DIY wooden clamp. How to make clamps from wood, plywood, metal How to make a clamp at home

Every craftsman who makes products and parts made of metal or wood cannot do without homemade clamps. Previously, such a tool was produced in various modifications, from specialized to universal. The main task is to fix the workpiece for processing and joining operations. Let's look at how to make a quick-release clamp with your own hands in various variations.

Angle clamp

This type of do-it-yourself metal clamp is designed for fixing two objects at right angles and connecting them to each other using any methods, however, the main purpose is as a jig for welding metal parts at the angle required for work. To make it properly , you will need the following components:

Corners should be welded at 90 degrees to metal or steel plates. We attach the worm-type structure by welding, and screw a pin-driver into the working nut in order to assemble a stop at the end. The stop must turn freely. Then we need to drill a hole on the back side where we insert a metal rod as a lever. The incredibly simple design and practicality of use have become the key to the popularity of such a clamp among everyone who works with metal and products made from it.

Carpenter's clamp

Such designs used in carpentry are of the following types:

• Standard clamp, which is the most popular or simple;
• In the form of a caliper for small parts and quick fixation;
• Self-clamping clamp for milling processes and working with workpieces of various heights.

The first type is made from two pine blocks, a locking nut, rods, threaded wing nuts and thrust washers. The manufacturing process is very simple:

1. We cut out the working pliers from the bars, drill holes for the studs, taking into account a small amount of play;
2. We screw in the studs and lock them using appropriate methods;
3. We ensure alignment with nuts, made either in the form of wings or standard nuts for improved tension.

The second option is used when prompt fixation of small parts is necessary. Production is carried out from small bars and thin-sheet plywood. Furniture nuts and collar pins act as a worm system. One stop is stationary; we attach it to the end of the guide rail, in which we cut out recesses to fix the moving mechanism.

There are both portable and stationary versions of this design, where grooves are cut for movement with the fastening of fixed stops. The clamp is a furniture nut, a hairpin and a knob. Due to this, you can work with workpieces of any size.

The self-clamping design has a lever with an eccentric at the rotating end. We turn it at a certain angle, a quick clamp is automatically obtained. The height is adjusted with a pin on the workbench. It is made individually for each matrix, depending on its purpose and the purpose of the work being carried out.

Pipe clamp

Welding metal pipes end to end is a complex operation. It is considered simpler to weld the pipe to the finished system. The design for such cases is made of a metal angle and steel plates. The halves of such a device should be fixed using the traditional method, namely with threaded rods. As a result, you can get a fairly simple and effective design, which will greatly facilitate the work when welding pipes with various designs.

There are other types of designs, including cam mechanisms, tape and wire clamps, which can be useful for working with specific structures, including particularly fragile and thin ones. However, their production is the subject of separate master classes and articles on specialized resources.

Homemade clamps are indispensable assistants for any craftsman working with metal and wooden parts and products. Making them is quite simple and very exciting. Here it is important to follow the manufacturing technology, find the best instructions and videos. You can buy clamps, but they may ultimately not be suitable due to the specificity of the workpiece or work. This is why you should make your own clamps. Good luck working with various workpieces and making homemade quick-release clamps!

Beginners who love woodworking will find our instructions useful, with a consistently described process for making carpentry clamps of several varieties. In it we will tell you what materials should be used for this and how to make a device that exactly suits your own needs.

Materials for body, stop and jaws

In carpentry, clamps are used to securely and carefully hold together several parts while they are being mechanically connected or while the glue dries. The pressing force should not be colossal; it is much more important not to damage the surface of the parts being connected. At the same time, the clamp must maintain high strength and be durable.

For the manufacture of clamp parts that are in direct contact with the workpiece, it is better to use hardwood. Ideally, these are bars and planks made of larch, beech, hornbeam or birch. This tree has a fairly high strength and at the same time is elastic, restoring its shape well. The hardness of such wood is usually higher than that of the processed parts, which can be compensated for by heels made of leather, light rubber, felt or softer wood.

