The Woodshop Shed

It's Clamplicated - Mistakes Were Made...

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


I needed some long reach clamps for my current project, so I made 3 sets of long reach C clamps of different lengths. The first ones I made from 3/4” Baltic Birch. This turned out to be a mistake. The material is far too flexible at that length, and because of that, it does not exert as much pressure as I'd like, only about 20 lbs. It might be okay for a shorter clamp, but for these long ones it was somewhat of a disappointment.UPDATE: The Fix is In! – Zip Tie to the Rescue
This simple modification overcame the excessive flex and gave me 40 PSI at the clamp face.The fabrication of the second set was also somewhat of a disappointment, but I got better clamping pressure, 40 lbs. I didn't make the shoulder wide enough, and I cut the groove too far up from the underside of the top piece. Because of this, the wood had a tendency to split at the shoulder of the clamp, so I had to reinforce that with zip ties. The material I used is Ash that I recycled from an old futon frame.The last and most successful set were also made from recycled Ash, and also achieved 40 lbs. of pressure, but with a much shorter throw. I made all the right moves with these, shoulders wide enough, groove cut not too far up.IMPORTANT: If you decide to make these clamps, the wood where the threaded insert goes needs to be supported front to back with a Bessey style clamp and on both sides with an F clamp. The hole that the insert gets threaded into needs to be lubricated with paste wax as well. If you don't take these precautions, the wood will split.

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Side yard gate

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


Follow up to a house that I remodeled. Fence boards and gate panels from redwood board & batten siding from an old garage that I took down. There were (still are) lead pellets embedded in the wood, guessing from kid's target practice. Gate frame is from redwood rafters salvaged from carport on this property. Custom latch from Ipe- can be operated with one hand, no springs. The stop has a strip of neoprene foam cushion. Closer weight is some brass door knobs from the scrap bucket. gate is hung slightly out of plumb, so it stays when fully open, but closes and latches by itself from partly open position. There were pipes in the ground below the hinge post, so the extra stuff there. Domino tenons made from mahogany, as standard beech ones rot outdoors. Both rails and gate panels are rabbeted and fastened with brass screws after applying finish (siding stain) so all parts are sealed, including screw holes, and there are no dados to trap water. I've used this technique multiple times- good for painted as it resists tannin bleed. It also adds some strength as well as repair-ability. Now in service 4 or 5 months.

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Bathroom Vanity and Shelf

Furnished content.
(from Lumberjocks.com)


We recently remodeled our master bathroom. The original vanity had only one sink so we wanted to add a second sink. These photos are of the vanity and shelf that I made. The vanity top and shelf are maple. The vanity is made of poplar and maple plywood. The bathroom is not a large bathroom so it is hard to get good photos of the vanity installed so I have also included a couple pictures of the vanity in my shop before it was installed.

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