Shopsmith Forums

Here it is. Reminds me of an M.C. Escher drawing.
And the entire instruction sheet:

It appears to me that on the desk, they are being used like a single bar clamp. The unused arm is just pushed out of the way or left to dangle.

Yea, that illustration is pretty confusing.

What they are trying to say is that by removing one bar from the double-bar clamp, you can use what's left kinda like a pipe clamp. So in the illustration, they are showing no fewer than twelve double bar clamps, each with one bar removed. They are being used to clamp up the carcase of a desk.

I tested this out just now, clamping a couple of two-by scraps to the sides of my tool chest. It works as advertised, but I needed three hands for this particular operation.
Twelve 48" double-bar clamps would set you back $926, at todays prices! But if I ever run out of bar clamps and pipe clamps, it's good to have another trick up my sleeve.

Edit: I also tried reversing the clamp "scissors" on the end without the screw, as shown in the instructions. But then I needed four hands.

Thanks, Dennis. That makes perfect sense now. Also incredibly expensive!

I purchased the 24" bar clamps and may experiment with making longer bars since the hardware is interchangeable. Putting a long curve (1/8" per foot as stated in the instructions) would probably be a little tricky to get perfectly smooth on say a 4 foot or longer caul, but worth a try!

Wonder if they would sell the hardware separately and a what price?