Both hard wood and rolled metal can be used as a frame for the clamp. Corners or profile pipes work well, but they need to be carefully cleaned, primed and painted so that no traces of rust remain on the finished product. To prevent accidental mechanical damage or pushing through of the parts being connected, it is recommended to glue wooden strips over the metal elements of the clamp or pull a loose silicone hose.

Which screw and flywheel to use

Despite the not very high clamping force, ordinary studs with metric threads will not be very convenient for use as a clamp screw, unless very small. A small thread pitch will make the choice of free play tedious; among other things, the triangular profile is “eaten up” much faster.

It would be much more correct to purchase studs with trapezoidal or rectangular profile threads, otherwise called jack threads. The optimal step is about 2-2.5 turns per centimeter, this ensures good smoothness of adjustment and optimal tightening force for wooden parts.

You can get studs, nuts and fittings of the required type, either by contacting a turner directly, or in a hardware store, including on the Internet. There is, however, one BUT: most factory products have a full thread, while a slightly different screw configuration is optimal for a clamp. Ideally, there are smooth pillars at the ends of the stud: about 20 mm long for the bearing (slightly thicker than the thread) and about 30-40 mm for the handle (slightly thinner or the same diameter).

The handle or handwheel can be made either from a wooden block, or by drilling a hole in the side of a stud and inserting a steel rod into it as a shift lever, like on a vice.

Straight screw clamp

To make a simple clamp, you will need a frame in the shape of a U-shaped bracket. It can be made in two ways. The first is to connect three bars at right angles on a tongue-and-groove joint, strengthening it with glue and a pair of dowels. This option requires a fairly highly qualified carpenter: hemming and fitting must be done with high precision, because the load in these nodes is very significant.

The second option is somewhat simpler, but more expensive in terms of material consumption. You can cut the bracket from thick birch plywood by gluing 3-4 blanks 12-16 mm thick with Titebond wood glue.

When choosing the shape of the parts, keep in mind that the most reliable design will be one with external bevels for greater rigidity. The bracket stop and its opposite part, in which the clamping screw will be fixed, must be trapezoidal in shape. In this case, the inclined sides should diverge outward at an angle of approximately 30º greater than the straight line. Thickening in the middle part of the frame is also highly desirable.

To secure the screw, it is recommended to use fittings or nuts of the appropriate diameter, which are fixed in one of the “horns” of the clamp frame from the inside and are additionally strengthened with epoxy resin. If the bracket was assembled from bars, then you need to insert a screw into one of them before final assembly. If the frame structure is multi-layered, then the footers can be replaced with nuts that are glued into the cut of the central layer of plywood. Here it is important to monitor the direction of the screw axis and at the same time not allow glue to get into the threaded joint - lubricate it well with grease.

At the point where the clamping heel is attached to the screw, some kind of swivel is needed so that the parts do not move when clamped. It is best to press a bearing matched to the diameter of the inner race onto the solid edge of the screw stud. For a reliable stop, clamp the pin into the drill chuck, and then use a triangular file and a hacksaw to cut a groove for the retaining ring. Next, in the block that serves as the supporting heel, you need to use a core drill to make a cylindrical groove and press a bearing with a pin into it, strengthening the fit with varnish or epoxy resin.

Adjustable universal clamp

Clamps with variable opening widths are more versatile in use; they are most often used when joining furniture panels. To make such a clamp, you will need a calibrated strip of dry hardwood, ideally beech or ash. A constant profile size along the entire length and the complete absence of any defects are required. The pressing force that the clamp can withstand directly depends on the thickness and width of the slats.

So, manufacturing should begin by attaching a perpendicular stop to one end of the longitudinal rail. It is better to make it from two bars that fold and clamp the rail in two symmetrical grooves, or hammer it like a hammer. Thus, the blank for the clamp with a fixed stop takes on a T-shape, and the length of the stop on the working side should be no more than 3 times greater than the reach on the reverse side. The connection between the stop and the rail can be strengthened with furniture ties; it is also possible to connect it with 2-3 dowels and PVA glue.

