Need a big Clamp?

U

unky_gumbi

Joined
Aug 28, 2009
Messages
7,951
I am on the home stretch on my KITH knife, I am ready to epoxy the handle in place yesterday, but I realized that I didn't have any thing long enough for the job:eek: I made a few calls, and my brother said that he knew someone that may have what I need. Well when he got here what he had borrowed for me was about 2" too short:( Starting to panic I went to the local lumber yard first thing this morning, but they didn't have anything either, but they could order one in for me and it would only take 2 weeks. Hmm, although it doesn't take that much time for me to finish up from this point, 6 days is cutting it to close for my tastes. When I got home I started going over all the suggestions that RichardJ had made to me yesterday afternoon before my brother showed up with the short clamp. Suddenly it dawned on me I had everything I needed to make a large adjustable clamp. With a 72" piece of 2X4 32" of 1/2" threaded rod, a handful of deck screws, and 2 nuts for the threaded rod (borrowed from my grinder:o) I came up with this:

clamp_assm.jpg


thanks to my handy dandy 3D software I had a plan in no time flat

clamp-1.jpg


and a working clamp about 45 minutes later

clamp.jpg



I still need to epoxy the top nut in place, but I wanted to get the knife epoxied first so after the knife is done I will finish up the clamp. It is not epoxied in the picture it was just a test run and it worked like a dream:thumbup: Thanks Richard for the inspiration.
 
William, that's exactly what I use. I usually peen/glue my guard on first. Once the epoxy dries, I use that as the anchoring point and use a ratcheting clamp on each side of the knife to keep the handle in place until the handle epoxy dries.
 
I say If it's worth building, it's worth overbuilding. ;)

A simpler version from Bruce Bump's which is what I use. But you would need 4 bolts and then your grinder would fall apart. ;)

100_3374_edited.jpg
 
My rig looks more like Patrice's except I use woodworkers pipe clamps instead of all-thread rod. I've got plenty of pipe clamps in the woodshop.
 
cbr900son said:
I recently went to harbor freigth and picked up aton of different size clamps for cheap!

http://www.harborfreight.com/24-inch-ratchet-bar-clamp-spreader-46809.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/9-inch-drill-press-locking-clamp-36221.html

http://www.harborfreight.com/4-inch-industrial-c-clamp-37848.html


Walk in there with 40-50$ and you will never need another hand clamp again lol :D
Click to expand...

Well I would have went store bought if the store had any:( I am living in a tiny town and there isn't much in the way of selection here, its either mail order, or a 1 hour trip into Ottawa.

Patrice Lemée;10171100 said:
I say If it's worth building, it's worth overbuilding. ;)

A simpler version from Bruce Bump's which is what I use. But you would need 4 bolts and then your grinder would fall apart. ;)

100_3374_edited.jpg
Click to expand...

I used the same sort of setup on my first hidden tang knife, but I never made another and the threaded rod and pieces of wood got recycled someplace else, and left in Winnipeg. With only 32" of threaded rod If I had went that way again it wouldn't have been long enough to do the job:( The one I made is adjustable from just over 16" down to 3", and can be stood on end to keep any excess epoxy from running down onto the blade. Once the epoxy cures on my KITH knife I am going to do a bit of modifying on the clamp. Right now the tip just sticks into the wood, but I would like to make a little pocket there with either leather or some sort of rubber to limit how far the tip sticks in. I also want to make a pocket for the butt of the handle in the other jaw. Being that that one is removable and can be flipped over I will get the best of both worlds.
 
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