I'm trying to design an inexpensive way to make shop clamps.
My last set of clamps are 2 1/2 in. Pony pipe fixtures for 3/4 in. black
pipe (4 ft.7 in.each ) with pipe and tax were $44.60 total at Home Depot.
Not a fortune, but I would like to have more clamps of a wide variety
including some deepest and (roll-your-own) would give me anything without
spending a fortune on specialty clamps (some very pricey).
I'm thinking that either band iron or pipe would be the cheapest. I have
several ideas to try and would like to not use the welder or milling machine
any more than necessary so I'm searching for suggestions from other clamp
lovers who have made their own before.
Clamps I use need to be 100 - 300 lb. range. more for the larger ones.
Thanks before hand, I hope that I don't sound like a tightwad.
Jamffer

Ghamph wrote:
| I'm trying to design an inexpensive way to make shop clamps.
| My last set of clamps are 2 1/2 in. Pony pipe fixtures for 3/4
| in. black pipe (4 ft.7 in.each ) with pipe and tax were $44.60
| total at Home Depot. Not a fortune, but I would like to have more
| clamps of a wide variety including some deepest and (roll-your-own)
| would give me anything without spending a fortune on specialty
| clamps (some very pricey).
| I'm thinking that either band iron or pipe would be the cheapest.
| I have several ideas to try and would like to not use the welder or
| milling machine any more than necessary so I'm searching for
| suggestions from other clamp lovers who have made their own before.
| Clamps I use need to be 100 - 300 lb. range. more for the larger
| ones. Thanks before hand, I hope that I don't sound like a tightwad.
| Jamffer

I like the 3/4" pipe clamps from HF (~US$4 on sale).

Come to think of it, I have a pile of their 4" and 6" C-clamps.
They're also a good buy when on sale. For my shop and budget they're
as good as anyone elses.

I also like the face frame clamps from Menards (~$10, posted photo to
ABPW a while back).

I've built project-specific clamps using scrap 1" pine and 1/4"
threaded rod and knobs (photo at link in sig).

I watch for good sale prices on the ratcheting squeeze clamps and use
something that looks like a bench hook to extend their reach (posted
photo to ABPW a while back for this, too). The ones I have came from
Menards (~$3+ on sale).

I've built a couple of special-purpose cam clamps from 2x lumber and
aluminum angle that work well (photo posted to ABPW some time back).
JT has also built cam clamps and said he'd take pictures - if he can
remember where he left his camera ;-)

You can also integrate clamping into some ordinary shop accessories.
For an example of what I'm talking about, visit
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/SH_Project.html and scroll down to see my
clamping crazy three-legged sawhorse.

In the background of the first photo on that page and at the top of
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/PT_Sign.html you can see a clamp that I
built for splicing 49"-wide sheet goods. This one was a bit pricey
because I bought a half-dozen clamp screws, but it'd have been even
spendier if I'd bought it ready-made.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/drawer-clamp.html

"Ghamph" wrote in message
...
I'm trying to design an inexpensive way to make shop clamps.
My last set of clamps are 2 1/2 in. Pony pipe fixtures for 3/4 in. black
pipe (4 ft.7 in.each ) with pipe and tax were $44.60 total at Home Depot.
Not a fortune, but I would like to have more clamps of a wide variety
including some deepest and (roll-your-own) would give me anything without
spending a fortune on specialty clamps (some very pricey).
I'm thinking that either band iron or pipe would be the cheapest. I have
several ideas to try and would like to not use the welder or milling
machine
any more than necessary so I'm searching for suggestions from other clamp
lovers who have made their own before.
Clamps I use need to be 100 - 300 lb. range. more for the larger ones.
Thanks before hand, I hope that I don't sound like a tightwad.
Jamffer




Try Harbor Freight before you tie up a lot of time building clamps.

