Quick and Simple Corner Clamps

hi I'm Graham and welcome back to ugly Cole's workshop today on making corner clamps we're currently building some sash windows and I need some corner or angle clamps to hold the frame square while it blows up the best way to square for sash frame is with the jig attached to the work bench from wedges but my workbench isn't large enough to handle the windows I'm working on another possibility would be using a long clamp to pull it square but I don't have a clamp long enough and because of the shape of the frame this would actually be quite difficult anyway this leaves me with corner clamps as my only real option but that's okay I've been meaning to make some for a while here and just cut in a couple of lengths of 50 by 50 stock to about 290 millimeters the exact length doesn't really matter but it's a good idea to make it slightly less than 300 millimeters which is common multiple sides now that you have your two edge pieces find the straightest face on each one don't worry if they aren't perfect that we fix later I just match them up until they looked about right you I'm going to join the two pieces of a half lap joint because it's quick and simple another option would be a finger joint but it would take longer to prepare for no or minimal game I'm not much of a fan of trench cutting on the miter saw is it's not very accurate but in this situation it's about the fastest way to get a reasonable result you using the combination of chisels and planes take out the waste using the trench cuts as a guide I like to take the material nearest the shoulder out first with the shoulder plane before flattening out main joint area once you've done check the fit this isn't fine cabinetry closes good enough you you you find the center one piece and drill and countersink for a screw you now's a good time to check the square with a square of this size it's easy to get an inaccurate reading simply due to its unwielding us notice that I press only on the back of the square to ensure it's properly seated I use my hand under the opposite edges contrast with the floor to look for gaps it's not actually that important that your clamp is bang-on square at this point which is good because it turns out my square isn't actually square cuts a stripper 12 mil ply about 50ml wide and 400 mil long this would be the brace that holds the clamp square cutting a strip like this on the miter saw especially from a small off cut has to be done with care why the brace on top of the clamp and screw down one end use speed square to set the brace to 45 degrees and clamp it into place check for square and if all looks good screw down the other end next dismantle the corner clamp will apply glue to all the mountain services I consider lap joint in the brace into the corner clown we're even using mortise and tenon but both have taken longer to make and it turns out would have made the clamp less useful as it is the brace is out of the way giving me a large amount of flexibility when using the plan you you you depending on how brave you feeling depends on whether this step is optional for you I'm going to use the miter saw to square up the clamp and there's real danger if the overhangs from the brace aren't cut or first they'll fly off when they cut free by the miter saw and here's where the magic happens but your best edge against the miter saw fencing cut a thin sliver off the other face aim to cut the minimum necessary to make the face flat turn the piece over clamp it down and then trim the other face this should leave you with a workpiece that's very close to 90 degrees and with flat and perpendicular faces take care of one cut in the face that requires the brace to be down to the table as the workpiece isn't stable like this I had to move my hold down clamps and take it steady you trimming the corn off the clamps a good idea for two reasons firstly you don't want capturing on engineer in the corner and not sitting crane and secondly you'll be using this during glue ups and you don't want it getting glued into place by squeezed out I first tested the clouds against my framing square but I wasn't very impressed with how square that turned out I later measured the framing square and found it was only eighty nine point eight degrees get enough for framing of boughs but nor read the cabinet work wanted to try find out where the clamps weren't square so I placed them on the miter saw bed which is ground flap the good news is that the two were identical I then tested and with the angle finder to see if I could determine what was wrong I first tested again it's the bed and then just around the corner of the clamp both readings were 90 degrees sometimes showing 90.1 was then that I realized that the framing square was what was wrong I wasn't sure whether to trust the angle finder when I first got it but it turns out it's incredibly accurate such cheap little device worth the money if you ever need to measure out angle finally I'll leave you with the shot of the clamps in action I'm a bit shorter clamps and I realized I can save a clamp in the middle by bridging across the two ends with piece of scrap timber thanks for watching subscribe for more workshop videos and don't forget to share and like if you have any thoughts or suggestions please leave a comment below bye till next time

Channel: Wobblycogs Workshop

Views: 213,720

Rating: 4.6365852 out of 5

Keywords: Clamp, Simple, Easy, Quick, Tools, Workshop, Woodworking, Woodworking Joints (TV Subject), Corner Clamp, Angle Clamp

Id: 5dA27zag_Rs

Length: 9min 40sec (580 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 13 2015