Parallel Clamps

Contents
Foreword 3
Opening the 3D files 3
Material List 4
Tool List 4
Plywood vs Hardwood 4
Can I use thinner steel? 4
Cost 5
Where to buy parts? 5
Prepping stock 5
Making Mortises 6
Layout
Drill press + chisel
Domino + chisel
Dado stack + lamination
Gussets 8
Rebate
Cutting the gussets
Final Dimensions 10
Metal work 10
Clamp bar
Pressure plates
Handle 12
Assembly 13
Finishing details 14
Technical Drawings 15
Full Assembly Diagram
Fixed Jaw
Moving Jaw Assembly
Tilting Component
Gusset Template

Page 2
Foreword
Thank you for purchasing the plans for the parallel clamps. If you find something incorrect or
inconsistent, please contact me via email at paul@thewoodknight.com

Please take your time to read through the plans first before making your first cut.

These plans are in millimeters (metric), to convert to imperial divide by 25.4. As somebody who is not
a “native” imperial system user I can do a straight conversion but it can be difficult to figure out what
the correct fractional equivalent is.

For example, 684mm is 25.92” or 25 23/25” - I don’t know if 23/25” is considered “correct” or whether
that should be rounded up or down.

Opening the 3D files

Included in the plans are two 3D/CAD files. You do not need these files specifically, as the dimensional
drawings are included at the end of this document. However, looking at the 3D files gives you the option to
modify or just inspect in a 3D space.

ParallelClamp.f3d is a Autodesk Fusion 360 file. Fusion 360 is what I’ve used to create the plans, and is
much more powerful than Sketchup. Like Sketchup, it is available for free with a few limitations (hobbyist/
commercial with less than $100,000USD/ year turn-over, 1 year license you can renew every year).

You can download Fusion from http://fusion360.autodesk.com

As many people still use Sketchup, ParallelClamp.skp is also included, but understand this is exported from
the Fusion file and may not be as detailed.

You can download Sketchup from http://www.sketchup.com/

Page 3
Material List
Item Quantity Description
Steel flat bar: 32x10mm Bar
Steel flat bar: 20x5mm Striker/pressure plates
Hardwood Clamp heads
6mm Plywood Gussets
TR12x3x150mm 1 per clamp Trapezoidal Threaded rod, alternatively can use ACME
thread, or standard all thread.

Acme and (metric) trapezoidal thread have a greater

pitch, so they’ll move faster.
Wood glue
Epoxy
Cork sheet Optional. Used for lining the clamp jaws
HDPE/chopping board Optional. Used for lining the clamp jaws

Tool List
A general woodshop set of tools is needed to make these. The only specific sized tooling needed

• TR12x3mm tap
• 9mm drill bit (for drilling the holes that will be tapped with the TR12x3 tap)
• 10mm drill bit (if using the drill press mortise method)

You’ll also need something to cut metal with - the cheapest option is a hacksaw, but a metal cutting bandsaw
or angle grinder will also work. A jigsaw will not work, as they typically aren’t rated to cut such thick steel.

Plywood vs Hardwood
Can I use plywood instead of hardwood for the jaws? The initial prototypes for these clamps were actually
made out hardwood plywood, but every single one of them failed in the same way. The pressure on the tilting
jaw always pushed the middle laminations of the plywood out.

Using birch ply might work, but ultimately hardwood for at least the tilting jaw works out cheaper (in
Australia) anyway and is stronger. The other components (fixed jaw, upper and lower sliding jaws) could be
made out of plywood with no detrimental effect, however.

Can I use thinner steel?

You can use thinner steel if you like, particularly if you’re scaling down the clamps for smaller (<400mm or
less), though I chose 32x10 based on the commercial clamps that I own.

While a lot of pressure can be applied, there is likely to be other points of failure if these clamps are torqued
enough to cause metal flexing.
Page 4
Cost
These clamps work out very cheap, though that does depend on what you choose for each of the components,
and other components come down in price when ordered in bulk.

A cost break down of what I’ve spent reveals it to be about (AUD)$16 per clamp, though I used scrap
plywood and hardwood.

Item Unit Cost Cost per clamp

Plywood 6mm $36 for 2440x1220mm $0.72 (approx)
Hardwood $7.11/lm for 90x45mm F17 HW $2.13 (~300mm length)
20x5 flat bar $2.54/m $0.25 (rounding up)
32x10 flat bar $8.09/m $4.85 (for clamps with 600mm bars)
150mm TR12x3 $8/section $8

As you can see, substituting 1/2” or 12mm allthread rod would significantly bring down the costs.

Where to buy parts?

