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DIY brass (parallel) clamps

  • Thread starter Thread starter rawen
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rawen

rawen

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Hi!
I'm going to need a lot of different clamps to build (plank) Triton cross section (and Alert, after her).
Since I am able to machine brass, I want to make them myself and I'm looking for inspiration. (Our proverb - I wouldn't invent a wheel.:-))
Are there any drawings, patterns or recommendations here on the forum that I missed?

Thank you,

Radek
 
Hello Radek, There is no need to reinvent the wheel unless you want to make a shape different from than classic circle :cool: However, I would be glad to see your concept if you can design\implement one. Below, are some of my findings. For the most part, to make similar clamps you don't require machine tools, however, some will require special tooling. Take a look at the below links\images.

This one the video from our member Kevin Kenny @Kevink


This one from our member Brian @Bryian

Make your own planking clamps. Plank on frame ships.

Hi gang, I recently purchased on the internet some planking clamps for POF ship building from China. They were so simple to make, and worked so wonderfully well, I decided to make some myself. Photo below is the eBay purchased clamp, they were around $30-US plus delivery.
shipsofscale.com

Those clamps were made by Danny Vadas a great modeler from Australia, who passed away battling cancer a few years back.

1643483803558.png

1643483832946.png

1643484047434.png

these are commercially available clamps

1643484118659.png 1643484220204.png

Hope you will have an idea...
 
Thank you Jim for the video and photos!
I know about commercial screw clamps; and the penultimate wooden clamp seems to be simmilar to well known use of flexible office clip.
Also modified wood spring closing clothes pins have long-standing place in my workshop.

1643483832946.png
It took me a while to understand the function of the spacers (1). Do I see well that one end is tilting?
As for the parallel clamps (2), they don't seem to be quite parallel :). I have found several systems - while the emphasis is on parallelism in mechanical engineering, it seems to me that these wooden ones will be tilting again. Can I ask for a more detailed description of Danny´s clamps?

Thank you,

Radek
 
Jimsky said:
Greetings, Steph. What timber (wood) do you use for the clamps?
Click to expand...
Don't know the name. It is hard wood. Not oak or so, grain is much finer and stronger. The dust is yellow. You can't bent it or hammer a nail in it. It comes from an old window. I got a few pieces from my neighbour. It is probably 80 years old.
 
Jimsky said:
Greetings, Steph. What timber (wood) do you use for the clamps?
Click to expand...
I asked around, and they asked me: If I drill in it, is the dust greasy? And it is. So it is Lignum Vitae, In Dutch we call it pokhout. It is very hard and dense. The Janka Hardness is 3710 and that is somewhere in the top 5 of the most hardest wood.
 
Steef66 said:
I asked around, and they asked me: If I drill in it, is the dust greasy? And it is. So it is Lignum Vitae, In Dutch we call it pokhout. It is very hard and dense. The Janka Hardness is 3710 and that is somewhere in the top 5 of the most hardest wood.
Click to expand...
Thank you, Steph. Here is what the timber database saying about this wood:

guaiacum-officinale-e1633971389881-225x450.jpg


Lignum Vitae | The Wood Database (Hardwood)

www.wood-database.com www.wood-database.com
 
Looking good, you did a good job. I bought a few small ones in the shop. They made of Steel and are heavy to handle. But they gave me another idea. When you place in the back where the wingnut is place a thread insert. And on the other side just a hole halfway the wood will work too. That's how the ones I bought work. It makes them somehow not easy to work because of the lose backside, but the parallel clamp can go to minimum thickness.
 
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