Official Luthiers Forum!

Howard, before the days of plastic clamp pads, my father glued leather pads onto his clamps. Might be worth trying to decrease the sliding around. For flat glue jobs, I am a fan of the smaller Bessey parallel jaw "K" clamps, which solve most of the problem.

Brook

I agree on the Woolson's I have 12 of his in 8", 10" and 12" The last batch he made are my favorites. clamp like a steel trap. and adust clamp pressure in between very well. If anyone is in touch with Paul and he gets a wild hair to make some again let me know
On the Bessey I cut a piece of 5/16 ply 1x1 round the corners and glue cork to one side now epoxy this to swivel pad on the adjusting screw end and glue cork to the other clamping edge of the bar. This worked for me.

The problem is not the pad, it's the swivel. Too much friction, doesn't swivel. Turns the pad instead. The pads are crappy, too, but that's not what I was referring to.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Chuck

I used my drill press and a 1/4" bit to set the ends and then used a 3HP plunge router and a 1/4" bit worked pretty well, I'm sure there are other ways.
Peter

Or build up the body from three laminates with the center laminate a few thousands wider than your bar stock and located to set the depth of the bar slot. Then use the excess of the center laminate to close the notch. This saves having to cut the notch in any form.

Paul will be at the Miami show and I intend to go pay him a visit. I'll try to remember to ask him about the clamps.

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Reguards,

Ken H

I built my own clamps too. Not hard. I just bought a clamp and copied it. Easy! They work very well. With me, it was kind of a get your feet wet, before you start the real guitar building process.

Dave

well I just bought 38 clamps for $400 from a guy on ebay , he uses the aluminum bars and various hardwoods , cherry, maple etc etc , with leather pads .
less than $11.00 each for the two sizes sounds very reasonable, at that price it is hardly worth it for me to take the time to run around , gather the plans,various materials and equiptment then do the build . I will let you know how well they work when I recieve them .
I have twelve grizzly clamps I will sell cheap , if anybody wants them ( where's the self inflicted, finger down the throat, gagging icon when you need it? ) live and learn ...Jody

DAMHIKT?

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

Don't Ask Me How I Know That (DAMHIKT)

I had to google that one.

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Horton, MI

There are three sets of clamps on ebay right now. There are enough to glue a "D" size guitar. They are priced at about $2.50 less per piece than you can get them for in quantity discount from any of the suppliers. SEARCH The item # is: 260217656323. TITLE: Cam Clamps Set for Luthier Woodworking 38 clamps, (32) 4-1/2" x 8-1/2" and (6) 7-1/2" x 8-1/2" FREE SHPNG w/ Buy it Now.
If you would like to skip ebay and buy them direct that would be great!
Thanks
JOHN

Those ebay cam clamps are made by a friend of mine in Luray. He is a superb craftman and the clamps are well worth the money. The link is http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260217656323&ru=http://search.ebay.com:80/260217656323_W0QQfviZ1. If you need them now is the time to get them!

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Sylvan
http://www.wellsguitars.com

Well, I finally have one cam clamp finished. Put the final touches on it this morning. I did find some maple at Menards.

The dimensions for this one is 3/4" x 1 1/2" with 8" reach. Used 1/8" x 3/4" aluminum bar and 5/16" roll pins.

They were simple to make but just time consuming. I spent most of last evening making these while watching "The Godfather" again. Seems like everytime I make something The Godfather is on the tele. Anyway, I don't think I'll be making too many of these, I'll just buy the next few I need. They were fun to make but don't know if it was worth it as was discussed earlier in this thread. I have about 8 bucks in this one clamp.

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"After forty-nine years of violin building, I have decided that the search for a varnish is similar to the fox hunt. The fun is in the hunt."
Jack Batts Maker and Repairer of Fine Violins