The reverse part of the stop is designed to secure the bowstring. A straight steel bar with a diameter of 10-12 mm is ideal for it. The end of the rod should be threaded and spread between the end stops with nuts from the inside. Holes for the bowstring should be drilled as close as possible to the back edge of the stop. In this case, the distance from the edge should be sufficient so that the wood does not split. After installing the bowstring, it is necessary to mark a series of notches in increments of 15-20 mm on the end of the bar facing the clamped part, make slots up to 2 mm deep using a fitting hacksaw according to these markings and trim the notches with a knife.

Next, you should make a movable block of the clamp. A through eye of rectangular cross-section is made in it, the dimensions of which exactly correspond to the thickness and width of the longitudinal strip. It is ideal to hollow out a groove 2-3 mm smaller in size, and then bring it to the desired shape with a square rasp. The bar should sit tightly in the block, but at the same time allow relatively free movement along the clamp and its tilt for locking on the notches. You also need to make a through hole under the bowstring so that the rod is positioned strictly perpendicular to the rail, and the block slides freely along it with a slight play.

On the reverse side of the hard stop you need to fill another block, which will fasten the bar with the bowstring parallel to each other. To do this, you can use a small piece of a block in which a groove for the bar is made with a chisel and an incomplete hole is drilled for the bowstring. Dowels or bolts are used to secure the block. As for the clamping screw and heel, they are installed in the same way as a conventional clamp. It is enough to drill a through hole in the movable block not too close to the edge and glue a sleeve or nut into it from the inside. This way, when you clamp the part, the nut of the screw mechanism will rest against the wood and fit even tighter.

Angle clamp

The most difficult to manufacture can be called a clamp, which provides fixation of two parts at right angles. At the same time, it is the most useful and sought-after tool in a carpenter's workshop.

The basis for the corner clamp will be a piece of thick plywood. It is better to take a square board approximately 300x300 mm with a thickness of at least 14 mm. In the corner of the base you need to fix two blocks of hardwood, which for convenience we will call standard. These blocks must meet at right angles facing the center of the plywood board; the thickness of the blocks is at least 25x25 mm. Their fastening should be as rigid as possible: it is recommended to first glue the bars, ensuring their perpendicularity using a plumber's square, and then strengthen the connection with ties or bolts.

From the center of each block you need to draw a perpendicular line, coaxially with which the screw studs will be located. It is necessary to retreat from the bars a distance of 20-30 mm greater than the maximum thickness of the parts being pulled together. After this, two more bars are rigidly attached to the base parallel to the previous ones. It is advisable to glue the nuts in immediately, and then proceed with the thrust bars in the same way as with the reference ones: first position them on the adhesive joint, and then strengthen them with ties. For greater convenience, you can immediately screw the screw studs into the nuts.

After securing the thrust bars, all that remains is to press on the bearings secured in the movable blocks. The cross-section, dimensions and material of the latter must be similar to the standard bars. Finally, you need to fill the handles or insert the flip levers and trim off the excess base of the clamp, removing the protruding corners for free rotation by the screw handles

Custom clamps for specific applications

In any carpentry workshop, homemade clamps show themselves to be more adapted to local working conditions than those purchased in a store. A wide range of variations of the three designs described above can be used.

For example, on one rail you can attach not one, but two adjustable blocks for positioning parts at a large distance. Such a tool will be very useful, for example, when assembling door blocks.

Instead of a handle, you can weld a regular hex head from a bolt onto the stud. This is relevant if, when assembling parts, several clamps need to be frequently clamped, released and rearranged. In this case, it will be convenient to rotate the clamping screw using a socket with a ratcheting mechanism or even a screwdriver.

To assemble products of complex shapes, you can make clamp stops and movable blocks of a more complex configuration, which are well suited for working with irregularly shaped parts.

Carrying out plumbing or carpentry work in places not equipped for this purpose is inevitably associated with the problem of securing workpieces. It is very difficult to prevent them from moving around the table or workbench during processing if they are not equipped with special clamps, a vice or other fixing devices. One such device, simple, affordable and versatile, is clamps. We will tell you what they are and how they are used, and also give detailed instructions on how to make reliable clamps with your own hands.

