Every craftsman who makes products and parts made of metal or wood cannot do without homemade clamps. Previously, such a tool was produced in various modifications, from specialized to universal. The main task is to fix the workpiece for processing and joining operations. Let's look at how to make a quick-release clamp with your own hands in various variations.
This type of do-it-yourself metal clamp is designed to fix two objects at right angles and connect them to each other using any methods, however, the main purpose is as a jig for welding metal parts at the angle required for work. To make it properly , you will need the following components:
Corners should be welded at 90 degrees to metal or steel plates. We attach the worm-type structure by welding, and screw a pin-driver into the working nut in order to assemble a stop at the end. The stop must turn freely. Then with reverse side it is necessary to drill a hole where we insert a metal rod as a lever. Incredible simple design and practicality of use have become the key to the popularity of such a clamp among everyone who works with metal and products made from it.
Such designs, used in carpentry, there are the following types:
The first type is made from two pine blocks, a locking nut, rods, threaded wing nuts and thrust washers. The manufacturing process is very simple:
The second option is used when prompt fixation of small parts is necessary. Production is carried out from small bars and thin-sheet plywood. Furniture nuts and collar pins act as a worm system. One stop is stationary; we attach it to the end of the guide rail, in which we cut out recesses to fix the moving mechanism.
There are both portable and stationary option such a design where grooves are cut for movement with fastening fixed stops. The clamp is a furniture nut, a hairpin and a knob. Due to this, you can work with workpieces of any size.
The self-clamping design has a lever with an eccentric at the rotating end. We turn it at a certain angle, a quick clamp is automatically obtained. The height is adjusted with a pin on the workbench. It is made individually for each matrix, depending on its purpose and the purpose of the work being carried out.
Welding metal pipes end to end is a complex operation. It is considered simpler to weld the pipe to ready-made system. The design for such cases is made of metal corner and steel plates. The halves of such a device should be fixed using the traditional method, namely with threaded rods. As a result, you can get a fairly simple and efficient design, which will greatly facilitate the work when welding pipes with various designs.
There are other types of designs, including cam mechanisms, tape and wire clamps, which can be useful for working with specific structures, including particularly fragile and thin ones. However, their production is the subject of separate master classes and articles on specialized resources.
Homemade clamps are indispensable assistants for any craftsman working with metal and wooden parts and products. Making them is quite simple and very exciting. Here it is important to follow the manufacturing technology, find optimal instructions and videos. You can buy clamps, but they may ultimately not be suitable due to the specificity of the workpiece or work. This is why you should make your own clamps. Good job with various workpieces and making homemade quick-release clamps!
It will not hurt a novice craftsman to know that in the first stages it is unlikely that he will be able to get by with just a hammer or saw. Subsequently, you will have to resort to using a vice or quick-release clamp to fix the workpiece or glue individual fragments. Making it yourself is quite simple. There is no single clamp that is sufficiently universal to satisfy all needs when performing various types work.
They are various styles, models and sizes. So you can stock up various models, which will always come in handy. A master can purchase several models of Assistent clamps, and besides, they are not that expensive. If a person does not want to pay for such a purchase, he can make a wooden or pipe clamp with his own hands. Wood models are very popular, you can make them yourself. This model is easy to use and easy to adjust.
Model F is a wooden clamp that has been slightly improved. It uses a maple plank with a width of 5 cm and a thickness of 0.6 cm. The design also contains a metal rod on which a thread is applied. To make a handle, you need to take a wooden blank. Hardwood without defects is suitable for this.
The moving parts must be well dried in order to slide smoothly on the bar. There should be two nuts on the rod. They are located at the end and then tighten against each other. Thanks to this, they do not separate during use. You can use a separate lock nut or simple model with permanent lock. And two more nuts are needed to secure the clamping pads along with the washer from the outside.
It is permissible to use a locknut and other fastening methods. Double products jam each other. This is the most reliable and easiest way. It's also the cheapest. It is important to leave some space for the screw so it can rotate freely.
Using a hacksaw, cut the threaded rod to 30 cm. First, you need to make an additional cut into a block measuring 9 by 7 cm, if we're talking about about loose ends. Once all the corners are cut, you need to drill a hole and insert the tightening bolts.
You need to make sure the holes are large enough to fit the bolt head. The threaded rod is fixed in the upper area of the fixed end. The hole needs to be large enough to fit the nut into the rod. Install the fixed end when intending to drill holes. When assembling, you need to make sure that the ends are secured at right angles. Thanks to this, the threaded rod will become parallel to the rod.
