carefully.
The author deliberately does not indicate linear dimensions clamps. One of their advantages self-made lies in the possibility of arbitrarily choosing the shape and dimensions of carpentry clamps. There is no standard for such devices. And it’s hardly advisable to “chew” basic things for a person who is used to (and knows how to) do everything with his own hands. The main thing is to give an idea, to “prompt an idea”, and everything else is at your own discretion.
Option #1
The simplest modification of the clamp. It is done quite quickly, but the use of such a carpentry clamp is somewhat limited. Although in most cases, when working with small-sized samples, it is quite sufficient.
The basis of the device is the frame of a hacksaw for metal. The fastening elements of the blade are replaced by long threaded rods, at one end of which there is an iron “penny” (as an option – a nut), at the other – either a removable handle or a head for an open-end wrench.
Since the frame can be adjusted in length, such a clamp will allow you to fix workpieces of various thicknesses. It is mainly used when gluing parts (), since the body of the device itself cannot be fixed to any surface. The only thing that needs to be taken into account is that if the frame is folding (the old modification of the “hacksaw”), then you will have to apply a “tire” at the bend (for example, wrap it with adhesive tape). This clamp is not entirely convenient to use, but in the absence of something more suitable, it is a good solution to the problem.
Option No. 2
Also quite simple model clamps. It is done with your own hands relatively quickly. The design of the device is clear from the figure. All you need is metal corner and a pair of long screws or threaded rods.
If you make several of these clamps, you can use them to perform various carpentry jobs. For example, gluing long workpieces. To do this, it is enough to set the clamps at a certain interval, and lay metal strips or slats made of hardwood between the stops and the sample being processed. Another option is to mount the assembly on a workbench. The same applies to cutting blanks.
Before sawing, they are fixed on the tabletop, and their immobility will be guaranteed. This design can be modified by welding metal plates to the corners. This significantly increases the clamping area.
Essentially, for household use This modification of the carpentry clamp is one of the best. Experienced craftsmen always have at hand ready set from several devices with different dimensions. Depending on the specifics of the work, you may need a clamping device made from a corner of either 25 or 45.
The versatility of this modification lies in the fact that it is made of metal and, therefore, is characterized by sufficient strength. Unlike wooden clamps, here you can adjust the clamping force over a wide range, and work not only with wood, but also with other materials - glass, plastics, iron. This is what you often have to do in everyday life.
This design can be slightly modified. For example, when processing logs on a mini-sawmill (dissolving into boards, sawing), they must also be fixed. In this case, an improved modification of such a carpentry clamp is suitable. It is enough to take strip iron as its basis, and weld the same corners at the ends.
Varieties and modifications
Here are a few more types of carpentry clamps. All these clamps are easy to assemble with your own hands.
The question is: how advisable is it to use it as source material wood? There are arguments both for and against. But if a tree is chosen for the base of a carpentry clamp, then it must meet certain criteria.
- Species – only hard (pear, oak, walnut and similar). Otherwise, there is no need to talk about any pressing force. And the durability of the clamps made from “soft” wood raises some doubts.
- Humidity is minimal. Only after the material has been thoroughly dried can it be used for the manufacture of clamping fixture parts.
Good luck, reader, in making your own clamp. Don't be afraid to fantasize, and everything will work out for you!
In today's project we will create a tape clamp that will allow you to compress the parts various shapes when gluing, which is usually difficult to do using standard bars or pipe clamps. Want to make a picture frame? No problem, use the tape clamp!
You can independently and with minimal costs make a tape clamp for use on wooden frames, fittings, round objects, hexagons, octagons, n-gons and press objects of any size!