What is a tool needed for, its design and types of tools

The clamp is an additional carpentry tool. The main purpose of clamps is to fix a workpiece on a support surface or several workpieces for gluing them together; therefore, the design of the tool must include at least two elements: a support surface and a movable jaw equipped with a fixation mechanism. The movable jaw is usually moved using a screw or lever, which allows for increased compression and prevents backlash during operation. Depending on the specialization and design features, the following types of clamps are distinguished:

1. Screw G-shaped ones are the most common, characterized by their simplicity of design and relatively low cost. They are represented by a metal bracket, on one side of which there is a supporting surface, and on the other - a threaded eyelet with an adjusting screw screwed into it. The inner part of the screw is equipped with a working jaw, the outer part with a handle. The tool is effective when working with heavy, large workpieces of simple shape.

   Clamps of this type are suitable for working with large workpieces

2. F-shaped ones are more universal; their supporting surface is fixedly fixed on a long rod along which a working block with a sponge slides. Movement and fixation of the block is ensured by an auxiliary screw or a stepper pressure mechanism.

   Objects are fixed using an auxiliary screw and a stepper mechanism

3. Pipe - allow you to fix large-sized workpieces by varying the length of the pipe. They consist of two separate elements - a base plate with a screw clamp and a jaw that slides along the pipe.

   The clamp is suitable for working with large workpieces

4. Angular - designed to simplify the joining of workpieces at right angles, for which they have two supporting and working surfaces. They are divided into two subspecies. The first involves the presence of two clamping screws located perpendicular to each other; the second is equipped with a single screw with a double-sided corner block at the end. Very rarely there are specialized clamps that allow you to position workpieces at an acute or obtuse angle.

   Clamps of this type simplify joining workpieces at right angles

   Corner clamp with double-sided corner block

5. Tape - equipped with a flexible element and several jaws floating on it. By fixing the jaws in certain places on the belt and adjusting its tension, you can process workpieces of complex shapes.

   The band clamp is equipped with a band element that allows you to fix the workpiece around the perimeter

6. Pincers - consist of two hinged parts and a spacer spring. In practice, they are rarely used due to the relatively low reliability of the joint, but they provide maximum speed for installing and removing the workpiece.

   This clamp is rarely used due to the low reliability of the joint

At home, the first three types of clamps are most often made, since they are not too demanding on materials and production technologies, and also allow solving most household problems that require the use of auxiliary tools.

You will find even more information about the types of clamps in our next material:

How to make a carpentry clamp with your own hands: step-by-step instructions with drawings

To make clamps at home, it is enough to have basic plumbing and carpentry skills. The materials used are wooden beams, rolled metal, pipes and fasteners, in particular bolts, studs, nuts, pins. To join metal parts of clamps, it is desirable to have an electric welding machine. When performing any work, the main thing is to follow the instructions and observe safety precautions.

Manufacturing of screw type tools

This type of clamp will help to secure wood workpieces well.

A clamp made using this method is perfect for fixing small wooden pieces - plywood, fiberboard, OSB and chipboard sheets, as well as boards and thin beams. We suggest that you choose the scale yourself, but otherwise it is better not to deviate from the following sequence of actions:

1. Transfer the templates of all wooden parts onto thick paper or cardboard in accordance with the selected scale.
2. Using the template, transfer the image onto a board of a suitable width. It is better to use harder wood rather than pine boards.
3. Using a jigsaw, cut out all the parts. Correct the shape with a file and sand the surface with sandpaper.
4. In the “jaws” mark and drill holes for the axial bolt. Lengthen the hole in the upper “jaw” using a round file so that its length is 1.5–2.5 times the diameter of the bolt.
5. Drill a hole in the handle for a nut with a diameter corresponding to the number of the wrench. Using a file, give it a hexagonal shape. Install the nut inside with epoxy or cyanoacrylate glue.
6. Assemble the clamp - fix the axial bolt in the lower “jaw” with glue, install the rear loop on the screws, put on the upper jaw and, placing a washer, install the handle. Apply soft pads to work surfaces.

An even simpler option is to make a screw clamp from a hacksaw.

A simple version of a hacksaw clamp

In this case, it is enough to weld a support pad at one end of its arc, and a nut at the other, into which the adjusting screw with jaw and handle will be installed.

