Woodworking Clamps

Clamps Every Woodworker Needs

Clamps for Big Jobs

Other Clamps

The first rule of woodworking is that you can never have too many clamps. A corollary of this rule states that you'll find your stock of clamps to be lacking whenever you're holding a newly glued project in place with your left hand while rooting through your toolbox with your right.

C-clamps: Anyone who took wood shop in the seventh grade knows about C-clamp. They're simple, relatively cheap, and come in handy for every sort of job. Whether you want to hold a tabletop to a frame for gluing or set up a quick-and-dirty stop on your radial arm saw, C-clamps can do the job.
F-clamps: F-clamps pick up where C-clamps leave off. F-clamps are similar to bar clamps, with one fixed jaw and a second jaw that slides. There's a screw for fine pressure adjustments, too. F-clamps in 8-, 12-, and 18-inch sizes are useful to have around the shop.
One-handed quick clamps: A real boon to woodworkers, quick clamps allow you to position their jaws on a workpiece and apply pressure, all using only one hand. You hold a pistol grip and squeeze a trigger (resembling that of a caulking gun) to bring the jaws together. There's a switch to release the pressure when it's time to remove the clamp. Quick clamps do much the same work as F-clamps, but cost more because of the one-handed feature.
Spring clamps: Spring clamps are basically large spring-loaded clothespins. Look for spring clamps in sizes between 1 and 3 inches. Unfortunately, most spring clamps aren't adjustable. Be careful not to inadvertently apply a too-strong spring clamp to soft or delicate workpieces and end up crushing them. Instead, look for fancier spring clamps with screw adjustments with which you can modulate the force their jaws apply.
Bench dogs: Bench dogs use a combination of a screw adjustment and a cam to hold workpieces flat against the top of a workbench. If you're going to invest in a set of bench dogs, don't forget that you'll need holes in your benchtop to accommodate them. It's easier to make round holes than square ones, and everyone knows that round pegs fit best into round holes. The point: look for bench dogs with round posts.

Clamps for Big Jobs
Bar clamps: For really big jobs, bar clamps are key. Bar clamps have one or two fittings that slide along a piece of rod or pipe and may be locked in place. Once the fittings are positioned and locked, you turn a screw on one of them to apply pressure. The great thing is that the pipes come in varied lengths--from a foot or so up to 5 feet or more. Don't go clicking around the Web in search of whole bar clamps, though. You must buy the fittings separately, then attach them to your own lengths of pipe or rod.
Band clamps: Band clamps work by drawing a nylon or canvas band--typically, a piece of nylon webbing like a backpack strap--tight around some assembly. If you're applying a veneer to the edge of a tabletop or gluing up a large planter, band clamps will do the job better than anything else. They excel at applying even pressure around the perimeter of odd-shaped assemblies.

Other Clamps
Every woodworking specialty has its own type of clamps. There are wooden cabinetmakers' clamps that come in handy for dovetailing work. There are miter clamps for picture framers, Bessey clamps for furniture joints, and even motorized vacuum tables for those who often apply veneers. Woodworkers are inventing new clamps all the time.

Keep your shop stocked with clamps. You'll be less likely to have to make do with twine and a stack of bricks at assembly time.

David Wall is the author of several books on Java and the Internet.

Article courtesy of Amazon.com.