--

-Mike-

I love the clamping saw horse design. That gives me more ideas. Thanks.
Jamffer



"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
...
Ghamph wrote:
| I'm trying to design an inexpensive way to make shop clamps.
| Jamffer

You can also integrate clamping into some ordinary shop accessories.
For an example of what I'm talking about, visit
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/SH_Project.html and scroll down to see my
clamping crazy three-legged sawhorse.

In the background of the first photo on that page and at the top of
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/PT_Sign.html you can see a clamp that I
built for splicing 49"-wide sheet goods. This one was a bit pricey
because I bought a half-dozen clamp screws, but it'd have been even
spendier if I'd bought it ready-made.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/drawer-clamp.html

"Mike Marlow" wrote in message
...
Try Harbor Freight before you tie up a lot of time building clamps.

-Mike-




They are cheaper than home made thanks.
Jamffer

i did a project a few years back that required numbers of glue clamps. i
made 100 pizza paddles for a local pizza manufacturer distibuter, not
for baking but for advertizing, like hanging on the wall at a bar with
the types and prices on it. anyhew i had a bunch of threaded rod that i
had salvaged one time and i used 3 rods per clamp 2 rods 1" up from the
bottom 1 rod 1" down from the top of a 2x4 about 2' long, the top rod
was at the center of the length
with the bottom 2 rods about 4" in from each end. washers and nuts on
the outsides with a small 1/4" rod welded to from nut to nut on one side
to keep them from turning. cheap and worked well.
ross
www.highislandexport.com

In article ,
Ghamph wrote:
I'm trying to design an inexpensive way to make shop clamps.
My last set of clamps are 2 1/2 in. Pony pipe fixtures for 3/4 in. black
pipe (4 ft.7 in.each ) with pipe and tax were $44.60 total at Home Depot.
Not a fortune, but I would like to have more clamps of a wide variety
including some deepest and (roll-your-own) would give me anything without
spending a fortune on specialty clamps (some very pricey).
I'm thinking that either band iron or pipe would be the cheapest. I have
several ideas to try and would like to not use the welder or milling machine
any more than necessary so I'm searching for suggestions from other clamp
lovers who have made their own before.
Clamps I use need to be 100 - 300 lb. range. more for the larger ones.
Thanks before hand, I hope that I don't sound like a tightwad.
Jamffer




Get the Pittsburg branded pipe clamps for Harbor Freight, sale price is
often about $3.00 IIRC. As for the pipe, I have probably 18 or 20
pipe clamps and have never paid for any of the pipe they use. Look at
demolitiona sites or dumpsters in industrial areas. Don't worry if
it is galvanized, I have found that it works just as well as black
pipe at least for the Pony style clamps that use clutch plates rather
than a toothed cam.


find ally
--
The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation
with the average voter. (Winston Churchill)

Larry Wasserman - Baltimore Maryland - lwasserm(a)sdf. lonestar. org

Ghamph wrote:

I'm trying to design an inexpensive way to make shop clamps.
My last set of clamps are 2 1/2 in. Pony pipe fixtures for 3/4
in. black
pipe (4 ft.7 in.each ) with pipe and tax were $44.60 total at Home
Depot.
snip

These days pre cut and threaded black iron pipe nipples are available
from any pipe distributor.

Lowest cost way to get pipe for clamps.

Add a couple of couplings, some pipe clamps and you're in business.

Want bar clamps? Watch harbor Freight for sales.

Lew

Morris,

Thought of you and your solar power systems while reading an article in a
recent computer mag about "One Laptop Per Studnet" which is a project being
backed by a number of manufactures (AMD, RedHat, Google, etc.) as well as
the UN. They have made a latop computer for under $100 for children to use
in developing countries. Appears they have the laptop down but are having
problems with providing a power source for those areas which have no power
source. These laptops can even have mesh-networking technology built-in so
the kids can use them outside in a group and in places that are not wired.

Would appear that some of what you build could certainly be applied to
villages and other locations that do not have power and where school is held
under a shade tree in the bush. While it would appear that solar would have
been a prime consideration - it appently was not. The laptops will operate
on just 2W of power - the amount that could be provided by a child using a
hand crank.