This information is only really relevant to Australia. You can’t find the 32x10 bar stock at hardware stores
like Bunnings or Mitre10, you’ll need to find a steel merchant in your area. I used Steel Solutions, who have
a few stores around Melbourne. There is nothing ‘fancy’ about this size or grade of steel - any general steel
merchant should sell it. Search for ‘steel flat bar’.

The TR12x3 tap is more difficult to find locally, and I ended up just purchasing it from eBay - just search for
“TR12x3 tap”, and you should find right hand thread options for about $22AUD. The TR12x3 rods can also be
found on eBay - you’ll likely have luck searching for ‘TRAPEZOIDAL SCREW’.

Hardwood and plywood can be purchased from Bunnings, though your favourite supplier is probably better.

HDPE can be bought from plastic suppliers, but for the size/quantity you need, head to Ikea, Kmart, Target,
BigW or most $2 shops to find chopping boards.

Prepping stock
See Making Mortises before you prep your stock to determine which method(s) you’ll be using. Dress the
relevant hardwood, while only the two jaw faces need to be parallel, making everything square results in a
smoother operating clamp.

I found that it was easier to do the mortises for the clamp bar with multiple pieces together - it gave more
area to clamp down on. Cut the clamp pieces to their final width and thickness, but leave multiple pieces
attached along the length.

The exception to this is the Dado stack + lamination method.

Page 5
Making Mortises
Layout
Depending on which method for making the mortises you choose, you might find it easier to mark out
multiple pieces on one board before separating them. This can make it easier to hold the workpiece at the
drill press or with the domino, particularly for the small, lower jaw.

Fig. 1 Marking out mortises

Drill press + chisel

The simplest method - though most active time consuming - is to use a drill press, followed by a chisel
to clean up the mortise. Using a 10mm brad point or forstner bit, mark the start and end locations of the
mortise. Doing this before getting to the drill press helps locate everything.

Fig. 2 Drilling mortise

Page 6
 Fig. 3 Cleaning up mortise

Domino + chisel
If you have access to a Festool Domino, using the 10mm cutter set to the ‘widest’ cutter pattern is much
quicker than using the drill press. It still requires some clean up of the corners with a chisel, but the majority
of the mortise doesn’t need to be touched at all.

Use the following settings on the Domino (these are for DF500, not the DF700, so adjust if required)

• Maximum plunge depth (35mm)

• For the non-tilting portions, set the Height to 22.5mm, for the tilting portion set it to 15mm

Plunge from both sides.

Dado stack + lamination

This method has many advantages with the only real disadvantage being it takes a little extra time. This is
the easiest way to get perfectly centred mortises with no additional clean up necessary, and allows you to use
thinner stock to make the clamps (which is great for using up scraps!), however it does take longer when you
have to glue up each pair.

Setup your dado stack to be just a hair over 5mm (half the thickness of the bar) - remember this value is
doubled, so 5.01mm is preferred over 5.5mm which would result in a very sloppy fit. Using a cross cut sled or
mitre gauge, setup stops for the start and end points of dado, then proceed to cut the piece, chipping away at
each mortise. For me, I setup a 1/2” dado stack, and did three passes.

Page 7
 Fig. 4 Cutting dado between two stop blocks on the cross cut sled

It can also be done using a router table, if you don’t have a dado stack.

Once everything is cut, glue the two halves together. Make sure they’re aligned by clamping it around some of
the steel bar. Once clamped, it should slide off the bar.

Fig. 5 Gluing clamp head around barstock to ensure alignment

Gussets
Rebate
The gussets serve as a way to align the two jaws that make up the sliding jaw, and providing a rebate makes it
much easier to square it all up when gluing.
Page 8
To make that rebate, use either the router table or dado stack in the table saw. As I don’t have the appropriate
clamps to make a sacrificial fence for the dado stack, it was much easier for me to cut the rebate at the router
table.

Fig. 6 Rebating for gussets

I used a straight bit set to half the desired height per pass, taking off the full width of 6mm.
This step should be batched out - all the parts that need the rebate should be cut before adjusting the router
bit height for the second pass.

Cutting the gussets

Cut the plywood for the gussets into squares (approx 150x150mm), then tape them all together. Print out the
template and stick it onto the grouped plywood.

Take this over to the bandsaw to cut them all at once.

Fig. 7 Bulk cutting gussets at the bandsaw

Page 9
Alternatively you could stick the template on some MDF, cut it out, smooth it, and use that as a hard
template. You could then just draw the curves directly on the plywood, or use it with a flush trim bit as well.

