How To Make A Wooden Bar Clamp PDF

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Making Wooden Bar Clamps
"You can never have too many clamps" - so true. Often, we only need two or three at a time, but
occasionally there is that big glue-up that requires at least four more than you have. Good news is
that you can get some pretty decent clamps at a good price - great if you are buying one or two.
Unfortunately, even reasonably price d clamps can still be a hefty financial bur den, if you need a lar ge
number of them. F or this reason, I decided t o make some of my own.
I already have quite a few clamps: pipe clamps, c-clamps, spring clamps and six (at last count) bar
clamps. Of these four types, the ones that get the most use are the bar clamps. Bar clamps are fast
and don't give up much clamping pressure (in comparison to c-clamps) in exchange for their ease of
adjustability.
So, when I decided t o make clamps, I chose the use the bar clamp as the model.
My first version used a notched bar:
These work v ery well, as demonstr ated in this video:
One thing that makes them less convenient to use is that there is a lot of space between the
notches, making for a lot of cranking of the handle to close the jaws together. My reason for making
the notches this far apart was to try and prevent this wood from breaking off under clamping
pressure - by reducing the distance t o half, I would be making the clamp m ore fragile.
Another 'problem' is that when clamping wide pieces, the bar would bend under the load. Of course
all bar clamps bend while in use, but these can bend quite a significant amount, making it seem that
they may break. The bar is made from maple, 1/2" thick and 1-1/2" wide - so not really undersized,
but the notches effectively reduce this width by a full 1/4". Making the bar wider would help but also
make the whole assembly more bulky and necessitate the use of stock that was not deemed as
'scraps'. Using up scraps counter balances the time spent building them, making for a really
economical pr oject.
So, I gave it some thought (well, a lot of thought actually) and came up with a better method, one
that addresses both of the issues t ouched on abo ve:
This one is basically the same as the first ones with one k ey difference: ther e is 1/4" thr eaded rod on
the front of the bar. The threaded rod mates with another short piece of threaded rod that is glued
into the moving jaw and locks the moving jaw in place. The threaded rod replaces the notches that
were cut in the bar in the pr evious version, allowing for much finer adjustm ent before tightening.
Also, the threaded rod was pre-stressed (tightened, via the nut at the end of the bar) after it was put
in. This pre-stress counters the compressive force of clamping, preventing the bar from bending
back. Although I knew this would be somewhat effective, I was pleasantly surprised to see just how
well it works - under quite a lot of clamping for ce, the bar deflection was minimal.
The piece of wood being clamped is 17" long, and I've put more force on it than I'd normally use
during a glue up. There is so much force, the clamp is actually twisting slightly, as seen in the
picture above.
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Wooden Bar Clamps

(images/Wooden Bar Clamps/wooden-bar-clamp
(2).jpg)
(3).jpg)
This success more than makes up for the extra cost of the threaded rod. As for build complexity,
this version and the earlier one ar e about the same.
Once it was complete, I did a video going o ver some of the details and sh owing it in action:
Bar Clamp 2
The wooden bar for this clamp is made from white oak, left over from some flooring. Whenever
possible, I like to use what I have on hand, rather than buy something. For this, any hardwood would
work fine.
The bar is 1/2" thick, 1-3/4" wide and has a slot along the front edge; this slot is for the threaded rod
and is 1/4" wide, 1/8" deep. The end of the bar is rounded and has a hole drilled into it to receive the
hooked end of the threaded rod. I bent the rod cold, around a 3/4" socket that was screwed to a
piece of wood. The outside diameter of the socket is 1" - perfect for the 'candy cane' shape I needed
on the rod.
The fixed jaw is made from two pieces That are dadoed out to fit tightly around the bar. There is an
additional notch, t o allow the thr eaded rod to pass thr ough:
(5).jpg)
(6).jpg)
You need clamps to build clamps! Here I'm gluing the fixed jaw. One end is clamped in my
workbench (http://www.ibuildit.ca/workbench-1.html) vise:
(7).jpg)
(8).jpg)
After the glue had dried, I shaped the fixed jaw, sanded it smooth and got ready to glue in the
threaded rod. I'm using PL Pr emium to glue in the r od, which has v ery good adhesion t o steel.
A homemade clamp t o hold it in place:
(9).jpg)
(10).jpg)
And before the glue sets, some tension on the rod. This tension goes a long way toward keeping the
bar straight by countering the tension from the clamping action.
The moving jaw is made nearly identical to the fixed jaw, the only difference is a bevel at the back of
the cutout, to enable the jaw to slightly rotate. This rotation lets the short piece of threaded rod in
the moving jaw clear the one in the bar , so that the jaw can be slid back a nd forth.
Seen here, the shor t piece of thr eaded rod is glued in place with epo xy:
This is what locks the moving jaw in place during clamping, by meshing with the rod on the bar. It
may look insubstantial but it seems t o get the job done quite well.
In my previous version, I used two nuts on either side of the jaw that were glued in. On this one, I'm
using a single t-nut:
(images/Wooden Bar Clamps/wooden-bar-clamp (12).jpg)
(13).jpg)
The four holes are for the spikes on the t-nut - trying to drive this into the jaw would be asking for
trouble. Better t o take some extr a time to drill out the holes. After the t-nut is put in, two scr ews keep
it from coming out.
For the driv e screw, I use 3/8" thr eaded rod, and it needs a nut on the end t o push against the pad.
Here I've drilled a hole though the nu t and into the rod, to drive a #6 scr ew to hold the nut on:
(14).jpg)
(15).jpg)
The end of the r od with the nut fits in a 3/4" counter bor e:
The washer stops the nut from wearing out the inside of the pad. Before I assembled it, I put a dab
of Vaseline on the end of the nut, for lubrication. The slotted piece of wood gets glued on and traps
the nut inside the pad.
Getting star ted on the handle, drilled about 1" deep with a 3/8" bit.:
The handle is shaped, glued and pinned to the drive screw. A 1/16" hole was drilled though the
handle and through the threaded rod. A 1" finish nail is then driven in a cut off flush. The nail is there
in case the glue holding the handle on fails, e ven though that is unlik ely to happen.
An interesting project, it's always more fulfilling when you get to improve upon an earlier design and
bring it to fruition. The two major shortcomings of the previous version were addressed, making for
(17).jpg)
(18).jpg)
a much better clamp.

I'll need to build some more, perhaps even some larger ones, using 3/8" threaded rod; longer, for
wider tasks, such as table t ops.
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David Willoughby Ingham State High School

Great designs and work well
Like · Reply · Mark as spam · Aug 6, 2017 6:03pm
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These work v ery well, as demonstr ated in this video:

Wooden Bar Clamps

(images/Wooden Bar Clamps/wooden-bar-clamp

(images/Wooden Bar Clamps/wooden-bar-clamp

(images/Wooden Bar Clamps/wooden-bar-clamp

A homemade clamp t o hold it in place:

(images/Wooden Bar Clamps/wooden-bar-clamp

(images/Wooden Bar Clamps/wooden-bar-clamp (12).jpg)

(images/Wooden Bar Clamps/wooden-bar-clamp

(images/Wooden Bar Clamps/wooden-bar-clamp

(images/Wooden Bar Clamps/wooden-bar-clamp

(images/Wooden Bar Clamps/wooden-bar-clamp

a much better clamp.

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You might also like these:

(Workshop (Workshop (Workshop

Projects/c-clamp-1.html) Projects/clamp-1.html) Projects/edge-clamp-1.html)

David Willoughby Ingham State High School

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