Before assembly, it is necessary to make a hole where the nut and threaded rod pass through. Do this in the same block position as for the fixed end. You need to make sure the hole is wide and deep enough to accommodate the nuts. The lower area is small, and therefore it is difficult to insert enough screws here. This is necessary to prevent curling.
Shelf dimensions are determined according to the desired length and available equipment. After this, the system components are sawed until required size, cut out the pads for the sponge and drill the necessary holes, glue the handles with a five-minute epoxy resin. When the screw shaft is jagged by a file or sandpaper, fix the handles with epoxy glue.
A lightweight, homemade clamp is made on the basis of a metal rod. These clamps, although not as powerful as steel clamps, still provide the ability to create strong clamping pressure for any adhesive. Accordingly, their service life is quite impressive. The rod can be made to any length. The only thing you need to remember is that there should not be a threaded rod running along the entire length of the main rod. The clamp head does not need it at this end, making assembly much easier. Clamping jaws are made of plywood.
The lock nut is an element that secures the clamping jaw to the rod. However, it should not be under pressure. The nut can be cut with a regular hacksaw. It is fixed to the heel with epoxy resin. The recess should be quite wide and suitable for the washer and deep so that the nut and washer can turn without problems.
Here you need to use a 35 mm nut, since you need to drill a hole 38 mm in diameter with a bottom and 15 mm in depth. After drilling the recess, a through hole is made. This is required for the clamping screw. Fix the movable head in a fixed position and mark the places where the hole should be located.
Square blanks of 25 mm are made and 100 mm are cut for each handle. Mark the central part and drill out a fragment of 10.5 mm 60 mm using a drill. As an analogue, you can drill a fairly wide hole and then cover it with epoxy resin. But this method is considered not reliable enough.
Grind the workpiece to make it more comfortable handle and glued to this clamping screw. Proceed to the main assembly. This is a simple task to apply the film to the stationary head. The lock nut is strengthened and end caps are made. They should prevent the head from slipping off the rod. Therefore, it is advisable to screw a small plate onto the heel. Thereby the nut will not slip out of place. This acts like a hook.
This device is not only useful, but also extremely simple. It must be remembered that cam clamps are fast-acting, but cannot guarantee great strength clamping parts. That's why they are used when relatively little cutting force is required. They are not suitable for working under high pressure, as is possible with a large clamp. But at the same time they are extremely easy to use.
A special template is used for preparation. It is needed to create curves. The template is made of metal, plastic or wood. It is used to tighten smooth curves. However, the cam mechanisms do not directly follow the French curve. The correct cam must have a profile, increasing the distance between the axis of rotation and constant speed. In this way it resembles a spiral drawn with a pencil.
Carrying out plumbing or carpentry work in places not equipped for this purpose is inevitably associated with the problem of securing workpieces. It is very difficult to prevent them from moving around the table or workbench during processing if they are not equipped with special clamps, a vice or other fixing devices. One such device, simple, affordable and versatile, is clamps. We will tell you what they are and how they are used, and also give detailed instructions on how to make reliable clamps with your own hands.
The clamp is an additional carpentry tool. The main purpose of clamps is to fix a workpiece on a support surface or several workpieces for gluing them together; therefore, the design of the tool must include at least two elements: a support surface and a movable jaw equipped with a fixation mechanism. The movable jaw is usually moved using a screw or lever, which allows for increased compression and prevents backlash during operation. Depending on specialization and design features allocate the following types clamps:
Clamps of this type are suitable for working with large workpieces
Objects are fixed using an auxiliary screw and a stepper mechanism
The clamp is suitable for working with large workpieces
Clamps of this type simplify joining workpieces at right angles
Corner clamp with double-sided corner block
The band clamp is equipped with a band element that allows you to fix the workpiece around the perimeter
This clamp is rarely used due to the low reliability of the joint
At home, the first clamps most often made are three types, since they are not too demanding on materials and production technologies, and also allow you to solve most household problems that require the use of auxiliary tools.
You will find even more information about the types of clamps in our next material:
To make clamps at home, it is enough to have basic plumbing and carpentry skills. The materials used are wooden beam, rolled metal, pipes and fasteners, in particular bolts, studs, nuts, pins. For joining metal parts of clamps, it is desirable to have an electric welding machine. When performing any work, the main thing is to follow the instructions and observe safety precautions.
This type of clamp will help to secure wood workpieces well.