For the project you will need a hardwood board that is 1.9 cm thick and measures 10 x 25 cm. fibreboard 0.5 cm thick and 12.7 cm by 51 cm, hardwood pin 0.64 cm and 0.95 cm (eg oak, do not use poplar or pine), 16 hex bolt with height 0, 95 cm and 10 cm long (or rod) and full thread, T-nut on 16 0.95 cm high, #8 hex nut, three meters or stronger polyamide cord 1.9 cm wide, four sliding fasteners 1.9 wide cm, and wood glue. The tools you will need are a cutting machine with a table, a band saw and drilling machine.
Step 1: Creating the Corner Jaws
A band clamp consists of several jaws, a band that wraps around the jaws, and a tension mechanism that tightens the band around the jaws to clamp them onto the workpiece.
For a rectangular frame, you will need three jaws to hold the three corners, and a stationary jaw and stretching device for the fourth corner.
To make corner jaws, cut a circle with a diameter of 10 cm from wooden blank from hardwood 1.9 cm thick. Drill a hole in the center with a diameter of 0.3 cm. Cut squares of 0.5 cm thick fibreboard measuring 12 by 12 cm (in fact, the thickness of the board is slightly smaller), and also drill holes with a diameter of 0 .3 cm through their centers. Using nails, center the fiberboards and glue the block of boards together. The edges of the fiberboard should be aligned as shown in the photo.
After the glue has dried, print and cut out the drill template 1, and stick it onto the square block using rubber cement. Drill 0.6 and 0.3 cm diameter holes. Use a band saw to cut the resulting block into quarters, and cut off the jaw corners (2.54 by 2.54 cm square) on each piece. The incision will go through the 0.95 cm diameter holes as intended. Finally, deburr each piece.
Cut eight 2.85 cm long pieces from a 0.95 cm thick hardwood dowel. Use an oak dowel, pine or poplar is too soft. Glue the resulting pins to the half-holes with a diameter of 0.95 cm. The pins act as “pivot” jaws to accommodate the clamping joints, which are not located at an angle of 90 degrees.
Using 0.6cm thick hardwood dowel, cut eight 2.85cm long pieces and glue to the top/bottom holes in the fibreboard. These pins will hold the pressure tape. There should be enough space between these pins and the round edge of the hardwood piece to thread the tape through.
Sand with sandpaper and clean the edges and front sides the four corner jaws you just made. Set them aside.
Step 2: Creating the Fixed Jaw and Tension Mechanism
Start with a 7.62 x 10 cm piece of 1.9 cm thick hardwood. Cut 1.2 cm on each side along the 10 cm long side. Cut each cut header in half - use tape or hand saw! You will need three pieces of 1.9 cm thick hardwood: one piece measuring 7.62 by 7.2 cm (depending on the gap between the saw teeth cutting machine), and two blanks measuring 1.2 by 3.7 cm.
Cut two pieces measuring 7.62 by 10 cm from 0.5 cm thick fiberboard.
Now glue together a block of blanks (fiberboard - hardwood board - fiberboard) as shown in the diagram and photo. I used small coins stacked on top of each other and taped together during the gluing process to create a groove for the clamp strip. After 15-20 minutes, remove the coin separator before the glue completely hardens.
After the glue has dried, attach template 2 to the top and side of the block; Drill holes in the top and inside the side as shown on the template.
By using band saw make a notch on the stationary jaw, and cut holes with a diameter of 0.95 cm, as indicated in step 1; Next, cut the block halfway along the line indicated on the template. Mark the two pieces as they fit together, because you need to line up the side holes! You have now created a fixed jaw and a movable tension slider.
Glue four 2.85 cm long pins (2 0.63 cm thick and two 0.95 cm thick) onto the stationary jaw as indicated in step 1. Sand the edges and pins.
Cut two 12.7 cm long pieces from the 0.95 cm thick pin. The pins should move smoothly back and forth through the moving part. If necessary, sand the pins (use a drill press as shown in the photo). Glue the pin blanks to the fixed jaw blank. Use the sliding slider to align the pins during the gluing process.
