Starter clamps?

[Mountie]

Awesome tip Larry! I'll bring my Combo square to HD with me today....

Sure wish we had a Lowe's around here....I haven't been about to find deals like the one's being referred to at my local HD or Rona....maybe just a matter of time....

Loring; I like your idea of the home built corner clamps....only problem is I need either a new plane or at least a new iron for the one I have....between the new dado set and the clamps my wife's hitting the wall...I can only push this "but its Christmas" thing so far!

[knotley]

Watch the Canadian Tire flyers. They often have semi decent clamps on sale. I have a few and find I can use them for most situations.

I second that idea. I have bought almost all of my clamps from CDN Tire at 50% off. They work fine for me.

[LCHIEN]

Awesome tip Larry! I'll bring my Combo square to HD with me today....

Sure wish we had a Lowe's around here....I haven't been about to find deals like the one's being referred to at my local HD or Rona....maybe just a matter of time....

Loring; I like your idea of the home built corner clamps....only problem is I need either a new plane or at least a new iron for the one I have....between the new dado set and the clamps my wife's hitting the wall...I can only push this "but its Christmas" thing so far!

ACtually, careful application of the table saw makes it pretty easy to square up a 2x4. Without a jointer, planer etc.
Rip in half -hopefully you'll get a clean flat rip as a reference point.
Just repeatedly rip a not too long piece (say 18") thats reasonably straight to start with, trimming of 1/8" at a time. off the three uncut sides, when the last cut is made you should not have changed the rip width so that the piece will be square. Its not critical it be 1.5" square. 1.43" or even down to 1.25" is probably plenty fine. Just do all your stock at the same time so they end up the same dimensions.

When you crosscut the pieces, allow a little extra length for "corrections" you'll want one piece about 8.25 long and the other about 6.75". Stand up the cut pieces, cut end down, next to each other and rotate one full turn in 1/4 turn steps and see that they stand up perfectly parallel (no visible gaps on any rotation). The rotate the other piece. It its not square, tune your saw and cut both ends again until its right.

If you cut well you can use the DIY assy square inside or outside.

[cabinetman]

ACtually, careful application of the table saw makes it pretty easy to square up a 2x4. Without a jointer, planer etc.
Rip in half -hopefully you'll get a clean flat rip as a reference point.
Just repeatedly rip a not too long piece (say 18") thats reasonably straight to start with, trimming of 1/8" at a time. off the three uncut sides, when the last cut is made you should not have changed the rip width so that the piece will be square. Its not critical it be 1.5" square. 1.43" or even down to 1.25" is probably plenty fine. Just do all your stock at the same time so they end up the same dimensions.

When you crosscut the pieces, allow a little extra length for "corrections" you'll want one piece about 8.25 long and the other about 6.75". Stand up the cut pieces, cut end down, next to each other and rotate one full turn in 1/4 turn steps and see that they stand up perfectly parallel (no visible gaps on any rotation). The rotate the other piece. It its not square, tune your saw and cut both ends again until its right.

If you cut well you can use the DIY assy square inside or outside.

Just a suggestion on your DIY corner brackets. When and if the wood bracket can be tweaked square, gluing on a face (or faces) ⅛" tempered Masonite as one piece. When dry, rout off the overhang with a flush trim bit. Gluing on the faces will keep the joint from moving and add quite a bit of rigidity to the legs of the bracket.

Then at the outside corner of the bracket, cut a 45 degree corner off so that it won't be stuck into a glued up corner, and glue can be wiped/scraped out.

Besides the possibility of the metal brackets from the box store being out of square, they also have that 90 degree corner that seats into a corner glue up.

.

[cabinetman]

A lightweight clamp called a Klemmy clamp, has a 4" throat and is adjustable in various lengths. They have a cork pad covering on the contact areas. Being a cam clamp, can be operated with one hand, doesn't slip, and for small or medium duty clamping are very easy to use.

.

[LCHIEN]

Just a suggestion on your DIY corner brackets. When and if the wood bracket can be tweaked square, gluing on a face (or faces) ⅛" tempered Masonite as one piece. When dry, rout off the overhang with a flush trim bit. Gluing on the faces will keep the joint from moving and add quite a bit of rigidity to the legs of the bracket.

