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need clamping help

998 views 12 replies 11 participants last post by  jdh122 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I want to make a small work bench top with laminated 2×4s. I will need to clamp 12 of them to get my width of 18". I can clamp the first 7 with my 12" bar clamps. i there a way to extend the clamping surface of the clamps to clamp the full 18 inches thanks Mike
 
#5 ·
#6 ·
You can just leave the screws in there. Just make sure you don't put them where you might be cutting mortises or drilling holes and not to close to the top so that you never have to worry about hitting one with a plane as you level it over the years. It takes some planning but it works. You obviously need to countersink them. If you need or want to remove them, You can probably do that in about an hour, maybe a little more if it is cold in your shop.

+1 on on getting some of the Harbor Freight clamps if you have one nearby. They are a bargain and work very well.

Here is an idea for extending your 12" clamps so that you don't have to buy as many:
https://www.finewoodworking.com/2014/12/03/extend-the-reach-of-your-clamps
 
#7 ·
yeah if the longest clamps you have are only 12" ill agree it's time to invest in some longer ones.as said the HF clamps are cheap but pretty good quality.id get some 24" and a few 48" to start.
 
#9 ·
Get yourself some 24" bar clamps - then, after you've completed the bench top, you can spend the next six months planning and building an elegant clamp storage system to share with us.
 
#13 ·
My thought would be this: if up to now you've managed with only 12 inch clamps and in the future you don't foresee making things big enough to need longer clamps, don't buy them only for the workbench, and instead link your shorter clamps together and/or use wedges and plywood (Izzy Swann on youtube also has some neat solutions for this type of thing). Of course do it in several stages so that you only need the larger clamps for the final step.
But if you are building a workbench because you're expanding from turning and small carving to do some larger furniture pieces and will eventually need more clamps, then get them now and save yourself the hassle.
 
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