How To Make Beautiful Wooden Bar Clamps for Woodworking

normally when i make projects like this i try to use materials and techniques and tools that you know the average woodworker has or has access to to make the project more approachable but for the most part i'm not going to be doing that here with this build instead i'm going to be using the best material that i have available to me to do this and i'm going to be doing it in the way that i think is the best and to get started i've got this ash board here this is rough lumber that i bought at my local supplier and i'm using this because it's a very strong wood so it's perfect for the bar of a clamp now the first step is to cut it to rough length here on my miter saw and i want the final length of these bars to be 37 inches long so i'm cutting these off to 40 inches next i'm going to bring these pieces to the table saw and i'm going to rip them down to pieces that are a little bit more than an inch and a half wide [Music] [Applause] and then i'm going to wheel out my thickness planer and plane these down to the exact size that i want and they'll be smooth on all four sides [Music] and then with that done i'm back to the miter station again to trim them to that exact 37 inches long next step is to cut the sawtooth notches in all of the bars and i made a jig to help me do this basically what this does is it tilts the router upwards at 10 degrees the jig works by locking into the previous notch cut so it indexes the next one exactly three quarters of an inch away from the one before it and i just carry on cutting out notches until i reach the last one and then i do the next set of bars [Music] now that i have all the notches cut i can turn my attention to making the fix jaw at the end of the bar and to do that and to make the parts for the rest of the clamp i'm going to be using a different wood this is cherry and i'm rough cutting it down to size here on the table saw and then once again i'm going to run it through the planer to make it smooth and get it down to the final thickness after that's done i need to cut a notch in each one of these and this notch is going to fit around the bar so that the two pieces meet up exactly in the middle now i'm using my mini table saw sled to make these cuts just nibbling the material away and then to fasten these in place i'm just going to be using regular wood glue and clamping them up for a couple hours until the glue sets to clamp these up i could use the clamps that i have but i know i'll get a bunch of comments from people saying that you need a clamp to make a clamp so i made my own from scraps of plywood and two and a half inch screws i gave the glue on the fixed jaw several hours to dry and then i took off those clamps and now what i'm doing is i'm trimming a very small amount off the end just to clean that up i could sand that of course but it's much faster to cut it i'm also going to trim off the top of the fixed jaw to clean that up as well before bringing it over to my workbench and clamping it into my vise so i can work on the inside face of that jaw and i'm just removing the glue with the chisel first before sanding it with this specially made sanding stick i have here and this allows me to get in really tight to the corners and make everything flush and even and free of blemishes not that that's hugely important if you're just making these clamps for working but i want these to look really good when i'm done as well with that cleaned up i can finish the sanding on the fix job and then i'm going to sand the bar itself starting right in the corner again with that sanding stick i have and then using my sanding block just to gently round over the corners with all the sanding done on the bars i want to put on a couple of coats of polyurethane i'm going to have to bring it inside my house where it's warmer than my shop is right now to do that in the meantime i'm going to get started on the first part of the moving jaw which is the l-shaped piece that makes up the clamp pad itself stock prep for the parts on this is very much like the parts i already did so i'm not going to bother showing that and for this l-shaped clamp pad i'm once again going to be using the ash mainly because i have two pieces that are off cut from the parts i already made that are nearly perfect for this and besides that the ash is the stronger of the two woods anyway so here i'm cutting them to length on the miter saw and there are two thicknesses that i have to deal with and i need six of each the thicker one is the upright part of the l and that needs to have a counter bore in it that will house the nut that's on the end of the lead screw so it needs to be deep enough for that nut and also for a washer that i'll put in the bottom of that counter bore for the nut the push against and with that done i can start making the bridle joint that will hold these two pieces together now there are a bunch of different ways you can cut these bridle joints but what i'm going to be using is my table saw and i have made a very simple uh jig that sits up on top of my fence and what that does is it backs up the piece as i guide it through now i'm holding this with my fingers because i'm absolutely comfortable doing it that way but of course it could always be clamped on as well i'm going to cut the mortise in the upright piece first and then after that i'll cut the matching tenon in the horizontal piece that fits into it of course before getting started on any of the cutting on the real pieces i did a sample to ensure that my parts fit together properly i'm going to be using the glue that i depend on most through this kind of a joint that's polyurethane construction adhesive and the reason for that is that i can depend on it filling all of the joint there and making a good bond to the end grain of the pieces i can't rely on regular wood glue to do that also it has a really long open time so i don't have to rush and another thing is i don't have to clamp this up it'll set up just fine without a clamp on it these joints are a nice tight fit anyway so a clamp won't do very much i let the parts dry overnight and now i'm removing the squeeze out over here on the belt sander i've got a couple more things i need to do with these before they're done and one of those is to cut a five degree angle in there for clearance and i'm going to do that on the miter saw i quickly made a jig that holds the parts in place while i make the cut and then the last thing i need to do with these just to round over the other end so it slides along the bar and doesn't catch the parts that i have to make next are what the lead screw screws into and it's a little bit of a weird shape i start off with a blank that is just slightly thicker than the bar itself and what i'm doing now is i'm making a vertical cut with that same jig i was using before and the idea is to remove the corner of this block so the next cut will be with the mini table saw sled with a stop block set up i got one under the cutting operation to do on these blocks before they're finished but what i'm going to do before i do that is drill the counter bore for the t-nut so it sits in there flush and then drill the through hole for the lead screw to go right through this block and then with that out of the way to make this final cut once again i'm using the mini table saw sled to do this except