Do you do it?

[traindriver]

Been wondering this for a while:  Does anyone else customize their hold down clamps, or am I the only one?

[stevem]

I make mine out of wood, so I can just burn them when they start to look like what you are showing.

[Deleted]

If you can get some oak or maple tongue and groove flooring that's being removed, you can make clamps pretty easy. Cut across the board and add a slot along this new long axis for clamping with either the tongue or remove the lower part of the groove so that the top lip is used to hold down your workpiece.

[savannahdan]

After ruining some very nice wood I've relegated those types of clamps to the drawers and have gone back to using screws to secure most of my workpieces. BTW, there are lot's of free clamp designs on the Vectric forum and Thingiverse.

[redwood]

Mine are definitely scared, but not to the degree of traindriver's

[traindriver]

I've got 4 clamps that I use, and most of the damage was from when I first started using them. This is why when people ask if the router can machine aluminum, I wholeheartedly say "Yes". I hear a difference in the sound of cutting through the material, but the router goes through it like it's wood. I happen to have some oak flooring removed from a 100 year old house, so I'll try Fean's suggestion. Thanks for the other input as well!

[Deleted]

My favorite helpful hint is appropriate for the season. All those heavy duty political fliers you get in the mail make great spacers. I put them down on my spoilboard under the workpiece, making sure not to overlap and get double thickness anywhere, so that I can machine through the workpiece and do no damage to the spoilboard. They're thicker than typical paper so if you go 0.005" or so past the bottom of your wood no harm is done. They're free and in great supply.

[grg]

Whew, yeah, I hate it when that happens! Mine aren't yet quite as customized as yours are though. ;-)

[pdabk]

Haha very nice! By this point I've customized just about all of my clamps too...learning curve

[savannahdan]

fean - Do you apply extra cooling to offset all the hot air coming from those heavy duty political flyers?

[Deleted]

Nov 6, 2018 17:27:13 GMT -5 savannahdan said:

fean - Do you apply extra cooling to offset all the hot air coming from those heavy duty political flyers?

I look at is as a bit of revenge for the lies and broken promises of the candidates. Plus it's like opening an Xmas present when you remove your workpiece and see how the fliers are cut up.

[savannahdan]

I'll have to remember that when we have elections again and the flyers are delivered. At this time all of the ones I received recently have been placed in the recycle barrel.