On Fri, 6 Jul 2007 17:02:00 -0400, "Ghamph"
wrote:


wrote in message
roups.com...
On Jul 5, 12:03 pm, "Ghamph" wrote:
I want to make a wide variety of clamps for 100 - 400+ lb. range from
small
to 5 ft. long and some deep set, without spending a fortune or using a
fortune in oxygen with the welder.

Any ideas like pipe or band iron that anyone tried?
Thanks before hand.
Jamffer

You left off some pertinent information:

What are they to be used for?

Wood or metal?

Yes.

Never made a metal clamp, but there are some good tricks for clamping
wood. One of my favorites, that gets used a lot, is using band clamps
for round work and picture frames. I'm sure you've seen them, and
probably own a few already- they're normally used to tie stuff down on
trailers or truck beds. The best ones at the ones where the end of
the strap slides into the ratchet to make a loop, as the ones with the
hooks on the end will marr your work. Especially for picture frames,
there's really nothing that works as well- you put the thing all the
way around the perimeter, and it not only holds it together while it
dries, but also sort of "auto-aligns" the corners. Works good for M&T
tables as well, where you just need some pressure, but the joints are
doing the alignment work for you.

Another favorite of mine is using wooden cams. The basic trick here
is to make a P shaped handle, then drill a 1/2" hole in the fat part,
slightly off-center. Then cut a slit in the end of the handle, so
that you can slide an eye bolt into the end, and put a pin through it.

The eye bolt treads into a threaded insert on the other side of the
"clamp", and when you push the handle down, it will act as a cam to
hold the work in place. If it is too tight or too loose, you just
spin the handle to adjust.

When you clamp long miters, you can set them point to point on a table
on a peice of tape, then glue, fold them together, and use a couple
more pieces of tape to hold it in place while the glue sets up-
doesn't sound like it'd be enough, but it works just fine.

Segmented turning rings can be glued up with rubber bands.

Far as the other stuff goes, I'd think your best bet would be to head
to the hardware store and look at the existing ones and go from there.
By my quick estimate, I don't know if you'll come out very far ahead
of just buying a number of pipe clamps and a selection of black pipe
by making them, but you never know.