I would think that solar combined with a Polaroid battery pack type battery
(to give you a sense of size) would be a low cost solution that could
certainly power a number of laptops for many hours.

Just wondering if you've been following any of that and had any thoughts
that could be applied?

Bob S.

Thu, Jul 5, 2007, 12:50pm (Ghamph) doth sayeth:
I'm trying to design an inexpensive way to make shop clamps. snip
Clamps I use need to be 100 - 300 lb. range. more for the larger ones.
Thanks before hand, I hope that I don't sound like a tightwad.

Trying to reinvent the wheel, eh?. Cam clamps. I made up a batch,
100% plywood, they probably cost about 25 to 50 cents, each, depending
on plywood. With scrap, the cost of the glue. Mine were from about 12"
to almost 48", work find. Dunno how much they clamped, but plenty. No,
you're not a tigtwad. You're a cheapskate. There's plans on the web,
or I've posted several plans, so they'd be in the archives.



JOAT
If a man does his best, what else is there?
- General George S. Patton

BobS wrote:
| Morris,
|
| Thought of you and your solar power systems while reading an
| article in a recent computer mag about "One Laptop Per Studnet"
| which is a project being backed by a number of manufactures (AMD,
| RedHat, Google, etc.) as well as the UN. They have made a latop
| computer for under $100 for children to use in developing
| countries. Appears they have the laptop down but are having
| problems with providing a power source for those areas which have
| no power source. These laptops can even have mesh-networking
| technology built-in so the kids can use them outside in a group and
| in places that are not wired.

This is the first I've heard of the project. Spreading the technology
strikes me as a wonderful idea.

| Would appear that some of what you build could certainly be applied
| to villages and other locations that do not have power and where
| school is held under a shade tree in the bush. While it would
| appear that solar would have been a prime consideration - it
| appently was not. The laptops will operate on just 2W of power -
| the amount that could be provided by a child using a hand crank.

Well, the hand crank isn't a bad idea. There are a number of
manufacturers of amorphous photovoltaic cells that should probably be
involved with the project. From what I've read, the entire case be a
solar power panel - and 2W shouldn't pose much of a challenge.

My approach to this arena has been to assume that there won't be any
follow-on support from the initial provider (or anyone else) and that
anything needing to be replaced must be simple enough for a bright,
but uneducated, person to get working again. Thus far, that approach
has provided some interesting challenges for my projects.

| I would think that solar combined with a Polaroid battery pack type
| battery (to give you a sense of size) would be a low cost solution
| that could certainly power a number of laptops for many hours.

There are significant areas where maintenance, parts, and high-tech
consumables just won't be available - and where there wouldn't be
sufficient resources to pay for them if they were available. The lack
of education and the lack of wherewithal constitute a classic "chicken
and egg" problem - a bit like "If I had some meatballs, I could have
spaghetti and meatballs - if I had some spaghetti."

| Just wondering if you've been following any of that and had any
| thoughts that could be applied?

I haven't been following it - but I think it might be worth
considering shared/communal power sources to power/recharge multiple
laptops simultaneously - and to figure out some way for one laptop to
power another so that a machine doesn't become junk just because its
battery or charging apparatus fails (guaranteed to happen).

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Morris,


Here's the url

http://www.computerpoweruser.com/edi...D&bJumpTo=True

to the article in the July issue of CPU (Computer Power User) magazine - on
newsstands now. You need to be a subscriber to view the whole article but
that will give you enough details to do an advanced search and find out
more. I did read a short article about the problems with the power and
that's when the cloud moved out of the way and the solar panel lit up and I
said - "Self, Morris has the power....."

Hey, more than one guy working alone in his shop has had brilliant ideas
that have bore fruit and benefited the many... I'm sure you can find the
email address for the UN when you've solved this minor problem......;-)

You make some good points about support and follow-on maintenance. That
proves to me that you have 1/2 the problem already solved since you can
state what the problem really is - and it's not totally a technical issue.

