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Forum topic by mikedrums | posted 02-09-2010 02:01 AM | 26629 views | 10 times favorited | 22 replies | ![]() |
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02-09-2010 02:01 AM |
Topic tags/keywords: pocket hole pocket hole clamp Rockler has a cool new pocket hole clamp that I think you can make on your own, better and cheaper. I decided to throw one these together in the shop and made a video to show. I found that I still had to exert a lot of pressure down, as I drove in the screws, to keep the pieces from steady. I generally clamp both pieces down to the table when driving pocket hole screws, so this was something I hasn’t foreseen. I suppose I could’ve clamped them down to the table, after clamping them together. In any case, I think you could build your own with little effort/time and make it better than the Rockler version. |
22 replies so far
#1 posted 02-09-2010 02:11 AM |
Great idea – and your video is short and really clear – thanks for posting. |
#2 posted 02-09-2010 02:37 AM |
Good idea. To fancy looking for me LOL |
#3 posted 02-09-2010 03:29 AM |
I’m going to knock one or two of these out this week end. Thanks for sharing. |
#4 posted 02-10-2010 06:15 PM |
First I think this is a great idea, but that is if you have a toggle clamp, which I don’t. -- If you always do what you always did, then you will always get what you always got! |
#5 posted 02-10-2010 07:51 PM |
I had the toggle clamps sitting in the shop, so yes, it was cheap me. I figure most woodworkers have an assortment of clamps for jigs and such, but maybe not the forward motion toggles. What most of us are certain to have sitting around, is an assortment of knobs, threaded rod and t-nuts, with which it would be very easy and inexpensive to make a hand crack version, just like the Rockler. Like I wrote in another forum, Rockler has a brilliant way of pricing their proprietary jigs and such at a price that is juuuuuust high enough that you want to go out in the shop and build your own. If they ever a 50% off sale on these with free shipping, it would be silly to build your own. Here’s what we usually don’t figure into the equation, however… Those Rocklers are UNI-taskers. Maybe it’s just me (and Alton Brown), but uni-taskers frustrate the crap out of me. You pay $40-60 for some clamps that only do one thing. If you’re going to be doing pocket hole joinery all day making decent money from it, I will say right now, it would be stupid not to just buy the Rocklers. But for a lot (dare I say, most) of us, these would get used once a year. :-) How many of us have paid several bills for a shiny new uni-tasking thingamawidget and not only does it sit there in a drawer for 11-1/2 months out of the year, but it also gets in the way or takes up valuable shop space 90 percent of the time. If you assemble your own jigs out of reusable, multi-tasking “modular” parts (toggle clamps), then those parts get used all year, for several different tasks, and suddenly 16 bucks for a couple toggle clamps seems like the deal of a century. |
#6 posted 02-10-2010 08:09 PM |
I already figured out how to make one without the toggle clamp. I am aiming for the same thing they made but in wood. The only challenge is the screw, I had one on a kitchen gadget, if I could only find it. I even had the rubber head and a knob. I am a fairly new woodworker since i came from a condo, I now own my own home and I have collected my share of shop tools, more that most men I know. I am coming up with a tool that will help me make the table legs I am trying to create. It is so simple, if you haven’t thought of it yourself you will hit your head when you see it. I looked for a sale, but the best is 19.99 and free shipping, don’t hold your breath for 50% off. :) -- If you always do what you always did, then you will always get what you always got! |
#7 posted 02-10-2010 08:26 PM |
Neat clamp and a good idea on the make your own. May have to think about that. My wife will tell ya I like the Kreg Jig… CtL -- Chris L. "Don't Dream it, Be it."- PortablePastimes.com (Purveyors of Portable Fun and Fidgets) |
#8 posted 02-11-2010 03:02 AM |
very nice looking jig! -- //FC - Round Rock, TX - "Experience is what you get just after you need it" |
#9 posted 02-11-2010 03:11 AM |
Good idea, very handly little jig. How much fancier do you really need to get for a jig though? :) |
#10 posted 02-11-2010 03:17 AM |
You know Brandon, every time I make a jig “prototype” that works well, I never end up making a pretty version… why? I’d rather spend time making pretty stuff, instead of making pretty stuff used to make pretty stuff. :-) |
#11 posted 02-11-2010 03:23 AM |
but shiny new uni-tasking thingamawidgets make me happy :D -- - Jei, Rockford IL - When in doubt, spray it with WD-40 and wrap it with duct tape. The details will attend to themselves. |
#12 posted 02-11-2010 03:30 AM |
Where would you buy the type of toggle clamp shown in the video? -- Robert M. Herring |
#13 posted 02-11-2010 03:48 AM |
as for the exact clamp I used, google: destaco But I don’t recommend those. They are expensive and have a design flaw. The fact that they are plastic helps if you accidentally run a blade into one, but other than that, I much prefer the cheap metal ones. These are much cheaper, have a much smaller footprint, and shorter throw. |
#14 posted 02-11-2010 03:52 AM |
Thanks for the kick in the head reminder that simple thingamawidgets are often simple to make. I confess I was oohhing and ahhing at the Rockler model thinking how much more handy-dandy it would be —and less expensive!—than the official Kreg face clamp that I already paid way to much for. |
#15 posted 02-11-2010 04:02 AM |
I’m thinking for clamping a face frame to a carcase, you’d build something with more throat depth, C-clamp style, but the concept would be the same. -- "A man may conduct himself well in both adversity and good fortune, but if you want to test his character, give him power." - Abraham Lincoln |
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