Am I wrong or are parallel clamps supposed to be parallel?
On my Jets, the end clamp section tilts in a bit and the adjustable end
tilts in a bit (1/32-1/16"), after tightening.

Is there an adjustment procedure with these or are parallel clamps just
supposed to be "close to parallel?"


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On 3/24/2010 4:38 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
Am I wrong or are parallel clamps supposed to be parallel?
On my Jets, the end clamp section tilts in a bit and the adjustable end
tilts in a bit (1/32-1/16"), after tightening.

Is there an adjustment procedure with these or are parallel clamps just
supposed to be "close to parallel?"

Considering that a clamp of that type is not machined, nor has the
production engineering methodology for precise tolerances, "close"
probably counts.

My Bessey's are close enough not to worry about, and the results have so
far been perfect enough.

Now, when Festool starts making parallel jaw clamps ....

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

On 03/24/2010 03:38 PM, -MIKE- wrote:
Am I wrong or are parallel clamps supposed to be parallel?
On my Jets, the end clamp section tilts in a bit and the adjustable end
tilts in a bit (1/32-1/16"), after tightening.

Is there an adjustment procedure with these or are parallel clamps just
supposed to be "close to parallel?"

Ideally they should be parallel. There is no adjustment.

Taunten recently did a review of parallel jaw clamps. Some of them were
noticeably better than others at keeping parallel under load.

Chris

Is this with a load or without?

I could suspect that under load they might square up. I could also
suspect that under load they could deflect. So I am covered either way
and should come out looking pretty smart.

On Mar 24, 2:38*pm, -MIKE- wrote:
Am I wrong or are parallel clamps supposed to be parallel?
On my Jets, the end clamp section tilts in a bit and the adjustable end
tilts in a bit (1/32-1/16"), after tightening.

Is there an adjustment procedure with these or are parallel clamps just
supposed to be "close to parallel?"

--

* -MIKE-

* "Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
* * *--Elvin Jones *(1927-2004)
* --
*http://mikedrums.com
*
* ---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On 3/24/10 5:11 PM, SonomaProducts.com wrote:
Is this with a load or without?


Both.

I could suspect that under load they might square up.


I thought so, too, but they didn't.


I could also
suspect that under load they could deflect.
So I am covered either way
and should come out looking pretty smart.


Funny.



--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:49:21 -0500, Swingman wrote:

My Bessey's are close enough not to worry about, and the results have so
far been perfect enough.

Think I remember reading that the jaw faces aren't completely parallel
until they're clamped down at which point they do align forming a
perfectly square clamping surface.

"-MIKE-" wrote in message
...
Am I wrong or are parallel clamps supposed to be parallel?
On my Jets, the end clamp section tilts in a bit and the adjustable end
tilts in a bit (1/32-1/16"), after tightening.

Is there an adjustment procedure with these or are parallel clamps just
supposed to be "close to parallel?"


--

-MIKE-

"Playing is not something I do at night, it's my function in life"
--Elvin Jones (1927-2004)
--
http://mikedrums.com

---remove "DOT" ^^^^ to reply

I have Jet, Bessey, and Cabinet Master parallel clamps. None of them are
parallel at some stage of tightening and or depending on the opening on the
clamps. Simply put, the bar will bend and that prevents the consistant
possibility of a perfectly parallel set of jaw faces. BUT these type clamps
tend to work about as good as you could expect.

"Upscale" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:49:21 -0500, Swingman wrote:

My Bessey's are close enough not to worry about, and the results have so
far been perfect enough.

Think I remember reading that the jaw faces aren't completely parallel
until they're clamped down at which point they do align forming a
perfectly square clamping surface.


That is correct however that point is at a specific pressure at any given
opening distance. Change the opening distance or pressure and you are over
or under.