I just learned today that the company I work for (large, world-wide
engineering firm) is a supporter of this project. I would think that with
all the brain power they have to throw at a problem like this, it would have
been solved with a bit more elegance than a hand-crank fer cryin out
loud.....

Bob S.




"Morris Dovey" wrote in message
...
BobS wrote:
| Morris,
|
| Thought of you and your solar power systems while reading an
| article in a recent computer mag about "One Laptop Per Studnet"
| which is a project being backed by a number of manufactures (AMD,
| RedHat, Google, etc.) as well as the UN. They have made a latop
| computer for under $100 for children to use in developing
| countries. Appears they have the laptop down but are having
| problems with providing a power source for those areas which have
| no power source. These laptops can even have mesh-networking
| technology built-in so the kids can use them outside in a group and
| in places that are not wired.

This is the first I've heard of the project. Spreading the technology
strikes me as a wonderful idea.

| Would appear that some of what you build could certainly be applied
| to villages and other locations that do not have power and where
| school is held under a shade tree in the bush. While it would
| appear that solar would have been a prime consideration - it
| appently was not. The laptops will operate on just 2W of power -
| the amount that could be provided by a child using a hand crank.

Well, the hand crank isn't a bad idea. There are a number of
manufacturers of amorphous photovoltaic cells that should probably be
involved with the project. From what I've read, the entire case be a
solar power panel - and 2W shouldn't pose much of a challenge.

My approach to this arena has been to assume that there won't be any
follow-on support from the initial provider (or anyone else) and that
anything needing to be replaced must be simple enough for a bright,
but uneducated, person to get working again. Thus far, that approach
has provided some interesting challenges for my projects.

| I would think that solar combined with a Polaroid battery pack type
| battery (to give you a sense of size) would be a low cost solution
| that could certainly power a number of laptops for many hours.

There are significant areas where maintenance, parts, and high-tech
consumables just won't be available - and where there wouldn't be
sufficient resources to pay for them if they were available. The lack
of education and the lack of wherewithal constitute a classic "chicken
and egg" problem - a bit like "If I had some meatballs, I could have
spaghetti and meatballs - if I had some spaghetti."

| Just wondering if you've been following any of that and had any
| thoughts that could be applied?

I haven't been following it - but I think it might be worth
considering shared/communal power sources to power/recharge multiple
laptops simultaneously - and to figure out some way for one laptop to
power another so that a machine doesn't become junk just because its
battery or charging apparatus fails (guaranteed to happen).

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

BobS wrote:
| Morris,
|
|
| Here's the url
|
|
http://www.computerpoweruser.com/edi...rticle=article
s%2Farchive%2Fc0705%2F67c05web%2F67c05web%2Easp&ar ticleid=39703&guid=4
F4C6AA7357544B999F71D82B62B0EB6&searchtype=0&WordL ist=ONE+COMPUTER+PER
+CHILD&bJumpTo=True
|
| to the article in the July issue of CPU (Computer Power User)
| magazine - on newsstands now. You need to be a subscriber to view
| the whole article but that will give you enough details to do an
| advanced search and find out more. I did read a short article
| about the problems with the power and that's when the cloud moved
| out of the way and the solar panel lit up and I said - "Self,
| Morris has the power....."

Power is all around, just waiting to be harvested - but the
industrialized nations (where education is concentrated) suffer from
paradigm block - probably the result of having all the power we want
available for the throwing of a switch or turning of a key. To use
political terminology, that's "hard" power - and I've been working on
just one of the sources of "soft" power. It really is a different game
with different rules.

| Hey, more than one guy working alone in his shop has had brilliant
| ideas that have bore fruit and benefited the many... I'm sure you
| can find the email address for the UN when you've solved this minor
| problem......;-)

I can't even think about addressing that problem. The problems I'm
already working on are more than I have the resources to handle.
Someone else'll have to handle that one.

