Jay Pique wrote:
Quite some time ago I had Morris make me up a clamping caul
"template". Basically it's a 48" long piece of Masonite with a curve
cut on one edge to a radius of 2000.5 (inches, I believe). The goal
was to have the ends be 1/8" higher than the center when place on a
flat surface. Well just recently I got around to making the actual
cauls themselves. I had a bunch of baltic birch rippings left over,
so I laminated three pieces together and template routed the curve
into one edge. The finished dimensions are 1.5 x ~3 x 40". I made
them 40" because that maximized usage of material, and because I
needed them for a 36" round table top. I ended up making six of them,
and they really worked like a charm. I used them in pairs, top and
bottom, but I suppose if you had a really rigid bench you could just
use one on top to push it flat. In that case, though, maybe you'd
want them a bit wider - say 4" or so.

And, for those who think it ridiculous to go through the trouble of
obtaining a CNC'd template to make a clamping caul.....you're probably
right! To me a fair curve seems like it should apply more even
pressure across the width of the panel, so that's why I wanted it.

Thanks, Morris!

JP

I've made clamping cauls with a fair curve on my jointer by raising the
outfeed slightly above the cutter height and keeping pressure on the
infeed table as I pass the stock over the blades. Having the outfeed
table slightly higher than the blades causes the stock to ride up
causing the curve.

The trick is then getting the table back to the proper height to produce
straight cuts. To do this I mark the table at the ways before changing
the height adjustment.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA