Bar clamps, cam operated

[Philip Davies]

The idea for this clamp, suitable for light-duty assemblages, like guitars, comes from Robert Wearing’s excellent book, “Woodwork Aids and Devices”.



I have had this book for many years. I have completed many of the projects in it, but not more than half ! (The annotations show the ones I HAVE done).



Here is a view of the cam, which is rosewood, showing how pressure is applied. I made the stocks in maple, which I retrieved from a colleague who had cut up some lengths for firewood, but it splits very readily, so a better alternative would be elm. The bars are mahogany, I think. At any rate, they needed handplaning parallel for fit. I made about two dozen, all by hand.

[Altair]

Thanks Philip Davies! We've added your Bar Clamps to our Clamps category,
as well as to your builder page: Philip Davies's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Bar Clamps by Philip Davies

tags: clamp

[wizard69]

Nice work. You can never have too many clamps!

As for the Maple, what sort of Maple was this. I have some hard Maple that would be very hard to split. Ive heard that Silver Maple is terrible for Wood working thus the use as Fire wood.

[Philip Davies]

Can’t tell you what sort of maple, Wizard. I use what is available, although clearly it would be a factor if you want to make some. When I saw that my colleague had cut all these pieces, already PAR & to length, instantly I thought “clamps!”