The UN is not really all that complex an organization. The challenge
will be to discover which department will be interested in which
solution. There's a clickable organization chart at
http://www.un.org/aboutun/chart.html for anyone who's interested.

| You make some good points about support and follow-on maintenance.
| That proves to me that you have 1/2 the problem already solved
| since you can state what the problem really is - and it's not
| totally a technical issue.

The technical aspects are fairly easily dealt with. The whole shebang
gets a lot more slippery when there's a requirement to give something
away at a profit in a way that can't be screwed up by an international
collection of all-star politicians.

Speaking of politicians, the CPU needs an on-chip suicide circuit
activated whenever a barometric sensor indicates tampering, an
altitude below sea level, or an altitude above about 7000 ft...

| I just learned today that the company I work for (large, world-wide
| engineering firm) is a supporter of this project. I would think
| that with all the brain power they have to throw at a problem like
| this, it would have been solved with a bit more elegance than a
| hand-crank fer cryin out loud.....

Remember that R&D cost is related much more closely to the size of the
organization than to any aspect the project (Not sure about that? When
did your outfit last embark on an ad-tech design project with a $1K
budget?)

If there's no significant profit in sight, management tends to bless
the first (maybe) workable idea that's cheap. Ergo, surplus field
phone crank generator. Probably all those kids should be glad they
don't have to shake their laptops vigorously every five minutes to
keep 'em going. :-)

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

"Morris Dovey" wrote in message

If there's no significant profit in sight, management tends to bless
the first (maybe) workable idea that's cheap. Ergo, surplus field
phone crank generator. Probably all those kids should be glad they
don't have to shake their laptops vigorously every five minutes to
keep 'em going. :-)

There ya go, the etchasketch generator.

Wow, this really went OT. I think AMD, RedHat and Google should
consider giving laptops to American children and be more worried about
the state of this country rather than joining the UN in what they
might think is good PR. Honestly, if I had to go to class under a
tree, I'd be more worried about building a schoolhouse with a
chalkboard than issuing laptops. When it comes to solar power and
"underdeveloped" countries, engineers are concentrating on pumping
water, not supplying electricity for the bush kid to play
minesweeper. Just my thoughts.


BobS wrote:
Morris,

Thought of you and your solar power systems while reading an article in a
recent computer mag about "One Laptop Per Studnet" which is a project being
backed by a number of manufactures (AMD, RedHat, Google, etc.) as well as
the UN. They have made a latop computer for under $100 for children to use
in developing countries. Appears they have the laptop down but are having
problems with providing a power source for those areas which have no power
source. These laptops can even have mesh-networking technology built-in so
the kids can use them outside in a group and in places that are not wired.

Would appear that some of what you build could certainly be applied to
villages and other locations that do not have power and where school is held
under a shade tree in the bush. While it would appear that solar would have
been a prime consideration - it appently was not. The laptops will operate
on just 2W of power - the amount that could be provided by a child using a
hand crank.

I would think that solar combined with a Polaroid battery pack type battery
(to give you a sense of size) would be a low cost solution that could
certainly power a number of laptops for many hours.

Just wondering if you've been following any of that and had any thoughts
that could be applied?

Bob S.

"Morris Dovey" wrote

Snip

If there's no significant profit in sight, management tends to bless
the first (maybe) workable idea that's cheap. Ergo, surplus field
phone crank generator. Probably all those kids should be glad they
don't have to shake their laptops vigorously every five minutes to
keep 'em going. :-)


Morris ... isn't that how you reformat the hard disk on the OLPC?????




Rick

Doc wrote:
| Wow, this really went OT. I think AMD, RedHat and Google should
| consider giving laptops to American children and be more worried
| about the state of this country rather than joining the UN in what
| they might think is good PR. Honestly, if I had to go to class
| under a tree, I'd be more worried about building a schoolhouse with
| a chalkboard than issuing laptops.