Homemade quick-release clamp made of wood

Making such a clamp will take longer

The use of F-shaped clamps significantly speeds up the work process. But making the clamp itself is somewhat more complicated than creating its screw counterpart. You will need to do the following:

1. Transfer the images onto the lumber as described above. Accurately observe the specified dimensions of the parts and the locations of the pin holes.
2. Cut out the parts with a jigsaw, use it to make a narrow slot in the movable jaw and deep slots for the axial plate. Using chisels, select the groove for the cam lever.
3. Drill holes for the pins. Treat all external and internal surfaces of the parts with a file, and then with sandpaper.
4. Using a grinder, cut out an axial plate from a metal strip and grind it. Drill holes for the pins.
5. Assemble the tool by installing the jaws onto the plate using pins. Insert the cam into the movable jaw. Glue on the working pads.
6. Check the functionality of the quick-release clamp. If necessary, change the shape of the working part of the cam lever.

Rough fixation of the lower jaw on the axial plate can be achieved by wedging its guide pins, inserting an additional pin, using a screw clamp or another method.

Video: making a quick clamp

Metal pipe

To make such a clamp you will need a metal pipe

For such a tool, you will need three metal rings, the inner diameter of which corresponds to the outer diameter of the pipe you have, instead of which, by the way, you can use a metal rod. If you have a welding machine, the process of making a clamp comes down to the following algorithm:

1. Weld support platforms to two rings, which can be made from angle steel; Install a nut on the third ring, and weld the ring itself to the end of the pipe.
2. Weld an improvised handle made of a metal rod to the head of a long bolt, screw the bolt into a ring with a nut.
3. From the free end of the pipe, place the ring of the upper movable jaw on it. Make holes in the lower jaw ring for the fixing pins.
4. Install the lower ring onto the pipe.

A pipe clamp is ideal for holding furniture elements during assembly; it will be convenient in construction and installation work and other similar operations.

Video: homemade pipe-type clamp

Corner

To make this type of clamp, you can use wood, metal or duralumin. They differ from each other not only in material, but also in clamping force and the size of the fixed workpiece. Our next material provides detailed instructions for making tools:

Both in everyday life and in professional activities related to wood and metal processing, clamps will become an indispensable assistant. By following the instructions and having a simple set of materials, you can make this tool yourself.

The clamp is an auxiliary tool , which is used to fix the boards when they are connected in a given position. The clamp is also suitable for holding boards while sawing them, for routing the hacksaw blade, and connecting various elements. Parts that require machining can be inserted into the tool. Then, using a movable element, they are clamped with jaws and begin to work. To securely hold parts in the desired position, it is recommended to use two or more clamps.

Homemade clamps are often made of metal or wood, and in terms of their characteristics they are not much inferior to purchased, factory-assembled ones. Since the design of the clamping device is simple, it will not be difficult to understand the principle of its operation in order to make it yourself.

Making a metal screw clamp

Before starting work, you will need to prepare the necessary materials. For the base of the structure, a steel sheet one centimeter thick, or any even trim of the same thickness, is suitable. The length of the workpiece is arbitrary, but they try to choose it taking into account the working distance of the clamp.

Main materials of manufacture:

• steel sheet;
• long bolts;
• nuts

A drawing is being drawn up. The future body of the tool is marked on the workpiece material, which in appearance resembles the letter “C”. Instead of a steel sheet, you can use a section of profiled pipe, bent in the shape of the letter “C”. There are no special requirements for the thickness of the workpiece, but the design must be reliable. The choice of length is made taking into account the dimensions of the working area and the parts being processed.

After marking is applied, the part is cut out of metal. At home, small pieces can be cut using a grinder. But when making clamps of large dimensions, it is recommended to use a gas cutter or an acetylene torch. The next stage is processing and polishing the workpiece. All sharp edges and sagging formed when working with gas welding equipment are knocked off with a file, and the surface is sanded with sandpaper. This must be done so that when clamping the workpieces, you do not cut yourself on sharp edges.

Having prepared long bolts M 8, M 10, proceed to fastening the moving element. Why are nuts welded on one side of the workpiece under the selected bolts? If there are no bolts, you can select hexagons or steel rods of the required length with pre-cut threads.

