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PRESSURE-PACKED

PANEL CLAMPS 5 Repeat the process for cross dow-


els (B, C), centering the boles in the
dowels. See the Parts View for hole
szes in the dowels.
6 Push a W' T-nut into the }fo" hole
in cross dowel B hard enougb so
the prongs indent the dowel.
Rernove the T-nut, and drill W' pilot
boles at each indentation. The pilot
holes preyent the prongs on the
T-nut from splitting the dowel Iater.
7 Use a rasp to form notches in the
top and bottorn of the cross dowel
C. Then, grind the head of the car-
rag e bolt that will be nserted
through the 'cross dowel C flush
with the notches.
8 Cut the clamp pads (D) to sze
Edge-joining several boards to make a flat panel can frustrate and shape, counterboring, and
even tbe most patient woodworker. But, these shop-bult panel drilling each where shown on the
Parts Vew drawing.
clamps end all tbe hassles. We recommend that you make a set of
9 Cut the clamp bars (E) to sze,
'three for starters. Build them as shown here, and turn to page 50 (VI/e usecl poplar; you could also use
for tips on using them. 2x4 stock if you plane the edges fat
and parallel.)
1 From 1" dowel stock, crosscut the 3 Center the coved assembly under 1 O Using your drill press ftted with
cross dowels (A, B, C) to the a U!" Forstner bit chucked nro your a fence and a Forstner bit, drill 1 W'
lengths listed on the Exploded View drill press. Use a stop to keep the boles 3" apart where shown on the
drawing on the oppostte page. center of the counterbores ~fo" from Parts View and Photo B.
2 To keep the dowels from splitting the ends of each cross dowel A. 11 Attach an extensin to your
out the bottom side when drilling Drill a pair of counterbores W' deep miter gauge, ancl make a par of cuts
through thern, we recommend mak- into each cross dowel as shown in at each hole to create the opening
ng a drill-table support. To do ths, the photo and on the Parts View as shown on the Notch detall on
cut two peces of ~xl 1-2Xl2" stock. drawng on the WOOD PAITERNS@ the Parts View.
Rout a W cove along one edge of insert in the center of the magazine. 12 Rout !is" round-overs on all
each. Glue the two pieces together in 4 Switch bits, and drill a ~fi" hole edges, makng the bars easier ancl
the confguraton shown in Pboto A. centered in each counterbore. safer to hanclle. Sane! the bars and
To keep the counterbores and holes Use a drill press with a fence and Forstner adcl a clear finish.
aligned, we drllled the first depression and bit to drill the holes used to form the 13 Assemble the sliding ancl tghten-
inserted a short length of o/a" dowel stock notches in the clamp bars. ing ends in the configuration shown
into the counterbore. Then we aligned the on the Explocled View ancl Clamp
dowel vertically with the bit before drilling Mechanism drawngs. Keep the
the second counterbore.
nuts and ends of the eyebolts flush
with each other. If the bolt pro-
trudes beyond the nut, you'll mar
your workbench when using the
clamps later.
14 Secure the two %" nuts and wng
nut to the end of the 12"-long, all-
thread rod with thread lock. [We
used hgh-strength (red) Loctite,
271.] Por ease and speed in oosen-
ing and tightening the clamp ends,
skip the wng nuts and use a ~fo"
box end wrench.
1" dowel 3W long
MOVABLE END


% x 3" carriage bolt with threads to head
(file bolthead flush with notches)
@

1" counterbore
\/2'' deep with a
%" hole centered inside ADJUSTABLE END

%" T-nut

-- . ...........
%"nuts
%" locknuts

EXPLODED VIEW

Supplies: For one clamp: 22" of 1 "-diam- ..


eter dowel stock, 8-o/a" eyebolts 8" long, . .. :
22-%" hex nuts, 1-%" T-nut, 4-1/4x%"
panhead sheet-metal screws, 1-o/a" wing 1/s" round-overs on
nut, 2-o/a" locknuts, 4-W' tender washers, 1/ all edges of clamp bars
%" threaded rod 12 long, 1-o/sx3" car-
riage bol!, clear finish. ~1\/2"