Class under a tree? That would certainly be a big step up for a lot of
kids. It's a lot cheaper to ship laptops than to educate teachers and
motivate them to remain in impoverished areas long enough to do any
good.

| When it comes to solar power and
| "underdeveloped" countries, engineers are concentrating on pumping
| water, not supplying electricity for the bush kid to play
| minesweeper. Just my thoughts.

Even non-engineers. I suspect that the thought is to substitute
laptops for not only the schoolhouse and chalkboard, but also the
university-trained schoolteachers.

--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Morris Dovey wrote:
Doc wrote:
| Wow, this really went OT. I think AMD, RedHat and Google should
| consider giving laptops to American children and be more worried
| about the state of this country rather than joining the UN in what
| they might think is good PR. Honestly, if I had to go to class
| under a tree, I'd be more worried about building a schoolhouse with
| a chalkboard than issuing laptops.

In some of those lands, a schoolhouse is just someplace to herd people
in order to hack them to death more efficiently. Yet, until there is a
bigger pie to fight over, the rebels will never put down guns and pick
up pens. But there is an even larger picture involved, as I describe below.


Class under a tree? That would certainly be a big step up for a lot of
kids. It's a lot cheaper to ship laptops than to educate teachers and
motivate them to remain in impoverished areas long enough to do any
good.


It's not just good PR, it's good business. The American / European
market is just about saturated with computers. Much of Latin America,
Asia and Africa are not. A $100 sale beats a blank stare. And the
potential market simply dwarfs the American / Northern European one.

As Africa, Latin America and other areas boost their level of education,
they will become both consumers of our goods and producers of them. And
they will compete with Chiwanistan.

The US and Europe have shown that they, in many areas, certainly can not
compete with them. They greatly out-educate us ... and have for decades.

So long as the US has no ally to throw against Chiwanistan, the only
other option is to see American / North European living standards come
into equilibrium (or worse?) with it. The amount of home foreclosures in
Detroit is simply staggering already. Not an appealing thought.
Terrorists have shown an understanding of the value of education by
killing those who don't teach what they want taught. The OLPC initiative
outflanks that, helping each child to learn on their own. Those
children, when educated to a reasonable degree of literacy and critical
thought, will form the economic and political alliances needed for
continued Anglophone strength in the world market and affairs.

From my perch here, high above my rocking horse, it seems to me that
one of the smartest things a Multi-national business could do would be
to get on this bandwagon and enable the Africans and others to leapfrog
that chalkboard and do an end-run around the lack of qualified
instructors ... right up the point where they become mass consumers of
the expensive products Anglo-Americans make and producers of the cheap
commodities they need. Then clamp the thumb down, if they can.

It also seems that the smartest thing the American government could do
would be to bring the US educational system up to Chinese standards.
They learned from the US. It's time to learn from them.

Bill

--
I'm not not at the above address.
http://nmwoodworks.com


---
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Virus Database (VPS): 000754-3, 07/06/2007
Tested on: 7/6/2007 12:12:11 PM
avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2007 ALWIL Software.
http://www.avast.com

BillinDetroit wrote:
Morris Dovey wrote:
Doc wrote:
| Wow, this really went OT. I think AMD, RedHat and Google should
| consider giving laptops to American children and be more worried
| about the state of this country rather than joining the UN in what
| they might think is good PR. Honestly, if I had to go to class
| under a tree, I'd be more worried about building a schoolhouse with
| a chalkboard than issuing laptops.

In some of those lands, a schoolhouse is just someplace to herd people
in order to hack them to death more efficiently. Yet, until there is a
bigger pie to fight over, the rebels will never put down guns and pick
up pens. But there is an even larger picture involved, as I describe below.


Class under a tree? That would certainly be a big step up for a lot of
kids. It's a lot cheaper to ship laptops than to educate teachers and
motivate them to remain in impoverished areas long enough to do any
good.


