Clamp Perch for Round Tabletops
F
EW THINGS PROVOKE LANGUAGEunbecoming a woodworker more
than trying to clamp up a round tabletop. On a restoration
project, I found myself having to rejoint and reglue the boards in two
half-round top sections of a table. Cussin’ didn’t work, so I devised
another scheme.
I scrounged up a nice straight-grained piece of ash about^3 ⁄ 4 in.
thick, and marked the center point on it and on the top of the curve
of the outside table board. Then, rolling the stick along the circumfer-
ence, I marked out perch points at appropriate clamping places—the
sketch below shows one at each end, but you can make as many as
you think you need—taking care to keep the flats parallel to the cen-
terline of the table. Then I bandsawed the ash down to a springy^1 ⁄ 4 in.,
leaving the perch spots as shown. To use, I bar-clamped the stick first
in the middle, applying enough pressure so that it wouldn’t slip. Then,
working out from the middle, I bent the stick around the curve and
gradually snugged up the clamps on each flat.
—JIMSMALL,Newville, Pa.
CLAMPING- Mark the
clamp locations.
2. Band-
3. Clamp up.