Step 3: Install the Tension Bolt
Install a 16 x 0.95 cm T-nut into the center hole of the slider, which is located front part to the stationary sponge. You will need to drill a shallow 1.1cm hole around the center hole to accommodate the T-nut. Insert a 16mm threaded rod through the T-nut (or a 10cm long, fully threaded hex bolt). When the bolt or rod is screwed in, it will act against the fixed jaw and push the movable slider out. Press a #8 hex nut into the center hole of the stationary jaw so that the rod/bolt rotates against it, protecting the wood at the bottom of the hole as shown in the photo. You can fit a hex bolt handle to tighten the clamp, or use a 19mm wrench for this purpose.
Step 4: Final finishing of all components
Coat the corner jaws, the fixed jaw and the movable slider with varnish or polyurethane so that the wood glue does not stick to them and can be easily cleaned off. Do not paint the pins or holes in the slider; they can stick together!
Step 5: Install the Tape
Take 3 meters (or more) of strong 1.9 cm wide polyamide cord (tape) and four 1.9 cm wide sliding fasteners. Pass the cord through the fastener, the left side of the fixed jaw, the second fastener, then through the left groove of the movable slider, the left side fixed jaw, first fastener and three corner jaws. Follow similar steps for the right side. See photo above.
To adjust the length of the tape there is The best way, i.e. cam levers, compression screws, spring-loaded fasteners, etc. The simplest and cheap way- these are still sliding fasteners. Improve the design yourself!
Step 6: Using the Tape Presser
Always adjust the length of the tape before applying glue to the workpiece and allow it time to dry. Wrap the clamping band around the workpiece and align the jaws at the corners. Pull the tape tight on the left side and adjust the sliding fasteners. You can use masking tape on the sponges to prevent the glue from sticking to them. Make sure no glue gets on the pivot/tension pins or mechanism. Turn the bolt using a 19mm socket wrench to tighten the jaws against the workpiece. Make sure your piece remains flat and square and let the glue dry.
For rectangles, use three jaws plus one fixed jaw. For six-sided workpieces, use 5 jaws plus one fixed jaw. For n-third parties – good idea For new brain project!
Thank you for your attention!
Over the hundreds of years that man has been processing wood and making various products, it seems the craftsmen have tried all possible tools and devices. Meanwhile, the creation of all kinds of devices continues to this day. It is likely that all this was already invented by someone in past years, but each master tries to make devices that are suitable for him.
Wooden picture or photo frames are compressed when gluing, probably hundreds in various ways. I myself can offhand offer at least a dozen options; here is one of the devices for this work from White Myers, Workbench website.
Tape ties are most often used for compression when gluing square or rectangular products. Such as chairs, stools, boxes and small tables. The use of this mechanism is convenient because you can compress the entire product at once by applying glue and assembling the legs, drawers and legs of the chair. But when gluing wooden frames, tape tie in in the usual form doesn't fit. The fact is that during compression it is impossible to maintain angles exactly 90*, due to uneven contraction.
In order to use a tape tie when assembling the frames, you need to make four corner blocks. The blocks have an outer rounded edge, which helps to compress the product evenly and sawn internal corner, exactly under 90*. It is imperative to drill a hole at the starting point of the corner to prevent the frame from sticking to the blocks. More options for frame clamps in the article.
Small parts clamp
Every craftsman who works with wood uses for processing parts grinding discs And grinding drums. Sometimes you have to process a large number of small wooden parts. It can be difficult to hold them in your hand, and there is a risk of catching the drum with your hands.
To make a clamp you will need two wooden bars 150-200 mm long. and cross section 30/15 mm. . The bars can be made by sawing into two parts round blank with a diameter of 30 mm. . Holes are drilled in the center of the bars for a clamping bolt with a wing and several washers.
During operation, the required gap between the platforms is immediately established, and compression is carried out using a wooden wedge in the tail section. The process is quick and simple: insert the part, push in the wedge and work. We take out the wedge, change the part and again clamp it with the wedge.