At the inner working end of the screw, a flat, even part is welded, on which the function of the jaws is assigned. On the reverse side of the screw, a lever is attached by welding from scraps of a stud. Its presence will speed up the process of clamping workpieces , further reducing the amount of effort applied. This completes the assembly of the clamp with your own hands.

Corner clamp device

When making corner tools for furniture assembly, it is important to accurately maintain a right angle of 90°. The main materials available are angles with steel strips. To work you will need:

• 40 mm steel angle 3-4 mm thick;
• steel plates 40-50 mm;
• threaded studs;
• rods for gates;
• nuts;
• welding machine;
• electric drill, taps.

The corner clamp is the most difficult to manufacture, but when carrying out some types of work you cannot do without it. At the initial stage, corners are welded to the steel plates at right angles, and nuts are welded to each corner, which will serve to create a worm-type structure. Another option is to drill a hole in the corner and cut an internal thread in it using a tap. The width of the working gap is selected taking into account the size of potential workpieces, but too large a stroke of the clamping wheel reduces the strength of their fixation.

To process parts of different sizes, it is recommended to prepare several clamps!

The stud is screwed into the welded nut. At its end, a stop is assembled from metal washers of various diameters, which should rotate freely when the pin rotates. On the back side of the knob, a hole is drilled for a metal rod. Used as a lever, it will transmit more force, so it will hold workpieces more reliably.

Wooden clamp - made from leftover boards

The most popular is a wooden quick-release clamp, but a tool of a similar design can also be made of metal. Despite the simplicity of the design, it is very convenient when performing various tasks.

The presence of two identical clamps expands the scope of their application!

For assembly you will need to prepare the following materials:

• pieces of boards;
• studs with pre-cut threads;
• nuts and wings corresponding to the threads of the studs;
• slats.

First, two studs of the same diameter with threaded threads are prepared. They must be 200 mm long. The nuts are matched to the threads of the studs. Two slats are prepared, preferably from hardwood. The best choice would be oak, beech, birch, ash. The slats are adjusted to the same size. To do this, the excess length is sawed off and the cut is sanded. After this, two holes are drilled in each of the slats with a small tolerance. Moreover, the locations of the holes on each of the workpieces must match perfectly, and their diameter must correspond to the diameter of the studs.

Strips of plywood can be glued to the surface of the slats. They are adjusted to the size of the wooden blanks and holes are drilled. The studs are inserted into the resulting holes and securely fixed with nuts on one of the rails on both sides. To prevent material from pushing through, washers are placed under the nuts. This bar will always be stationary, but the other one will be able to move freely along the guides in the form of pins.

Another bar is installed. To do this, thread it through the studs and push it into place. The clamping is carried out using ordinary nuts and an open-end wrench, but for convenience and increased productivity it is necessary to install wing nuts. Check the movement of the fastener; if it is difficult or additional adjustment of parts is required, or other defects are found, then they are eliminated. The work on assembling the wooden clamping device can be considered completed; all that remains is to test it in action.

Properly assembled clamping devices allow you to securely fasten wooden parts during carpentry work. The designs of the listed types of fasteners are popular and are so simple that they can be made independently from scrap materials using a minimum number of tools.

Even simple welding work requires a professional attitude. To obtain connections of the highest possible quality, in most cases it is necessary to use special devices. These include corner clamps for welding, which you can assemble from metal with your own hands. The use of a clamp allows you to reliably fix the workpieces being joined, which speeds up and facilitates the process of obtaining a welding seam. For manufacturing, you will need a simple set of tools, available materials and ready-made drawings of clamps, in accordance with which the work will be carried out.

A clamp is a kind of corner vice of universal use, used to fix metal workpieces before welding in a convenient position at the required angle. Depending on the method of fastening the part, devices may be used that differ in design, shape and size.

Experienced welders always use several types of clamps, since during the work process there may be a need to connect workpieces of various configurations.