A clamp made using this method is perfect for fixing small wooden blanks- plywood, fiberboard sheets, OSB and chipboard, as well as boards and thin timber. We suggest that you choose the scale yourself, but otherwise it is better not to deviate from next sequence actions:
An even simpler option is to make a screw clamp from a hacksaw.
A simple version of a hacksaw clamp
In this case, it is enough to weld a support pad at one end of its arc, and a nut at the other, into which the adjusting screw with jaw and handle will be installed.
Making such a clamp will take longer
Usage F-shaped clamps significantly speeds up the work process. But making the clamp itself is somewhat more complicated than creating its screw counterpart. You will need to do the following:
Rough fixation of the lower jaw on the axial plate can be achieved by wedging its guide pins, inserting an additional pin, using a screw clamp or another method.
To make such a clamp you will need a metal pipe
For such a tool, you will need three metal rings, the inner diameter of which corresponds to the outer diameter of the pipe you have, instead of which, by the way, you can use a metal rod. If you have a welding machine, the process of making a clamp comes down to the following algorithm:
A pipe clamp is ideal for holding furniture elements during assembly; it will be convenient in construction and installation work and other similar operations.
To make this type of clamp, you can use wood, metal or duralumin. They differ from each other not only in material, but also in clamping force and the size of the fixed workpiece. Our next material presents detailed instructions for making tools:
Both in everyday life and in professional activity related to wood and metal processing, clamps will become an indispensable assistant. By following the instructions and having a simple set of materials, you can make this tool with your own hands.
Processing workpieces on a carpentry workbench will be convenient when using various devices that fix the parts on the table surface. With your own hands, you can make both the simplest stops and clamps, and universal systems that allow you to secure workpieces of any configuration.
Homemade bench stops made of wood do not dull the tool and do not damage the ends of the parts. The devices are divided according to the type of rod and inserted into holes of the appropriate shape.
Rectangular wedges do not rotate and ensure absolute immobility of the workpiece. The stops themselves are easy to make, but hollowing out the square sockets will take a lot of time and effort. It is advisable to install these holes in tabletops made of solid boards at the manufacturing stage carpentry workbench.
In work surfaces made from sheet material, it is more correct to use stops with a cylindrical rod. Such devices are convenient for fastening curved parts, and holes for them can always be drilled into in the right place. Rigid fixation of rectangular workpieces is achieved by installing an additional bar with two rods.
Birch, cherry, maple or walnut are suitable for the bench stop rod. The top strip is made of the same hardwood or plywood. A low-profile stop can be made from high-density laminated board left over from the flooring installation.
Decide on the diameter of the rod. If you plan to purchase ready-made retainers later, select standard size 19 mm. If you are confident in the future self-production For carpentry workbench fixtures, use a diameter of 21 mm. Such outer size have half-inch water pipes, from which homemade clamping clamps are made. Approximately the same value corresponds to the nominal diameter of three quarter pipes suitable for the manufacture of round wooden rods.
Take a piece of pipe with a diameter of 3/4 inch, a length of 60–80 mm and a thread of at least 20 mm. Sharpen the edges on one end and screw the nut onto the other.
Insert the device into the inch pipe and drive a birch stick through it, hitting it from above with a heavy hammer.
Trim the wood when the wood chips hit the nut. It may seem easier to take a longer tube, but it will be much more difficult to penetrate.
After running the stick, remove the burrs with sandpaper. Wooden rods made in this way may have minor imperfections that do not affect the overall shape of the cylinder. At the beginning of setting up a home workshop, when there are no special machines yet, you will not find an easier way to make a round stick with your own hands.
Draw on the workpieces the upper parts of the stops in the right quantity and mark the centers for drilling holes.
Using a feather drill, make indentations half the thickness of the material. Start drilling at low speeds, pressing lightly on the drill. At the moment of contact, marks will appear on the surface, which will show where the tool should be deflected for perpendicular drilling.
Saw the workpieces, sand the ends and countersink the holes for the screws.
Apply wood glue to the stud and into the recess.
Connect the parts, press them with your hands and wipe off excess glue. Insert the rod into the hole in the table top and tighten the screw.
After ten minutes, carefully remove the stop, pushing from below and without moving the parts. Leave the device until the glue dries completely.
Drill holes for bench stops where you consider necessary. Most often they are needed on the left side of the table for planing workpieces and next to the vice for joint use. The distance between the centers of the holes should be the same everywhere and correspond to the size of the long stops. Before drilling, attach an unnecessary board to the bottom so that there are no chips when the drill comes out.
The stop located on the side of the tabletop is convenient for cross-cutting boards. When it is not needed, its rotating part is lowered and is out of the way. Use the tool in conjunction with a long bench stop, holding the board firmly with one hand while using the hacksaw with the other.
