Workshop Clamps

Build a mobile clamp rack for your workshop. At the link be sure to click on -next post- to continue the journey of building your clamp rack.

The machinists vise in my shop gets a lot of use. Unfortunately, it is not very good at holding round stock. Its jaws tend to gouge wood and soft metals. To solve this problem, I made a set of auxiliary faces for my vise.

Whenever you use pipe clamps to glue up a solid-wood panel (which is quite often), you will need some way to steady the clamps and keep them from tipping over.

This is a link to a Google 3D SketchUp drawing for a 4-corner adjustable wooden frame clamp. You will need the SketchUp software to download this drawing and its freely available online. We do not provide support for this software. Not all drawings have the measurements displayed but you can use the measurement tool in SketchUp to easily and accurately determine the dimensions of each lumber part. Most drawings do not have instructions, its assumed you can build it based on the completed drawing provided.

Build your own pipe clamp rack that will not take up too much valuable wall space in the workshop.

Follow along at the link and build your own cam clamps for a fraction of the cost to buy.

Follow along at the link as Jay build a sliding moxon vise. At the end of the instructions you can download the free woodworking plan.

Recently, I was gluing up some small assemblies and needed a way to hold them together until the glue set up. I soon ran through my collection of small clamps. That is when I came up with the shop-built design you see in the drawing.

This quick-release allows you to rapidly open or close the jaws of the benchtop vise in Issue No. 71. It works just like the quick-release mechanism on a manufactured bench vise. Instead of turning the handle of the vise, all you have to do is flip a lever and slide the rear jaw to where you want it. Then flip the lever back to lock the jaw in position. This supplementary article is available to download in this Online Extra.

Build this awesome wall mounted universal clamp rack using this free tutorial which includes a video.

I got tired of finding my band clamps all balled up in a drawer, so I devised these ultra-simple holders to keep them in order.

At the link you will find 3 DIY clamp racks for your workshop to get you organized. These racks will store spring clamps, parallel clamps and another quick clamp rack. Quick and easy projects that will make a difference in your workshop.

Clamping jobs like that shown in the photo require clamping pressure farther in from the edge than sliding-head clamps provide. These hardworking extensions solve the problem.

Keep your fingers safe and your workpiece steady with a few pieces of wood and the turn of a T-nut.

Here is a low or no cost solution if you are in need of spring clamps in a hurry. Follow along to see how they were made.

A moxon vise is very handy in the workshop as it clamps on to your workbench allowing you to cut joinery into the ends of your workpieces. The best part is when you finish with it you can remove it and store it out of the way.

I decided it was time to make some sort of storage rack that would hold both my clamps and my sheet wood. The following is what I came up with.

Build your own wooden bar clamps using this free woodworking plan.

Follow along and build your own bar clamps using hardwood and a scrap of maple.

Get your clamps organized and all in the same spot by building a wall mounted parallel bar clamp rack. For this build you will need 3/4 inch thick plywood.

Build your own handy corner assembly clamps using this free tutorial.

The basic construction is simple and consists of only three pieces of scrap wood, glue, a few screws and a ratchet tie down which you can get at any hardware store. You can easily build a clamp out of a few scrap pieces of wood and this clamp can be adjusted.

Build your own c-clamps using this free step-by-step tutorial with pictures.

Like many woodworkers, I do not have a lot of room in my shop. So I try to make the most of the space that I have. Since most of my wall space is already taken up with cabinets and counters, I needed to find a place to store my long pipe clamps. So I turned to the ceiling, as you can see in the photo.

Here is a one-hour clamp rack you would mount on your workshop wall. I say one hour because that is how long it should take you to build and hang. Free instructions located at the link.

This compact and effective rolling clamp rack is based on the elegant sawhorse design of James Krenov. There are no measurements or layout diagrams in this PDF. Just a copy of the illustrated diagram from a recent publication of Fine Woodworking magazine.

Build your own wooden vise using this free woodworking tutorial. At the end of page two you can download the free plans.

This wall mounted clamp rack was built using just a half sheet of 3/4 inch plywood. Follow along at the link and download the free plans to build it.

Get your workshop organized by building this wall mounted pipe clamp rack.

Build your own power wedge bar clamps for your workshop. Not as hard as you would assume. This one has a simple wedge to lock the moving jaw to the smooth bar. It is infinitely adjustable. Just slide it closed and start tightening.