Homemade Bar Clamps
Y
OU CAN NEVER BE TOOthin, too rich, or have too many bar
clamps. But a woodworker’s cash usually goes toward tools and
machinery, leaving clamps for another day. The homemade model
above, though made from light, cheap material, will do most (though
not all) things a bar clamp will do.
The two bars are made of mild steel,^3 ⁄ 4 in. wide by^1 ⁄ 8 in. thick.
Clamp the two bars together and drill^1 ⁄ 4 -in. holes spaced 1^1 ⁄ 2 in. apart.
Make the head block from a^3 ⁄ 4 -in. cube of steel tapped for a^3 ⁄ 8 -in.
threaded rod. With the head block carefully lined up and clamped in
position, fasten it to the bars by welding, brazing, or riveting.
Make the 2^1 ⁄ 4 -in. by 1-in. by 1-in. sliding block and the fixed block
from any dense hardwood. Cut a^1 ⁄ 8 -in.-deep groove on each side of
the blocks to give a sliding fit between the bars. Drill a shallow^3 ⁄ 8 -in.
hole in the sliding block to take the end of the threaded rod. So the
rod won’t continually bore its way into the wood, force a pellet of
(^3) ⁄ 8 -in. steel into the bottom of the hole.
CHAPTER NINE
Steel
head
block
(^1) ⁄ 8 -in.-thick
steel bars
Removable pin
Sliding
block
Fixed block