Figure 1
Making Wooden Clamps by the Dozen – by Lew Matt
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C
lamps are indispensable. I used alligator clips and battery terminal clips, plastic spring clips, paper clips, vice grips, C clamps and sundry other devices to hold things together while the glue dries or the solder freezes. All these different type of clamps cost a lot of money and require a trip to the hobby shop or hardware store.
The bottom line is I always need more clamps when I build anything. Darryl Hoffman rescued me from my dilemma and showed me how to make a great clamp from a wooden spring clothespin. I’ll never run short of clamps again. This variety of clothespin is very inexpensive. I picked up a pack of 50 spring jaw clothespins for $1.00 at the Dollar Store. That’s a lot of clamps at $0.02 each.
Figure 2
Figure 1: On the left is the conventional wooden spring clamp clothespin. On the right is the efficient model clamp made from the standard clothespin. Note that the jaws of the clamp are almost flush with each other. To make the clamp we will reverse the orientation of the spring and legs. In this picture, the spring remains in the same position and the legs of the clothespin are reversed. Figure 2: Start making the clamp by removing the spring carefully while keeping all the pieces in the same position.
Page 45 • Issue 11-09• Sep 2011 • The Modeler’s Workbench - Wooden Clamps, page 1
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