this time i'm just nibbling away a material this is just a recess for the locking plate that will latch into the bar i'm going to be using aluminum for that locking plate and here i've set up my table saw with a metal cutting blade and i'm going to be using my big table saw sled to guide the aluminum piece that i have here this is the safest way to cut aluminum on the table saw you really don't want to be using the fence when you're cutting this because the chances of kickback are too great i need six of these so that's the reason why i'm using a table saw in the first place otherwise i would just cut these out by hand with a hacksaw and then smooth them and shape them with a file to fasten these plates in place i'm drilling a single mounting hole that's 3 16 of an inch and then i can attach it to the block with a three-quarter inch screw with the place fastened i can turn the block over and put the t-nut in first i need to mark the place where the tangs will drive into the wood and drill those out with a 1 8 inch drill bit i'm doing this so that they won't split the wood and then i can pound the t9 in and to secure it in place so that it can't come back out i'm going to drill a pilot hole and drive in one small screw i just got one more tricky operation to do on this part and it's to cut the bottom of this part that sticks down at 10 degrees the very point of the locking plate at the end of this needs to be 2 and 9 16 of an inch down from the top so once again i've set up a simple jig on my miter saw and i'm going to make that cut now i am cutting through a little bit of the aluminum here but it's just the very end of it and the blade can easily handle that [Music] i've got one other thing that i want to do with these plates and this is pretty much optional and that's the file the end like i'm doing here and what that does is it takes that really sharp point away and it fits in those notches better remember the sawtooth notches were cut with just a regular straight cutting bit on the router so that results in a 90 degree angle there and by filing the plate like i'm doing here it'll match that angle better and with that done i can try it on the bar along with the clamp pad to see how well they fit ideally there should be a space where the arrow is pointing here so that the clamp pad has room to move back and forth freely the next part to make is the wooden spring and i'm going to be using a different wood for this i'm using maple i think it's more durable than the cherry and it's not as stiff and brittle as the ash so anyway i'm cutting this to 1 8 of an inch thick and then i'm going to sand it smooth on the belt sander before cutting it to the correct width [Music] [Music] next i'm going to make the piece that the wooden spring gets glued onto and i'm using a piece of ash that is the same thickness as the part i already made that has the teen on it and the locking plate [Music] and then i need to cut a bevel in it for clearance and i've made a simple jig to do that on the table saw very much like my shim cutting jig of course if you're not comfortable with this kind of operation here you can always do this by hand by starting out with a chisel to get rid of the bulk and then finishing up with a hand plane to bring it down to exactly where it needs to be and since this bevel is just there for clearance it really doesn't need to be precise anyway the next step is to glue the wooden springs onto the parts we just made and for this i could use regular wood glue and that'd be strong enough but i'm going with strong epoxy because i have a little bit more faith in it notice how the spring is just slightly narrower than this block and that gives it enough clearance to flex freely and to clamp these up i'm just going to use spring clamps and if you don't have any spring clamps of course you could use the same clamps that i used earlier in the build made from scrap plywood off camera i made the handles for the clamps from cherry i've done this in several other videos so i didn't see the need to cover it here and then i cut and glued in the 3 8 inch threaded rods that are the lead screw of these clamps and i use polyurethane construction adhesive but you could use epoxy as well there's more details about the handles in the website article i gave the glue overnight to dry on those and now i'm going to move on to the next step which is to add the nut to the end of the threaded rod once again i'm going to use epoxy for this so the sequence is to thread it into the screw block through that t-nut and then slip on the retaining plate which i also made off-camera and then i'm going to get some epoxy on the thread and screw on the nut until it's flush on the end i let the epoxy dry thoroughly on the nuts and now i'm ready to continue assembly first thing i do is put a 3 16 inch washer inside the counter bore that i drilled in the l-shaped piece and then i'm going to put a little bit of vaseline on the end of the nut and that'll lubricate the contact between the end of the lead screw and that washer the idea is that the lead screw is pushing against that washer when it applies force and with that done i can put some glue on the retaining plate and clap that in place to the l-shaped piece and let that dry once again off-camera i made the parts that will be the size of the moving jaw and i cut these from a piece of cherry and i planed them down to just a bit more than a quarter inch thick and these get glued to the screw block on the top and the spring block on the bottom now there are a number of different ways to fasten the sides what i've decided to do here is to use screws along with the glue so i drill countersinks on the sides and i'll line those up on the parts and drill the pilot holes and then after that i can get some glue on there once again i'm using polyurethane construction adhesive for this and i'm staying back from the edge where the l-shaped clamp pad is so that the glue won't squeeze out and glue that part in place and then all i need to do is drive in the screws of course these parts can be just glued straight on there without any screws but the screws do have a couple of advantages first of all they act as clamps so you don't have to clamp it up and if you don't have enough clamps that's a good thing and also they may add a little bit of strength to the construction here and that's never a bad thing and another thing is that they allow you to check the moving jaw immediately to see how it works there's only a couple things left to do with these clamps and then they'll be finished and the first is to glue on this secondary clamp pad here and all that does is just makes it a little bit wider so it's really it's optional once again i'm going to be using polyurethane construction adhesive and i'm going to use the clamp itself to clamp it in place and then after the glue dries on that i can sand the moving jaw and give it a couple of coats of water-based polyurethane exactly like i did with the bar if you're interested in making these clamps there's plans available on my website there's a link in the description you

Channel: John Heisz - I Build It

Views: 2,235,383

Keywords: woodworking, how to, diy, jpheisz, ibuildit, homemade clamps, wooden clamps, clamp plans, bar clamps, project

Id: CP36Rp18ovA

Length: 17min 6sec (1026 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 11 2018