Homemade clamps. Unique clamps clamps Homemade clamp

Homemade folding clamp that can be used for planing and other types of board processing. Allows you to quickly fix the board being processed and also quickly remove it after processing.

The other day, while visiting my father, I saw an interesting homemade clamp for boards on his workbench in his workshop. Since the father is last years is engaged in construction summer house and does everything with his own hands, he has to plan a lot of different lumber and mostly boards of various widths.

By the way, this is what this two-story house looks like, which he had already built, but had not yet completed.

Under this house, my father also made a deep cellar for storing vegetables and gardening supplies. Moreover, he did all this almost alone, with his own hands, and my brother and I helped him only a little.

So, due to the need to process a large number of boards, my father made a homemade folding clamp for boards, which allows you to quickly clamp the board being processed, placed on a workbench, and just as quickly remove it from the workbench, already processed.

So here you go general form this clamp.

In general, this clamp consists of two main elements: a wooden stop, to which the board being processed is attached and pressed, and the clamp itself.

Let's look at the emphasis first. As you can see, it is made from a piece of plywood, attached at an acute angle with screws to a block of hard wood (beech). The board being processed rests against this piece of plywood and is additionally self-aligned (pressed against the block due to an acute angle).

The block itself is attached to a board, which in turn is secured to the workbench with screws.

Firstly, this is the screw itself with a hard rubber pressure head and a screwdriver-type handle, taken from an old clamp.

Secondly, a homemade bushing with two flanges, which my father cut out of some old aluminum part. The clamping screw itself with the handle is screwed into this sleeve and secured with a nut.

In turn, this sleeve is attached to the end of a small beech block using screws that are screwed into the holes in the flanges.

And finally, the third part is the beech block itself, which is inserted into a slot made in the front side of the workbench and mounted on an axis made of a long hairpin.

The bottom side of the block is rounded so that it can rotate around its axis.

In order for the block to hold tighter, but at the same time rotate in the slot smoothly and without much friction, a thin piece of plexiglass is attached to the side.

Thus, this clamp can rotate around its axis by 180 degrees.
Here is its bottom position.

This is the middle position.

And this is the top, working position.

Since the wooden block of the clamp is held in the slot of the workbench quite tightly, during work, for convenience, the clamp can be left in the middle position.

To start work, you need to place a board on the workbench, the edge of which needs to be planed or processed in another way.

Then move this board close to the stop and secure it with a clamp. All this is done very quickly, literally in a couple of seconds.

Just as quickly, the treated board is removed from the workbench. To do this, you need to slightly unscrew the clamp handle and tilt it to the middle position so that it does not interfere with removing the treated board and installing a new one on the workbench.

If you need to plane the wide side of the board, that is, lay it flat, then for this purpose a square piece of plywood is additionally attached to the workbench, which is used as a stop.

At the same time, the clamp tilts to the lower position.

As I said above, I found this clamp to be quite easy to use. So over time, I'll probably make one for myself. Well, I can also recommend making a similar clamp to everyone who often has to process boards. Moreover, it is quite easy to do.

Well, that’s probably all! Goodbye everyone and productive work on homemade projects in the new year!

It is very important that during processing the part is correctly and permanently fixed. Therefore, tools are so often required that in such situations will be assistants and will be able to solve this problem in such a way that during any thermal or mechanical treatment it remains in one motionless position, as the master needs.

By the way, an angular clamp is just such a clamp that is perfect both for fixing a part during processing and for compressing several parts into a single whole so that a strong bond is obtained.

The principle of operation of the clamp

If the master decides to do some work from wood or metal, then he should process the part. But this can be done efficiently only if this part is fixed very firmly with a clamp.

Old models of such a tool allowed working with only one hand, but now new models of this tool are appearing, which serve as an integral assistant to any master, and they are not only quick-clamping, but also allow you to work with the part with two hands.

There are several types of such clamps:

1. Lever.
2. Screw.
3. Assembly.
4. Corner.
5. Manual.

Let us briefly describe each type of clamp. The first type is lever. This means that the work of such an assistant tool is based not only on axial work, but also on the work of levers. Often people also call them clamps, which allow you to quickly fix parts intended for processing.

Lever clamps do not require much force from the master; in order to clamp something with them, you just need to apply a little force. And so that the parts are clamped tightly and can no longer move, it is necessary to use a lever, which will do all the work for a person.

The design of such a lever clamp is quite simple; you can even make it yourself. To do this, you will need a main frame and some element where the main clamp can be located. With the help of such an assistant tool, you can not only clamp parts and make them motionless, but also calculate the clamping force, which is important, for example, when gluing.

The remaining types of clamps differ from the first type and from each other in that they have different clamping mechanism. Many of these types of assistant tools can be made with your own hands.

