Gluing and clamping are mainstays of woodworking and because there are so many different kinds of woodworking projects, woodworkers have come up with a plethora of ideas and workarounds to get jobs done, are a few that I use from time to time for specific clamping jobs ...
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Of course like every modification, we all need to figure out things that work best and taking other peoples ideas and even changing them up a bit can make a huge difference in accomplishing something that may have seemed daunting.
I still love this clamp stand I made a couple of so years ago, then lined the V grooves with some anti-skid material, it holds the clamps upright so they don't fall over every time I place a board to them but I am still able to move them around ... very nice.
I always keep at least a couple of strips of this insulation foam around in case I need it, it's quite inexpensive and I have even used in gluing situations where I need to elevate the wood off the clamps and as a bonus, the wood glue doesn't stick to it so it's a perfect partner for glue-ups.
One of the biggest challenges I have ad is getting all my boards to align as I am clamping them. Usually, I make sure the centers are aligned first and clamped down firmly, then I work at aligning the ends. One of the ideas I have used is pieces of angle iron, either flat or on edge like in the picture below. I have also tried aluminum, but I have found that it does bend so it's off my list for that.
Another tip with the angle iron, you can sometimes get for free and here's how. Sometimes houses that are being reno's of cleaned out, or even junkyards will have old steel bed frames that are made from angle iron. The angle iron that is used is "hardened" so don't try taking your hack saw to cut off a few pieces, that stuff is super hard, you will need a recip-saw with a carbide blade or an angle grinder to cut off the chunks, but it's a great way to recycle used iron.
I don't own any of the little 3-way clamps that are used for gluing on edge strips, for example. I have always just used bar clamps and a few small wedges that I cut on my bandsaw. Don't make the wedges too wide, the thinner the better and when you use one on each side they hold very well.
Another clamping aid I use from time to time are these "I" beam pieces. I made them from some old recycled plywood I purchased and they are excellent whenever I am gluing cabinets or other projects that need gluing from top to bottom. By placing my project on the I-beams I can get under the project with my clamp, which often saves me time in the gluing because I can glue all sides at the same time rather than some today and some tomorrow ... handy items.
Don't forget ... if you have other gluing ideas, I would love to hear about them and if I haven't used them already and use them in a future video, I will give you a shout out in the video, and this way we all get to hear about your ideas.
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