On Mar 25, 7:20*am, "Leon" wrote:

I have Jet, Bessey, and Cabinet Master parallel clamps. *None of them are
parallel at some stage of tightening and or depending on the opening on the
clamps. *Simply put, the bar will bend and that prevents the consistant
possibility of a perfectly parallel set of jaw faces. *

Mine aren't perfect, but they are close enough. I have a million
clamps, and to fight off the fact that they all twist a bit
(Besseys.... not much, though) I use a lot of clamps and a little
pressure.

BUT these type clamps
tend to work about as good as you could expect.

I think so. Most of the time when you see twisting or wracking it can
be minimized by reorienting the victims in the clamps.

However, when teaching others the art of the glue up, almost without
fail the most likely culprit in their glue up failure is placing the
clamps and material on an uneven surface to glue up. And uneven table
top, gluing on saw horses, etc., bring a whole different dimension non
parallel clamps.

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Robert

wrote

Most of the time when you see twisting or wracking it can
be minimized by reorienting the victims in the clamps.

However, when teaching others the art of the glue up, almost without
fail the most likely culprit in their glue up failure is placing the
clamps and material on an uneven surface to glue up. And uneven table
top, gluing on saw horses, etc., bring a whole different dimension non
parallel clamps.

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Robert

Bingo. It took me awhile to learn that but once I did it solved a lot of
frustration.
I built an assembly table with legs that could be adjusted to level.

Max

On Mar 25, 9:00*am, "
wrote:
On Mar 25, 7:20*am, "Leon" wrote:

I have Jet, Bessey, and Cabinet Master parallel clamps. *None of them are
parallel at some stage of tightening and or depending on the opening on the
clamps. *Simply put, the bar will bend and that prevents the consistant
possibility of a perfectly parallel set of jaw faces. *

Mine aren't perfect, but they are close enough. *I have a million
clamps, and to fight off the fact that they all twist a bit
(Besseys.... not much, though) I use a lot of clamps and a little
pressure.

BUT these type clamps
tend to work about as good as you could expect.

I think so. *Most of the time when you see twisting or wracking it can
be minimized by reorienting the victims in the clamps.

However, when teaching others the art of the glue up, almost without
fail the most likely culprit in their glue up failure is placing the
clamps and material on an uneven surface to glue up. *And uneven table
top, gluing on saw horses, etc., bring a whole different dimension non
parallel clamps.

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Level or planar? How level is level? I see vertical glue-up jigs.
How do they work?

wrote in message
...
On Mar 25, 7:20 am, "Leon" wrote:
Snip



When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

99% of my clamping takes place in the shop, the TS top typically is the
flattest surface and therefore is my glue up table.

wrote in message
...
On Mar 25, 9:00 am, "

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Level or planar? How level is level? I see vertical glue-up jigs.
How do they work?

When clamping up water boards the surface absolutely myst be "Level".

On Mar 25, 11:16*am, "Leon" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Mar 25, 9:00 am, "

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Level or planar? *How level is level? *I see vertical glue-up jigs.
How do they work?

When clamping up water boards the surface absolutely myst be "Level".
????????????

What is a "water board"?

On Mar 25, 9:55*am, " wrote:
On Mar 25, 11:16*am, "Leon" wrote: wrote in message

....
On Mar 25, 9:00 am, "

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Level or planar? *How level is level? *I see vertical glue-up jigs.
How do they work?

When clamping up water boards the surface absolutely myst be "Level".

* * * * * * * * * *????????????

What is a "water board"?

Similar to a henway

wrote in message
...
On Mar 25, 11:16 am, "Leon" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Mar 25, 9:00 am, "

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Level or planar? How level is level? I see vertical glue-up jigs.
How do they work?

When clamping up water boards the surface absolutely myst be "Level".
????????????

What is a "water board"?

Don't you watch the news?

On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:25:15 -0500, "Leon" wrote:


wrote in message
...
On Mar 25, 11:16 am, "Leon" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Mar 25, 9:00 am, "

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Level or planar? How level is level? I see vertical glue-up jigs.
How do they work?