It's not just good PR, it's good business. The American / European
market is just about saturated with computers. Much of Latin America,
Asia and Africa are not. A $100 sale beats a blank stare. And the
potential market simply dwarfs the American / Northern European one.

As Africa, Latin America and other areas boost their level of education,
they will become both consumers of our goods and producers of them. And
they will compete with Chiwanistan.

The US and Europe have shown that they, in many areas, certainly can not
compete with them. They greatly out-educate us ... and have for decades.

So long as the US has no ally to throw against Chiwanistan, the only
other option is to see American / North European living standards come
into equilibrium (or worse?) with it. The amount of home foreclosures in
Detroit is simply staggering already. Not an appealing thought.
Terrorists have shown an understanding of the value of education by
killing those who don't teach what they want taught. The OLPC initiative
outflanks that, helping each child to learn on their own. Those
children, when educated to a reasonable degree of literacy and critical
thought, will form the economic and political alliances needed for
continued Anglophone strength in the world market and affairs.

From my perch here, high above my rocking horse, it seems to me that
one of the smartest things a Multi-national business could do would be
to get on this bandwagon and enable the Africans and others to leapfrog
that chalkboard and do an end-run around the lack of qualified
instructors ... right up the point where they become mass consumers of
the expensive products Anglo-Americans make and producers of the cheap
commodities they need. Then clamp the thumb down, if they can.

What expensive products do Anglo-Americans make in this field?
Laptops..lol? Even the programming is farmed out. We're only kidding
ourselves.


It also seems that the smartest thing the American government could do
would be to bring the US educational system up to Chinese standards.
They learned from the US. It's time to learn from them.

I agree with you there.



Bill

--
I'm not not at the above address.
http://nmwoodworks.com


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"BillinDetroit" wrote in message
...
The US and Europe have shown that they, in many areas, certainly can not
compete with them. They greatly out-educate us ... and have for decades.

All without computers, too.

When the great educator in the livingroom shows that kids are always smarter
than parents, social workers smarter than scientists and engineers and
people who have money are the root of all evil, what's the point? Trying to
make "nerds" out of them? We can still use derogatory words about smart or
wealthy people, right? Not "hate speech," nor likely to become.

It also seems that the smartest thing the American government could do
would be to bring the US educational system up to Chinese standards. They
learned from the US. It's time to learn from them.

If they can't read, barely write, and accept the garbage out that comes from
garbage in on their calculators, it'll be tough.

Amazing how many times I had to remind kids in class that their answers were
impossible.

There are only 360 degrees in a circle, for instance....

On Jul 5, 9:50 am, "Ghamph" wrote:
I'm trying to design an inexpensive way to make shop clamps.
My last set of clamps are 2 1/2 in. Pony pipe fixtures for 3/4 in. black
pipe (4 ft.7 in.each ) with pipe and tax were $44.60 total at Home Depot.

Yep, that's Home Depot.

"Inexpensive clamps" has to include build-to-the-task items
too; invest in some 3/8" threaded rod (all-thread is available in
long lengths, but 6' is enough for most jobs) and build jaws
and use nuts and washers with the all-thread to clamp things up.

Or screw blocks down to a work table, drop the work between the
blocks,
and tap it tight with wedges. Some work with a table saw can generate
a LOT of wedges. I have a wedge bag next to my clamps, and because
the
angles all match I can use a pair to make an adjustable parallel
(under
furniture for leveling, this is KEY). Slight taper works best, mine
are tapered 1/4" in 5" length.

Hose clamps (the wormscrew/slotted strap type) are good for round
or polygon glueups. A jigsawed hole in a plywood plate, and
a bag of wedges, can also do odd-clamp duties.

And a favorite trick of large-scale veneering is the vacuum press.
Tape
a thick poly tarp over the work, and use a vacuum to suck the air out.
Even a vacuum cleaner can pull 2 psi of vacuum, so a 4' x 8' sheet
of plywood gets an applied force over two tons.