long clamps

Re: long clamps

Ian Smith (Sydney Australia)

>You can use ratchet tie down straps. The picture below shows the kind of thing I mean. I got this picture from an Aussie site www.juststraps.com.au but I'm sure you can find somewhere near you that has them.

Regards,

Ian.

Bar clamps

Jack Guzman from Maine

>For real long clamping jobs I use regular bar clamps.Your pipe needs to be threaded on both ends.Just add a coupling between two pipes to make longer bars.You could also get a piece of pipe to whatever length you need.Most hardware stores sell 10'lengths.My only objection to that is where to keep it when not in use.---Jack

Re: long clamps

Paul in NJ

>You can try a piece of rope. Tie it loosely around the object to be clamped and use a stick to wind the rope tight and pull everything together. Or you could just forget the clamps and peg and drawbore the mortise joints.

Paul Dzioba

Just thread two pipes together...

John in NM

>Though I think thats what Jack was already talking about. If you've got a couple pieces of 4' 3/4 pipe you can buy a threaded coupling for a buck or so at HD or your hardware store and make yourself an 8' pipe. Plenty strong for clamping, too easy.

John

correction ....Pipe clamps

Jack Guzman from Maine

>

Re: long clamps

arw01

>A clamp extender made of wood can be used. Take a piece of hard or soft wood a few inches longer than the difference between your clamps. Rotate one head of the clamp to be on the opposite side of the bar (not a spreading position) place it through a hole you have drilled in the extension wood. Now do the same with the other clamp. The wood between then acts like and extension.

Alan

Re: Bar clamps

Dave Thompson

>Like Jack and John said, I also use a bar clamp with a coupling. I've done this up to eight feet, but I don't think there is any practical limit to the length. I would suggest putting a shim size piece of wood in the middle of the bar between the bar and your work peice, prior to tightening. At this length the clamp tends to bow slightly, and if you use black pipe, it may tend to rub off a little on the work.

enjoy,

Dave

Wooden clamps

Bill Houghton, might be Spring in Sebastopol, CA

>Although the pipe clamps suggested by others may in the long run be cheaper - easier to re-use for later projects - you can also take a 2x4, screw or bolt blocks to it a little farther apart than the pieces you're clamping, and apply the clamping pressure by driving in wedges. What the British call "folding wedges" - two wedges of the same taper driven in from opposite directions - work best. Make the wedges long enough that you can knock them out sideways after you're done.

Re: Wooden clamps

George Makowski

>I will second the motion for wooden bars and folding wedges. They work very well and are cheap to put together. It does take some time to turn out enough wedges--you need four wedges for each clamp. Be sure to get a good angle for the wedges so that they catch and grip well.

George in AL

Wedges

Bill Houghton, IT IS Spring in Sebastopol, CA

>Carpenter's shims, usually made from bits of shingle, will be a little soft but might be usable. Hardwood or even fine-grain Doug fir or similar sturdy softwood will be best, though.

Re: 2 short pipe clamps = 1 long pipe clamp

William Duffield, on the Cohansey

>I have several of the pipe couplers for the Jorgensen pipe clamps, but I very rarely use them any more, after I learned a more efficient method that doesn't need them, and doesn't require removing either clamp from either pipe. I put the crank ends of the pipe clamps at both ends of the work, turn the slip end of one clamp 90�, hook the two slip ends over each other, and tighten the cranks at either or both ends.