Here's a way to clamp long boards to work on that the Ancient Romans used. I read about it and then made my own. Very simple and really effective hold. Especially when hand planing.
Thanks Ryan. You can change the "V" width by making a couple of sets to fit different size boards. I've done this. Works well. You could also make a bigger "V" opening and use different size wedges.
Brings me to mind of one of my favorite clamps. The Kliss Klamp, FasCap sells them as Kliss Clamps, but the guy who sold the idea to them used your exact same principle, but his don't need to mount to a table, but they can be clamped to a table, or I use them mostly on the floor. When building anything like a cabinet, usually out of plywood, a pair of these will hold an 8' x 4' sheet of plywood firmly on edge. Most of the time I am only holding a smaller piece, like 24" wide x 30" tall piece. Another pair of them will hold the adjoining piece XXX wide, by 30" tall for a back of a cabinet.
Most of the time I just set them on the floor of my shop, position the 2 pieces, and joining them is easy because it leaves you 2 free hands, neither of which is trying to hold the plywood upright on edge. Most of the time I am using plywood with mine, but I have done door work to install, change or mortise for hinges, to plane a doors edge to fit a frame. Any time you want your hands free to work an item that requires a lot of holding power.
Kliss Clamps You can roll your own, but the ones FasCap sells aren't that expensive for what they do IMHO.
Never underestimate the power of a wedge to hold, and or clamp items. I have long used clamps to make self squaring glue up tables. You need a 90 degree right angle glued and screwed to a sheet of plywood big enough to hold whatever you are working. lets say it is a herringbone top. Lay your field in, and to affix it, use a flat, parallel piece of stock over some dog holes, and then insert dogs, and then wedges to clamp into that to push everything tight into the angle corner. You can achieve amazing clamping power like this. Almost free to make up, and you can surround a top in a few minutes.
The video below has a lot of blah blah blah at the start, but shown are 2 ways to easily use wedges to assist you in clamping thin panels, and it shows the method I was describing above for squaring, and clamping up a top, or panel. Smart guys use wedges to get it dun. :-)))
Nice post Rick. Another good post bringing one of those dark, secretly hidden woodworking ideas, that help to make it all easier. :-)))
It was a video much like this one, that I saw before I knew I wanted a few Kliss Clamps. After I had them, I said George 2 isn't enough of these.....I don't even remember what I bought mine for, but they have no doubt gone up over the years in price, but I ask you, how much would a third hand cost you, and if you were a savvy woodworker you could pretty easily look at their function, and roll some of your own. I admit I was smitten, and just threw $$$$$ at the idea.
Thanks GeorgeWest! I never heard of Kiss clamps. They look very interesting. I've used wedges for clamping for a long time. Simple, easy, and available from scrap, they won't cost you and arm and a leg. The neat thing is that they are available everywhere there's wood.
I was thinking about adding another vice to the other end of my bench to hold long stuff like that, but the wedge clamps might save me some $ and avoid the inevitable hip bruises that vice cranks are known for....
Lots of white rectangles in your pics, wonder if Martin is going chop-suey on the water marks?
I have no idea what the white rectangular marks are.... they aren't there on the originals. Only appeared after posting them here on Craftisian. Weird.
