bigdguitars Posted June 16, 2004 Report Posted June 16, 2004 What homemade clamp systems has everyone made? I have a special metal wood brace that I lay across from the neck pocket to the end of the guitar, but its not a strong as I would like. I saw in Fine Woodworking last month the guy who made those oyster type inlays had a huge clamp system setup where the steel rod had threads that where about an 1' big. Real old clamp system, anyone know where to get somthing like that? Quote
daveq Posted June 16, 2004 Report Posted June 16, 2004 Are you talking about acoustic guitars or electric? I've seen some pretty wild looking clamping fixtures for acoustics but for electrics, spool clamps work great for me. I also use a couple of pieces of wood to span the body to apply pressure to the inside area. I've never really had a need for anything more than that - am I not thinking of the same scenario? Can you explain what you're trying to do with these clamps? Quote
bigdguitars Posted June 16, 2004 Author Report Posted June 16, 2004 Am I am gluing electrics. Here is what I built: but I want somthing more stable. I do a lot of resawing too, so I want something with large capacity. Quote
daveq Posted June 16, 2004 Report Posted June 16, 2004 OK, I think I understand now. I use a couple of bars across the body (similar to what you have there) and then a couple dozen spool clamps for around the edge of the body. This is what I have been using for all of the bodies (with tops) that I have built. The spool clamps work very well for the arm contour / bent area. I use more in that area than the rest of the body. The spool clamps that I use are from stewmac but someone posted a thread on how to build your own. If you do end up building your own - I strongly recommend using the cork. It saves a ton of time trying to fit something in there to protect the wood and it helps keep them from slipping (especially on the arm contour area). I've also found them to be pretty handy for fretboards also. Quote
Scott Rosenberger Posted June 16, 2004 Report Posted June 16, 2004 I use Pipe Clamps. I think they work better than any of the expensive clamps available. Plus if you need bigger clamps all you have to do is go to Home Depot and get longer Pipes Quote
daveq Posted June 17, 2004 Report Posted June 17, 2004 Scott, you use pipe clamps when gluing tops on? You must have a lot of those lying about the shop - they can get pretty expensive. Quote
Scott Rosenberger Posted June 17, 2004 Report Posted June 17, 2004 oops, I should have read the topic better. Actually I use a Vacuum Frame to glue tops on Quote
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