Buying Guide
---' Hardware. All !he hardware (not including
the finish) listed in the Supplies listing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
---l above. Kit no. WDPC, $24.99 ppd./clamp
or two for $44.99 ppd. Miller Hardware,
1300 M.L. King Pkwy., Des Moines, IA
50314 or call 515/283-1724 to order. CLAMP
MECHANISM
@ 1" dowel 3" long r+-;
1/a" counterbore
:+'is" pilot hole o/is" deep
%" deep, centered
%" hole, centered

~
1,v,a"-long notches
%2" deep on top and bottom

@1" dowel 3" long

V.." tender washer


-------,
\f4 x %" panhead 11,s" hole, centered
sheet-metal screw
va pilo! hole %" deep for T-nut barbs to fit into

o/is" pilot hole %" deep, centered


%" counterbores
Writcen b Marlcn Kernmet W'deepwith
Project Dcsign: Danjohnson, Des Moines, lowa %" holes centered inside
Illustrauons: Kim Downlng; torna Johnson
Photographs:Marty Baldwn; Hetherngton Phorography
Gluing up p with
These handy clamps (below) keep 2 Place one of the clamp mecha-
the faces of an edge-glued panel nism' s cross dowels in the notch
flush while you pull the peces at the end of each bar, as shown
together. The instructions on in the clamp at the front of the
page 48 tell you how to build the photo opposite page, bottom. The
clamps. Here's what you need to clamp pad should pont nward.
know to use them. 3 Install the movable end for each
clamp in the notch that's appro-
Setting up the clamps prate to the width of the panel
1 Position one bar for each clamp you'll be glung up, as shown. To
on your bench, with the notched make setup easer, Iabel the
edge down. Space the clamp bars bar no te hes to indicate
along the length of your clamping width, as shown
glue-up as you would ord- far rigbt.
nary bar clamps.

1
our shop-rnade clamps
To mark your clamps ths way, 4 Lay waxed paper or plastic Clamping the glue-up
label the fifth hole from the end wrap along the top edge of each 1 Dry-clamp the glue-up first. To
13", as shown beloui. Then, mark clamp bar for glue protection. do this, lay the components of the
the subsequent holes in 3" incre- (For clarty, we omitted ths step glue-up on the clamp bars.'
ments (16", 19", 22", etc.) to 43". in the photographs.) Reposition the bars to space thern
evenly, f necessary.
2 Lay the matchng clamp bars on
top of the laid-out panel. Place
them wth the notched edges fac-
ing up, and align them with the
bars beneath the glue-up.
3 Hook the cross dowels for the
clamp mechanisms and movable
clamp ends into the notches on
the top bar that correspond to the
notches they're hooked into on
the bottom bars, as shown by the
middle clamp in the photo
at bottom.

lnch markers
on the notches ease
clamp setup. We prlnted
labels on a computer printer;
rub-on letters from an art-supply
store would do the job neatly, too.

4 Tighten
the clamps by
Wlth the cross dowels engaged in the clamp bars' notches, tightening the
turning the threaded
clamp exerts pressure from the sides and pulls the clamp bars together at rod on the clamp mecha-
the same time. nism. A wrench-or, even bet-
ter, a socket and ratchet drive-
will assist you in tghtenng the
clamps securely. Check the
clamped glue-up to ensure that
the edges are all pulled together.
5 Loosen the clamps and make
any necessary changes in their
positions. Unhook the cross dow-
els, and lift off the top bars. Take
care not to move the clamps.
6 Apply glue to the panel pieces.
Replace the top clamp bars, lay-
ing waxed paper or plastic wrap
between them and the glue-up.
7 Finally, reengage the cross dow-
els, and tghten the clamps.

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