What is the Shopmate Maxi-Clamp used for ???

[BigEd]

OK, today's mystery. My brother had a box, looks like it wasn't ever opened, outside says "Shopmate Maxi-Clamp" Inside is an assortment of different length threaded rods and an assortment of ends. I don't see this listed in the Accessories catalog on line and am curious what it is and how it was intended to be used.

I also have several long wooden gluing clamps and have the document sheet that came with them but these aren't clear as to how to use them. They sound like a great item and they are still sold. Is there any article here that goes into more detail as to how to correctly use them?

Best regards,
Ed Robinson
Foster, RI

[dwevans]

I inhereted the maxi clamps from my fathers stash, I do not know if he ever used them, seems like a lot of set up to clamp something. If your doing repeat work then they might be a bit more useful.

As for the wooden bar clamps, they have lots of uses, excellent for glueing up panels, also they can be used as veneer presses. In fact there was a sawdust session that showed how to do this.

[wgander]

They didn't come with any instructions: I bought them years ago. I seldom use them because I don't think of them and don't see them when I'm doing something they could be helpful for.
I've reorganized my shop and put them on a shelf where they are more visible and hope to get a chance to use them now.

[a1gutterman]

... I don't see this listed in the Accessories catalog on line and am curious what it is and how it was intended to be used...

ShopSmith no longer offers them.

[BigEd]

I followed a link from another thread and ended up here...

http://shopsmith-tool-hunter.blogspot.com/

He has pictures and write ups on both the Maxi-clamp and the wooden gluing clamp. I also found one of my brother's wooden 48" clamps with the original cardboard wrap with instructions on it and a price sticker for 39.99. Guess that's a few years out of date...

Ed

[joedw00]

This might give you a little more reading about them I did a search for Maxi-Clamp:)
http://www.shopsmith.net/forums/search. ... chid=88604

[azdustdevil]

I have a pristine copy of the manual for the maxi clamps.

[Awake]

I don't see this listed in the Accessories catalog on line and am curious what it is and how it was intended to be used.

I also have several long wooden gluing clamps and have the document sheet that came with them but these aren't clear as to how to use them. They sound like a great item and they are still sold. Is there any article here that goes into more detail as to how to correctly use them?

Best regards,
Ed Robinson
Foster, RI

Hi Ed,
I just posted along these lines in another thread, but I agree that the clamps use is not intuitive. The secret is that the "jaw" pieces have to be pressed against something for the screw threads to engage. If you're just trying to get them to screw together the threads will never fully engage. Put something solid between the jaws and then try to screw them tight. The backwards pressure from the object enables the screw threads to catch and then you can screw it tighter.

This lets you slide the jaws down the rod to the objects you want to clamp very quickly. If later you unscrew it so the threads are no longer catching, you can slide the jaws down the length of the rod to make adjustments in how far apart the jaw pieces are. With a little creativity you can do some cool things with them. It's a clever system.

[gsmyth]

I also found mine in my Dad's stash. Fortunately he still had the instructions. Used them a few times, mostly to take things apart. I had an old oak office desk that had a stuck drawer. Braced the Maxi-clamps in there and it took me about an hour but I finally forced the drawer out of the desk Could not have done it without them. Also used them to take apart an old baby cradle by forcing the parts apart. There are lots of ways to use them to make all kinds of jigs. All parts are standard sizes and replaceable except the connectors so if you lose a nut or washer it's not a big deal. You also can go the the hardware store and get more threaded rods to use or cut down for specific projects.

[GoNavy]

Another one here that got it handed down, still haven't used the maxi clamps, but played around with it one day to learn how it worked. Very clever, but too much setup time, unless you need to do a lot of the same thing. The panel clamps on the other hand I use a lot, love them, makes glue up of several boards a snap and they come out perfectly flat, since the clamp applies pressure from all sides, top, and bottom, the only thing I did to them, instead of keeping a good coat of wax on the inside surface that goes against the boards your gluing up, I put some cellophane tape, glue won't stick to that, wipes clean when your done. Wax works ok, but needs to be re-applied often, tapes works better.