Cut the wooden stop pieces from leftover hardwood. Make two countersink holes in the fixed part and one in the turning strip, exactly matching the diameter of the screw being used.
Mark on the end of the table the location of the moving part in line with the bench stop.
Secure the turntable first, adding a block if necessary to increase the thickness of the tabletop. Next, install a stationary part perpendicular to it.
Movable fasteners allow you to fix various workpieces and removable work panels on the carpentry workbench. The clamps move in metal guides with a T-groove (T-slots) embedded flush with the table surface, which can be aluminum or steel.
An analogue of factory rails with a T-slot can be easily made from metal pipe rectangular or square section. A profile with a height of no more than half the thickness of the tabletop is suitable. Immediately select the bolts and mark the cutout on one side of the pipe in proportion to the diameter of the bolt.
Cut the groove with a grinder, trim the edges with a file and round the edges with sandpaper.
Select suitable profile trims for making sliders if the hex head is smaller than the groove and rotates in it.
Drill holes for the bolts and cut the brackets, calculating their height to be 1-2 mm less than the internal passage of the profile.
Use manual frezer for making a recess in the countertop. If the profile being cut is wider than the cutter, make the groove in two approaches.
Draw a marking on the surface and install a flat panel parallel to it. To prevent chipping when the cutter comes out, attach a wooden strip close to the end.
Adjust the routing depth stop and select the groove in several passes.
Rearrange the panel, cut out the remaining material and sand the recess with abrasive paper.
Secure the guides with screws, making recesses in the metal for the caps.
Customizable clamping systems provide a variety of options for securing parts to your woodwork. The simplest design is a clamping bar, fixed with bolts sliding in T-shaped tracks.
Saw strips of plywood, adding 20 mm to the width of the parts indicated on the drawing, in order to later trim the glued workpiece and get perfectly straight ends. For the middle part, plywood scraps of the same thickness will do.
Glue the parts together, drill holes with a countersink 25 mm from the edges and tighten the screws on both sides. After the glue has dried, saw the workpiece to final size using a circular saw.
Cut plywood washers with a diameter slightly larger than the width of the clamping strip.
Carefully drill holes for the bolts in them.
Place the tool on the surface of a woodworking bench, put on washers and tighten with wing nuts.
The clamping bar is excellent for holding large workpieces and also as a side stop along which to guide the tool, for example when routing a longitudinal groove.
Simple and convenient clamps in the form of brackets are fixed on the workbench in the same T-slots, are easy to move and allow you to fix a variety of parts in any position.
The device consists of a plywood part with a groove, a bolt with a slider, washers, a wing nut and a metal sleeve.
For the manufacture of wooden elements You will need a template; it can be easily drawn on paper following our instructions.
Trace the template onto the plywood and use an awl to mark the center of the drill.
Make a hole with a 22mm diameter drill bit.
Prepare the remaining pieces and attach them together using wood glue and screws. Sand the ends, paying attention Special attention the upper semicircle and the lower rounded parts.
Take a half-inch tube and measure a length on it the length of the plywood staple. Drill a hole in the center for the bolt and cut the bushing to size. File off the metal burrs and sand the surfaces.
Assemble the clamp by placing washers under the nut.
The clamp in the photo below is simpler and is made in a similar way. When using this design, you have to place a pad of approximately the same thickness under the second arm of the lever, otherwise there will be a misalignment of the bolt, leading to deformation of the guide rail.
Increase the capabilities of your clamping system by making profile pipe another T-shaped track. By placing the guide between the rails embedded in the table, you can fasten parts anywhere on the carpentry workbench.
This additional strip is fixed at the edges with short bolts, and inside the profile there are small plywood inserts with holes.
The considered devices for a carpentry workbench are easy to manufacture and are suitable for securing most workpieces. Further work in carpentry will require new stops or clamps, which ingenuity will help you come up with, and experience that comes gradually will allow you to do them.
The clamp is an 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.
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:
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 a 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. The next stage is processing and polishing the workpiece. All sharp edges and sagging formed when working with gas welding equipment are knocked off with a file, and the surface is sanded with 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.
At the inner working end of the screw, a flat, even part is welded, on which the function of the jaws is assigned. 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.
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:
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. On the back side of the knob, a hole is drilled for a metal rod. Used as a lever, it will transmit more force, so it will hold workpieces more reliably.
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 the following materials:
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 the 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 secure fastening wooden parts when carrying out 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.