When clamping up water boards the surface absolutely myst be "Level".
????????????

What is a "water board"?

Don't you watch the news?

Silly me. I thought we were talking about woodworking, for once.

On Mar 24, 3:38*pm, -MIKE- wrote:
Am I wrong or are parallel clamps supposed to be parallel?
On my Jets, the end clamp section tilts in a bit and the adjustable end
tilts in a bit (1/32-1/16"), after tightening.

Is there an adjustment procedure with these or are parallel clamps just
supposed to be "close to parallel?"

On topic, but ... next to irrelevant:

My set of four Jets arrived today -- 2 @ 24", 2 @ 40"

The latest special "Tools & Shops" issue of FWW put them at #1 --
above Bessey, Jorgensen, and all other comers.

Here's hoping!

On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:49:18 -0500, the infamous
" scrawled the
following:

On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:25:15 -0500, "Leon" wrote:


wrote in message
...
On Mar 25, 11:16 am, "Leon" wrote:
wrote in message

...
On Mar 25, 9:00 am, "

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Level or planar? How level is level? I see vertical glue-up jigs.
How do they work?

When clamping up water boards the surface absolutely myst be "Level".
????????????

What is a "water board"?

Don't you watch the news?

Silly me. I thought we were talking about woodworking, for once.

It's sheer torture, isn't it? giggle

--
Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity.
Don't fight them. Just find a different way to stand.
-- Oprah Winfrey

On Mar 25, 9:46 pm, Larry Jaques wrote:

It's sheer torture, isn't it? giggle

--
Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity.
Don't fight them. Just find a different way to stand.
-- Oprah Winfrey

WHAT'S THIS?

LJ quoting OPRAH's life lessons???

OUCH!

Robert

"Max" writes:
wrote

Most of the time when you see twisting or wracking it can
be minimized by reorienting the victims in the clamps.

However, when teaching others the art of the glue up, almost without
fail the most likely culprit in their glue up failure is placing the
clamps and material on an uneven surface to glue up. And uneven table
top, gluing on saw horses, etc., bring a whole different dimension non
parallel clamps.

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Robert

Bingo. It took me awhile to learn that but once I did it solved a lot
of frustration.
I built an assembly table with legs that could be adjusted to level.

Max

Is that really necessary?
I just have been using a 1/2 sheet of 3/4" plywood that is pretty darn
flat so that all ends of each parallel clamp rest on the same flat
surface. Then in turn the bases of each clamp are paralle to this
surface as is the piece being clamped.

Within reason, it doesn't matter whether this plywood top is level with
the ground or not as long as all clamps fully rest on its surface...

Am I missing something?

On 3/26/2010 1:14 AM, blueman wrote:

Is that really necessary?

Within reason, it doesn't matter whether this plywood top is level with
the ground or not as long as all clamps fully rest on its surface...

Am I missing something?

Yep ... the quotations around the word "level" in Robert's post.

The phrase "on the same level" comes immediately to mind ...

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

"blueman" wrote in message
...
"Max" writes:
wrote

Most of the time when you see twisting or wracking it can
be minimized by reorienting the victims in the clamps.

However, when teaching others the art of the glue up, almost without
fail the most likely culprit in their glue up failure is placing the
clamps and material on an uneven surface to glue up. And uneven table
top, gluing on saw horses, etc., bring a whole different dimension non
parallel clamps.

When I glue something up in the field that requires this kind of
clamping, I actually level my "table" on the sawhorses by carefully
leveling the material I am using for a top.

This cuts out most of the problems.

Robert

Bingo. It took me awhile to learn that but once I did it solved a lot
of frustration.
I built an assembly table with legs that could be adjusted to level.

Max

Is that really necessary?
I just have been using a 1/2 sheet of 3/4" plywood that is pretty darn
flat so that all ends of each parallel clamp rest on the same flat
surface. Then in turn the bases of each clamp are paralle to this
surface as is the piece being clamped.

