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Wood and rubber band clamps

Started by 21incher, January 20, 2016, 04:45:27 PM

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21incher

I just built some hold down clamps for my CNC router. I didn't want to use any hardware I could hit with the machine so I came up with a design that uses wood wedges and cams with rubber bands to keep them tensioned. It turned out that I am now also using them to hold work when sanding and I just used them to glue up a picture frame that kept it real square. I am getting ready to make a board with the holes for use on my bench to glue up more frames. The setup is simple to make and has been real handy to me. Here is a video If anyone is interested. :)
https://youtu.be/tJO4K-UTgo0
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

Ljohnsaw

THAT is really nice!  All I need to get is a CNC router to make my own ;)  Seriously, you sure come up with some great ideas.  Thanks for sharing.

I could see doing that on a sanding table.  The kind you make out of peg board.  Then the parts wouldn't be scooting about when you try to sand them.
John Sawicky

Just North-East of Sacramento...

SkyTrak 9038, Ford 545D FEL, Davis Little Monster backhoe, Case 16+4 Trencher, Home Built 42" capacity/36" cut Bandmill up to 54' long - using it all to build a timber frame cabin.

21incher

Quote from: ljohnsaw on January 20, 2016, 05:00:34 PM
THAT is really nice!  All I need to get is a CNC router to make my own ;)  Seriously, you sure come up with some great ideas.  Thanks for sharing.

I could see doing that on a sanding table.  The kind you make out of peg board.  Then the parts wouldn't be scooting about when you try to sand them.
Thanks. I use it for sanding all the time now. You can just use a hand drill to make the holes in areas that you need them, or drill through a pegboard to make locating them easy in a old peice of plywood. But as I said it makes a awesome picture frame clamping setup that squares them up nicely and keeps everything perfectly flat. :)
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

jueston

the way i made my spoil board is by taking 2 sheets of 3/4 inch MDF glued together and drilling a 2" by 2" grid of holes in it, then i installed T-nuts then i flipped it over and installed, so the hole table has holes for dowels like the video but also the t-nut at the bottom which i can use for more standard clamp or to bolt fixtures/jigs down.

i tried a cam clamp once and at the end of the cut i noticed 1/16 gap under the wood, i think it was the stress in the wood as i was cutting curled up a little and caused the problem, but i never tried cam clamps again.

my favorite clamp for the CNC hands down is just screws... i just put 4 screws in the corners of the blank(which i make sure is larger the piece i'm cutting) and i get 100% guaranteed hold down. i find holding down work to be half of the challenge of some projects, especially with oddly shaped parts or small blanks.

the fear of hitting the screw with the cutter is there, but the fear of the piece wiggling free from my clamps was there too, so i think its a fair trade.

i have a vacuum pump and mean to set up something so i can use it on the cnc table, but that seems like the best solution for sheet goods, which i almost never work with, so i haven't gotten around to it yet.


21incher

I have had no problems with lifting so far. After adding the sandpaper to the locators the blanks lock in place and it takes a chisel to pry them up if the clamps are not released. Those shallow wedges provide quite a bit of force and all my parts are small so that may help. I was using double sided tape and Kreg screws at first which were a pain. Today I ran another board to use with the clamps for picture frames and small door glue ups so I don't have to tie up the table anymore. :)


 
Hudson HFE-21 on a custom trailer, Deere 4100, Kubota BX 2360, Echo CS590 & CS310, home built wood splitter, home built log arch, a logrite cant hook and a bread machine. And a Kubota Sidekick with a Defective Subaru motor.

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