Wordless Project ** Hold Down Clamp **

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:17 pm

paulmcohen wrote:Actually that is how I was planning to do it. It only needs to be 1/2 the depth.

I don't think so! Not if you cut the mortise before you cut the profile of the hold down.

terrydowning · Post by **terrydowning** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:20 pm

Ed,

Thanks for the reminder that we are wood workers and are capable of building bench dogs, hold downs, clamps, jigs, etc. from what is left in the shorts bin.

I often see these gadgets and think to myself, I can build that why would I buy it?? I think there are woodworkers that aren't so much woodworkers as woodworking tool collectors.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:25 pm

dusty wrote:I don't believe I have a router bit that is long enough for that mortise.

I acquired a SS 5/16" router bit on e-bay a while back. All the SS router bits with 1/2" shanks are about 1 1/4" long(cutting depth).

Looks like a 1 1/2" depth of those blocks, so the router only need be 3/4" long..

dusty · Post by **dusty** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 1:58 pm

paulmcohen wrote:Actually that is how I was planning to do it. It only needs to be 1/2 the depth.

I don't think so! Not if you cut the mortise before you cut the profile of the hold down.

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 2:16 pm

Took a closer look at 'the plan'. The mortise need only be 1" deep as the concave bottom cutting will cut away the bottom 1/2". Laying the pattern up an eighth of an inch towards the top will decrease the depth to 7/8".

A similar 'adjustment' can be made at the bottom and will decrease the total depth of the stock to 1 1/4". Maple can get expensive!:D

P.S. This would be an excellent jig for use with the conical sanding disc for final 'shaping'(notice de saw cut line in de pix[#6]!)

JPG · Post by **JPG** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 2:30 pm

Only 1 2/2 hours until 'unclamp' time alarm goes off!

tgamel · Post by **tgamel** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 6:48 pm

dusty wrote:I don't think so! Not if you cut the mortise before you cut the profile of the hold down.

My original thought was to just use the drill press to drill out the holes and then smooth out the mortise with a chisel. But if I understand what your saying (and it makes perfect sense) it would be easier (and probably faster) to cut the mortise in each of the two blocks before gluing them together. Using this method you could really crank out a group of these clamps in a short amount of time. Whether the mortise in the clamp has a round or square end I do not think would compromise functionality.

reible · Post by **reible** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:09 pm

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reible · Post by **reible** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:40 pm

OK 4 clamps done.

I wasn't sure if the 24 clamping time would fly but thanks to an alert viewer I know it did.

I will address a couple of things. I didn't go with the router for several reasons. I don't have a 5/16 plunge bit so it would have had to been done with two width passes of a smaller bit not to mention several steps of like a 1/4" deep passes to get the depth. That and you might find the work piece a little small to be dropping on a spinning bit.... to fix that the work piece would have to be more like 8" long, a waste of wood. Plus if something did go wrong the glue joint area might well be the weak area and fly apart. This conclusion was reached early on in my planning.

A second option which I did think about was to have a router bit set back in the fence half way and then take each half and run it buy as separate parts, this would work but again I think I'd like more material near the end so maybe stock would have to be 6" long. This method lost out when I started thinking that not all members have router tables... (it could be done with a stand a lone router if you made a jig).

The option I picked using the bandsaw was very quick and worked even better then I had hoped.

One thing to remember this slot is way over sized for a 1/4" bolt/rod/? so it is NOT critical.

I should also mention I pretty much free handed a sketch of curved part, I don't always follow plans very well and again I did not feel that part needed to be just that shape. The bandsaw was used to get the general shape and then I sanded to the line (sort of).

The stop block is also different, the bottom piece on mine is thicker then the plans. For my project this seemed like it might work better, if not I can always make another set of them.

If you have questions feel free to ask them. And if you have time I'd like to here how well this wordless project work for you.

Ed

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Wordless Project Hold Down Clamp