Clamping

[berry]

I don't think there's been a discussion about clamping work to a SS table.

This has always been an area of frustration for me, forever.

I use C-clamps with the handle under the table. The most common items I clamp are feather boards but frequently I want to clamp stock to the table when I’m using the drill press. Invariably the clamp ends right on one of the tables unside “ribs”, and slides off. My solution has been to epoxy blocks of wood to the bottom of the table, creating a “smooth” bottom for a C-clamp. Hand screw clamps don’t seem to work any better because the edges of the table are deeper than the “ribs”.

I’m interested in how others clamp work to their tables.

[charlese]

I usually use a Pony clamp. The screw end has enough reach to clamp on a flat area on the bottom of the table. In searching for a Pix, I found I had also used Bessy K-body clamps. Although these pix were taken with an OPR table, you can see the use. I have also used wooden hand screws (no photo).
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[ryanbp01]

I prefer using quick clamps, the ones with the pistol grip with plastic or vinyl covers. I like the soft covers and they don't mar either the table or the wood. There are a number of manufacturers and they are widely available. The release mechanism is easy to use. Hope that helps.
BPR

[Ed in Tampa]

I don't think there's been a discussion about clamping work to a SS table.

This has always been an area of frustration for me, forever.

I use C-clamps with the handle under the table. The most common items I clamp are feather boards but frequently I want to clamp stock to the table when I’m using the drill press. Invariably the clamp ends right on one of the tables unside “ribs”, and slides off. My solution has been to epoxy blocks of wood to the bottom of the table, creating a “smooth” bottom for a C-clamp. Hand screw clamps don’t seem to work any better because the edges of the table are deeper than the “ribs”.

I’m interested in how others clamp work to their tables.

Berry
Your idea sounds like a winner!!
I usually use a c-clamps too, I guess I have been lucky because I rarely run into a web. However there are times I do run into a web so like your idea. You are right hand screw clamps are almost impossible to use to clamp anything to the SS table. However I did see a hand screw clamp that had one jaw cut out to fit around something, so I wonder if you couldn't do the same thing. It will make that clamp a one one purpose clamp.

I use two special clamps on my SS. I have a Bessey mitre clamp and it comes with a unique clamp that is perfect for clamping things on the SS table. Also when I bought my Kreg pocket jig I got what they call a right angle clamp. One side is a pin the goes into pocket holes and the other a normal flat. Well I cut a piece of scrap wood drilled a pocket hole size hole in it and that provides a very adjustable clamping flat. I use this rig a lot when I must clamp to the SS.
Ed

[berry]

Ed can you tell me a bit more about the Bessey miter clamp? Are you talking about the GS-11?

ryanbp01 I sure like my Quick clamps but I find them very difficult to use on the SS table. Charles use of the Pony clamps work if they're short enough but mine are all over 2' and are always in the way.

Thanks guys!

[charlese]

Here is another snapshot of use of clamps on the SS.

This is a scrap piece of maple remaining from turning. Got tired of cleaning the shop and decided to make a box in a box. (American Woodworker #130 Sept., 2006) Gonna put shaky eyes on the little box and call it an Eye Pod.
That idea stolen from AW #132 - letters.

The longer Pony clamps sould work here.

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[tchwrtr55]

I have two methods, for the most part. One is to use "T" clips in the miter guage tracks. That is for stuff that I definatly do not want to go anywhere. The other is Vise-Grip welding clamps (with broad swivel pads, similar to the clamps ued with the Kreg pocket screw drilling tool). I was a welder/metal fabricator before health forced a carreer change. I have a considerable number of the clamps, in various sizes, hanging in the shop. I just grab them and use them. These do not hold as solid as other methods, but they are quick.

Mark

[Ed in Tampa]

Ed can you tell me a bit more about the Bessey miter clamp? Are you talking about the GS-11?

ryanbp01 I sure like my Quick clamps but I find them very difficult to use on the SS table. Charles use of the Pony clamps work if they're short enough but mine are all over 2' and are always in the way.

Thanks guys!

The offical title is Bessey Angle clamp Model WS-3. It is essentially a clamp to hold right joints. It comes with two small clamps, they look like c clamps except instead of having a clamping anvil they have a rod. This rod is designed to slide in the two holes in the clamp and secure it to a table.

I use the clamps two ways one I will drill a hole in the wood and hold it tight against my table or simply lay the rod atop the piece and clamp it down almost c clamp fashion. The nice thing is the rod is about 2 inches long so you can move the clamp around so the pad does not contact a web and still be able to clamp down you object.

I have since seen two manufactures make the same thing for holding things on fences. Rockler part Number 31373 is an example. http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page ... lter=31373
I can't recall the other manufacture.

The clamps that came with the Bessey angle clamp is too small to be used on the 520 fence.
Ed

[Ed in Tampa]

I was asked what Bessey clamp came with the two small clamps and I said WS-3 and so they did when I bought my WS-3. However that is not the case anymore. I was at Woodcraft and noticed the Bessey WS-3 does not include the two smaller clamps that hold the WS-3 down.

However the Jet copy of the Bessey WS-3 does. In fact the two were hanging side by side and I would say the Jet clamp was made by Bessey.

Something real intesting the Bessey clamp is sold with a mock up of two pieces of wood clamped at 90degrees. When I bought my Bessey the mock up was to pieces of wood, however the new Bessey has plastic replicates of wood clamped in there now. The Jet you guessed it, it has the two pieces of wood.

I wonder if Bessey got sold to someone that moved the manufacturing and then Jet came along and bought the old plant and tooling. Because the new Jet looks more like the old WS-3 Bessey than the new Bessey WS-3

Ed

[berry]

In this thread we discussed clamping stock or fixtures to the SS table. I started the discussion and commented that when I used C-clamps the swivel pad always seems to end up on the structural webbing on the underside of the table. Many of you offered suggestions but the one that interested me the most was from tchwrtr55 who said I could use the “T” nuts. Offline he was nice enough to provide some pics.

I made these hold downs (see pics if I'm not technologically impaired this morning) that work swell with the SS “T” nuts. (I’m not suggesting this is an original idea, many of you may be using “T” nuts like this, but it’s new for me. I think they work particularly well in drill press mode and for horizontal boring. Unfortunately they don’t work so well to hold a feather board when ripping because the miter slots aren’t far enough away from the saw blade when ripping wider stock. (If only I could purchase a floating extension table with a “T” slot.)

My recollection is the hold downs were made for a mortise cutting jig I’d made from Woodsmith Magazine some years back. The jig never worked well for me but I started using the hold downs from time to time on my workbench where they perform well.

I’m sure you can purchase colorful aluminum hold downs from one of the many corporations that hawk woodworking paraphernalia but they were kind of fun to make. I personally enjoy making jigs and accessories more than making the projects.

The wood for these came from a Elm tree in my yard that succumbed to Dutch elm disease, which ravaged tree lined streets throughout the Midwest for years. What a great wood to work with.