Then at the outside corner of the bracket, cut a 45 degree corner off so that it won't be stuck into a glued up corner, and glue can be wiped/scraped out.

Besides the possibility of the metal brackets from the box store being out of square, they also have that 90 degree corner that seats into a corner glue up.

.

If you look at my orig post, I suggest relief with a miter/chamfer on the outside corner and a drilled relief on the inside corner for glue and or any excess wood to help seat the assy square.




While a masonite diagonal brace would make it quite strong, there's no give in mine as it is - as a brace for a glue-up or a nailup, there's not a huge force on it anyway. I haven't felt a need for such a brace and it might get in the way (or maybe not) - I guess its not a bad idea for those wanting belts and suspenders.

[cabinetman]

While a masonite diagonal brace would make it quite strong, there's no give in mine as it is - as a brace for a glue-up or a nailup, there's not a huge force on it anyway. I haven't felt a need for such a brace and it might get in the way (or maybe not) - I guess its not a bad idea for those wanting belts and suspenders.

I didn't suggest the Masonite left as a diagonal. I did suggest routing it off to the shape of the wood bracket. There would be nothing in the way. What's with the belts and suspenders?

.

[jackellis]

Another suggestion. Keep an eye out for items that are being "recycled". I bought most of my clamps second-hand and saved a pile of money.

[durango dude]

Bessey has a basic clamp set at Lowe's - available for about $20.

The C clamps are decent - and I suppose worth the cost of the set.

The set also includes a few bar clamps (they're not great - and for my purposes, I decided they were inadequate, since they're too short for most of my work).

I now have 24" and 36" bar clamps that I use a lot (Home Depot).

I use the plastic spring clamps for setting power cords out-of-the-way on my work table - but find them otherwise uninspiring.

Grizzly has a nice clamp set from Jorgensen -- for a much higher price.

[dbhost]

I don't know if Harbor Freight is up in Canada, but if they are, I would suggest a good set would be....

12 each

• #96210 6" bar clamps.
• #96214 12" bar clamps.
• #96213 24" bar clamps.
• #96487 36" bar clamps.
• #94053 3/4" pipe clamp with base. (with 4', and 6' pipe sections, and couplers).
• Not Harbor Freight, but Big Horn strap clamps. Epoxy some router mat to the feet though, these things have slick plastic, but then again, so do the Besseys I looked at...

Corner clamps are useful, but then again, you can improvise using any number of objects as a sort of clamping / alignment caul... Just get creative....

[durango dude]

I don't mind the Harbor Freight jigs (I use their dowel jog, for example) - but their clamps aren't that great.

The Jorgensen clamps that I just picked up at HD were fantastic. They beat the Besley package that I bought a year ago (Lowes) - hands-down.

I'll be building some furniture in about a year - so there's more than a few clamps in my future.

Grizzly has three clamp sets:
- Shop Fox ($239 for 30 clamp set)
- Jorgensen ($250 for 22 clamp set)
- Besley ($340 for 30 clamp set)

Big problem - you'll want a clamp buddy if you buy any of these sets......

[Cochese]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the blue HF clamps.

[dbhost]

I've had excellent results with the HF bar clamps... As have many folks. Jorgenson clamps are nice, but somewhat pricey compared to the HF models. Duds exist with both...

[Cochese]

Wanted to follow up with this thread, because I still don't have any parallel clamps and I need to start getting on that.

Got an email about Peachtree not carrying the original K-Body anymore, for what reason I don't know.

Should I grab a couple of the 31" models, or should I skip them and grab something else if they go on sale?

[pelligrini]

Bessey has discontinued the old K-bodies. They have a new design, the Revo.

I picked up 2 pair of the 12" K-bodies on the last peachtree sale. The 31" on closeout are a decent deal. The 31" clamps are nice when working with 24" material, like cabinets. A 24" clamp usually doesn't work very well, not quite enough clamping depth. If you have the funds, you might pick up a couple pair. I would if I could.