Many models of corner clamps are commercially produced, designed to perform specific jobs. For example, several devices can be used simultaneously to install a pipeline, installing the elements to be welded at angles of 15, 30, 45 or 90 degrees. Without using a clamp, it is difficult to accurately install parts, especially for work that requires high precision.

The design of corner clamps for welding has the following features:

1. The jaws of the clamping elements are thick, which makes it possible to increase the rigidity of the workpiece connection and eliminate bending of the welding seam.
2. The additional use of clamping screws prevents the threaded section of the corner clamp from soldering when molten metal splashes. This helps to increase the service life of welding equipment.
3. When performing electrode welding at a certain angle, the use of a clamp allows you to expand the working area.

The design of the clamp consists of two elements:

• a moving part with a clamping screw designed to regulate the degree of pressing of the workpieces;
• frames

Thanks to the presence of a movable mechanism, corner clamps allow you to reliably fix elements of various sizes, geometric shapes, made of any metal. For ease of work, it is possible to use several corner vices at once. Most commercially produced clamps are designed for use in welding products up to 390 mm thick.

The transmission of force to the clamping planes, and from them to the fixed parts, is carried out using T-shaped handles. Cast iron staples are able to withstand any temperatures generated during welding.

When choosing a corner clamp, you should first of all focus on the type of work to be done:

• G-shaped fixtures are more suitable for fastening workpieces of small thickness;
• F-clamps, equipped with an adjustable clamping mechanism, are used for processing workpieces of impressive size.

Angle quick-release clamps can be installed in garages, small workshops and workshops on work tables and workbenches with a flat surface.

DIY methods

Factory-produced welding clamps are quite expensive, so it makes sense to make a corner clamp with your own hands. Such a task cannot be called difficult, since for assembly you can use metal elements that have been stored in a garage or shed for years, which would be a pity to throw away. Due to the simplicity of the design, the use of complex tools is not required to make an angle clamp.

Regardless of the design, the main purpose of the devices is to rigidly clamp workpieces for their subsequent welding or surfacing. Corner clamps made of plywood allow you to connect both metal parts and wood blanks.

To make your own clamp you will need the following materials:

• a pair of hardwood blocks 25 mm thick;
• a sheet of plywood with a thickness of at least 12 mm;
• fastening elements: studs, self-tapping screws;
• hacksaw or jigsaw;
• drill.

A square with sides measuring 250 or 300 mm is cut out of a plywood sheet, to which bars are attached at right angles.

The angle should be set as accurately as possible, since the correct fastening of the workpieces relative to each other will depend on it in the future.

First, the bars should be glued, wait until the glue sets and countersink with a drill. Self-tapping screws or other fasteners are screwed into the resulting holes. From the center of the pads it is necessary to draw perpendicular lines along which the screw studs will move.

At a distance of 20 mm from the corners, thrust bars are fixed, leaving a small gap between them. Its size should slightly exceed the maximum width of the workpieces to be fixed. It is more convenient to screw in the studs immediately, before attaching the thrust pads.

It is also necessary to prepare movable bars that connect to the pin. When screwed in, its part will move towards the corner block.

When making a corner clamp from a massive material, such as chipboard, a thicker material should be selected for the bars.

Metal construction

First of all, you need to make a drawing or sketch of the corner clamp and decide on the main dimensions.

To make the base you will need sheet material 8–10 mm thick. For fastening, you can use a corner of the appropriate size. It is convenient to connect the elements using electric welding.

1. For a screw clamping mechanism, two nuts are welded together. The bracket with a threaded hole in the central part is made with a height of 30–40 mm. For fastening, it is recommended to use a bolted connection, which can be easily replaced if the thread breaks.
2. The mutual placement of the pressing jaws requires special attention. It is necessary to ideally set the right angle, since when performing welding work it will be impossible to achieve acceptable quality. First, one corner is welded to the clamp, and another is placed on it. The resulting structure is tightly compressed and welded to the bracket.
3. Guides are attached to the side planes of the clamp to ensure movement of the base. A groove measuring 8–10 mm is cut along the bisector line of the clamping device.

Do you use a clamp at home or at work? Did you make it yourself or buy it ready-made at a hardware store? What difficulties and features of welding did you encounter when using the device? Please share your experience in the comments.