Final Dimensions
With the rebates cut, it is time to cut the clamp parts to final dimension. If you’ve marked it out on each
piece, of course you can follow that, or setup a stop block at 150mm on a crosscut sled to cut the fixed jaw,
upper sliding jaw and tilting part. The lower sliding jaw is cut at 90mm

Fig. 8 Cutting clamp parts to length

Metal work
Clamp bar
Cutting the metal really depends on how long you want the clamp to be able to clamp, and what cutting tools
you have available to you. To work out how long a bar you need, all you need to do is add the width of the
two jaws to your desired length. That is, for 600mm clamping capacity, add 32mm (for the fixed jaw) and
150mm (for the sliding jaw) to end up with 782mm.

I have a 18v cordless portable metal bandsaw (“portaband”), and it easily cuts through the mild steel. Angle
grinders, metal cut off saws, or hacksaws will all do a good job too. Alternatively your metal supplier may be
able to cut the metal for you to length, though will likely charge a fee per cut.

It isn’t critical to have an absolutely straight cuts for the clamp to function, it just looks prettier.

Once cut, make sure to use a file to deburr the ends of the bar, as they can be sharp and depending on how
tight the mortises are, could make it very difficult to slide the jaws on.

Page 10
 Fig. 9 Cutting metal with a 18v portaband

Pressure plates
The ‘locking’ or ‘pressure’ plates are what actually lock against the steel bar. This is where the thinner bar
stock (20x5mm) comes into place.

Mark out a 40mm section, then 5mm in from each end. Use a punch to mark where to drill, then drill out a
clearance hole for a wood screw. ie, Instead of a regular pilot hole for 3.2mm (for a #8 screw), a 4 or 4.5mm
hole should clear the threads.

Fig. 10 Drilling pressure plates

You need two of these pieces per clamp, I found it easier drilling the two pieces with a drill press vise, then
cutting it in half.

Page 11
Handle
For the handle, really any wood will do. I used a plywood ‘pen blank’ I had laying around as it was roughly
the right dimensions. You want to use 20 to 30mm square stock, anywhere from 80 to 150mm long. Too long
will ultimately get in the way, and too short will make it too hard to grasp.

Fig. 12 Drilling "pen blank" style for handle

Drill a 12mm hole, 50mm deep, in the center with a bradpoint or forstner bit. 12mm, 12.7mm (1/2”) or
13mm will all be fine, but the closer to the diameter of the threaded rod the better.

The best way to drill it is using a pen-blank drilling vice, but failing that a parallel/hand screw clamp works
very well too.

Once the hole is drilled, take it over to the table saw and knock off the corners to give an octagonal shape.
Alternatively (for solid wood) use a hand plane. I tested a few handle designs, and octagonal shaped
handles gave far easier grip than turned/rounded handles. Square handles jab into your hands and are very
uncomfortable.

Fig. 11 Knocking off the corners for a comfortable handle

The threaded rod can now be glued into the handle with some epoxy.

Page 12
Assembly
Glue the gussets to the two portions of the moving jaw with regular wood glue. Make sure that everything is
aligned by placing the jaws on the steel bar. I found it easiest to tack everything in place with a few small brad
nails, then I could apply more clamps.

Fig. 14 Gluing up around the bar to ensure alignment

Use the 32x10 steel bar and short locking plate on the tilting jaw to find out where it needs to sit so it will still
slide up and down the clamp if straight, but will engage if tilted. Then predrill and screw the metal bar down.

Fig. 13 Fitting locking plate

Page 13
Finishing details
It is not strictly required, but the jaws can be lined with HDPE or cork.

Cork can be bought in sheets or rolls around 4mm (actual thickness doesn’t matter) inexpensively. The extra
‘cushion’ it provides will help grab the workpiece further and will help prevent marring your workpiece.

HDPE - high density polyethylene - cannot be glued, so it makes a wonderful material for non-stick pads.
The cheapest way to get HDPE “sheets” is in plastic chopping boards, though if you have a plastic supplier
nearby you may be able to find offcuts cheaply.

Cut the HDPE to size at the tablesaw (regular blades will work just fine), then drill and countersink the
HDPE. Then just screw directly into the jaws on your clamp

Page 14
Technical Drawings
Full Assembly Diagram
150mm

90mm
150mm
170mm

32mm

32mm
45mm

Page 15
Fixed Jaw 32mm
45mm

150mm

150mm
10mm

32mm
Page 16
Moving Jaw Assembly 32mm

40mm
5mm
150mm

91.99mm

90mm
3.01°
22mm
32mm 22mm

32mm

32mm
45mm

6mm

30mm

Page 17
 32mm 12mm
Tilting Component 90mm

5mm
12mm

20mm
150mm

32mm
40mm
10mm

3.01 30mm
°

20mm
Page 18
Gusset Template
150mm

90mm
148.93mm
Page 19