Within reason, it doesn't matter whether this plywood top is level with
the ground or not as long as all clamps fully rest on its surface...

Am I missing something?


The concrete floor in my shop is not.........uh........shall we say,
"perfect".
I have a 3' X 5' assembly table. It consists of an angle iron frame onto
which I fastened a piece of MDO. While I don't "level" the table with
respect to the earth, I do adjust the legs to take care of a corner that may
be a bit low. I just want the table to be *flat*.
Maybe I should explain that almost everything in my shop is moveable.
(casters, etc) I can arrange tools to accommodate different activities,
woodworking, metalworking, appliance repair, auto repair..........whatever
the need. So the table may be in a different location depending on the task
at hand.

Max

On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:17:59 -0700 (PDT), the infamous
" scrawled the
following:

On Mar 25, 9:46 pm, Larry Jaques wrote:

It's sheer torture, isn't it? giggle

--
Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity.
Don't fight them. Just find a different way to stand.
-- Oprah Winfrey

WHAT'S THIS?

LJ quoting OPRAH's life lessons???

OUCH!

It couldn't be. I'm a racist. Lew said so. g

--
"Not always right, but never uncertain." --Heinlein
-=-=-

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 25 Mar 2010 22:17:59 -0700 (PDT), the infamous
" scrawled the

It couldn't be. I'm a racist. Lew said so. g


Where do you race? Me, I'm a typist. ;~)

"Leon" wrote

Where do you race? Me, I'm a typist. ;~)
With a true talent and flair for typos. ;-)

"Leon" wrote in
:



Where do you race? Me, I'm a typist. ;~)



Do you type with both hands at the same time? Then you're a stereo typist.

Puckdropper
--
Never teach your apprentice everything you know.

On Fri, 26 Mar 2010 23:25:40 -0400, the infamous "Lee Michaels"
scrawled the following:


"Leon" wrote

Where do you race? Me, I'm a typist. ;~)
With a true talent and flair for typos. ;-)

I think he INVENTED them, Lee. ;/

--
"Not always right, but never uncertain." --Heinlein
-=-=-

"Lee Michaels" wrote in message
...

"Leon" wrote

Where do you race? Me, I'm a typist. ;~)
With a true talent and flair for typos. ;-)




Yeah there is that 2. ;~) I can't afford a spell checher that can read my
mind yet.

"Puckdropper" puckdropper(at)yahoo(dot)com wrote in message
...
"Leon" wrote in
:



Where do you race? Me, I'm a typist. ;~)



Do you type with both hands at the same time? Then you're a stereo
typist.


I think I am a stereo pecker. ;~) Looooooooooooooooong a go I typed "good
enough". My son is about 90 words per minute. He has indicated that he has
never seen any one type as fast as me using only 2 left fingers and my right
thumb and right 2 fingers. I'd probably type with my left thumb if it were
normal length. An alteration I made on it 20 years ago left it short. ;~)

On 3/27/2010 12:25 PM, Leon wrote:

thumb and right 2 fingers. I'd probably type with my left thumb if it were
normal length. An alteration I made on it 20 years ago left it short. ;~)

You know what they say - Measure twice, cut once ... g,d & r

--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 10/22/08
KarlC@ (the obvious)

On Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:38:59 -0500, -MIKE- wrote:

Am I wrong or are parallel clamps supposed to be parallel? On my Jets,
the end clamp section tilts in a bit and the adjustable end tilts in a
bit (1/32-1/16"), after tightening.

Is there an adjustment procedure with these or are parallel clamps just
supposed to be "close to parallel?"

The description of some parallel clamps (I think they were Blessy)
in one of the woodworking catalogs says that the adjustable end is
tilted 1.5 degrees. Probably so that pressure equalizes along the
face of the clamp when it is drawn tight.

--
Mike Eager