How to choose the right clamp when purchasing

Choosing a tool such as a clamp is not difficult, you just need to know a few rules that will help you purchase such a tool - an assistant that will become indispensable for you when performing any type of work. First of all, you should pay attention to what the working stroke of your tool is.

In addition, it is worth paying attention to the fact that what is the distance between the elements - clamps. The higher the scores on these two points, the better this tool will be for you. This will allow you to use clamps for working with parts, both large and small.

Types of screw clamps

In such an assistant tool, the first place is no longer a lever, but a screw. This type of clamp is also popularly called a pipe clamp, since it is used for clamping pipes that are usually used for plumbing work.

Such a tool is considered very strong and reliable in the plumbing industry, as it is made of duralumin. By the way, such instruments are also used to make special holes for installation, so that it is convenient to fasten any part to the workbench when working. Making such a tool with your own hands and at home will be quite difficult.

Now a few words about the assembly clamp, which is most often used in the construction of various objects. The main purpose of such a tool is hold any construction materials, such as reinforced concrete slabs, so that they can be processed efficiently.

This clamp is considered the most reliable for work, but if you study its design, you can easily understand that it is simple. Looking at the drawing, which reflects its constituent elements, you can easily assemble it with your own hands.

The manual clamp has several options:

1. Cam.
2. Wedges.
3. Angular.

There are other options for such a hand tool - an assistant. Popularly, such a clamp is called a spring clamp. This is due to the simple design and the same easy to use. Therefore, you can easily make such an assistant tool with your own hands.

Instructions for making a tool - an assistant with your own hands

To make a clamp, you must correctly follow the step-by-step steps described in the instructions. First, we acquire the parts that are necessary to make a tool - an assistant with our own hands.

To make a clamp you will need the following items: n several studs with threads of different diameters, nuts, which are suitable in size, several boards made of plywood, and a couple of slats.

The second step for making a clamp is to create the base. You can also make it yourself. To do this, you should secure what you have already done on the table. Then we take the bars and, applying them to the clamp, drill holes where they are needed in order to press them more tightly to the base of the table.

The third step is to make the clamp yourself. This will require those plywood boards that you prepared in advance. You must press them against the bars that are already attached to the clamp, but so that they are movable.

You must understand that the role of these boards in the tool that you make with your own hands is to act as levers in the clamps. Now using studs and nuts, all that remains is to secure this entire structure that you made with your own hands.

But when using such a tool - an assistant that you made yourself, you should understand that it is not very durable and it is difficult to talk about its reliability. But it can be perfect for many household jobs, if they are not very complex.

With the help of such a vice it is very convenient and reliable to clamp small parts. And in order for our clamp to automatically open when unscrewing the nut, we can put a spring inside on the bolt, between the hinge flaps. It doesn’t need to be very powerful so that it can clamp the necessary parts without much difficulty.

To work you need:
- small door hinge;
- bolt;
- wing nut;
- screwdriver;
- pliers.

Clamp with your own hands it's done quite simply. We take a door hinge, which should have 3 holes on each side. We connect both its edges and drill out one hole for a bolt, if you don’t have a small one that can fit the existing holes.

We insert the bolt into the hole prepared for it and tighten it on the other side with a wing nut. To ensure maximum clamping of objects, you can use a screwdriver and pliers.

The most basic clamp made from scrap materials is ready.

Now we can test it, for this we will take two materials that we need to glue together. We apply glue to their surfaces and apply them to each other. Then we open our clamp, insert the materials to be glued there and clamp it using a wing nut and bolt. Tighten with pliers and a screwdriver. Now we wait for the glue to harden.

We unscrew the wing nut from the bolt using the same tools and check how tightly the glue holds the materials being glued.

The welding itself sometimes requires much less time and effort than preparation for it. The main part of the latter is the assembly of the welded structure with the fixation of all elements in the desired position. This job requires special attention, since the quality of the finished product depends on it.

It’s annoying when, after carefully calibrating and installing the elements in the desired position, the structure assembled with such diligence falls apart at the touch of an electrode, and you need to assemble everything all over again. It’s even worse when the element is welded, but not in the required position - it has moved imperceptibly or deformed after the metal has cooled. Using universal and specialized welding fixtures helps save time and get a high-quality product at the end.

There are many different devices and mechanisms designed for welding. In industry, where they deal with serial and mass production, specialized mechanized and automated equipment is used - transport devices, mechanisms for laying and tilting products, technological assembly devices, etc. At home, as a rule, manual welding devices of universal action are used, allowing carry out quick assembly of the structure, securely fasten all elements in the desired position and achieve minimal deformation of the part.

Main types of assembly and welding fixtures

All assembly and welding devices can be divided into two main types - installation and fastening. Mechanisms that combine both of these functions are especially convenient.

Installation accessories. Installation fixtures are designed to install the part in the desired position - exactly in the position in which it will be in the finished product. Based on their functions and design, they are divided into stops, squares, prisms, and templates.

Stops are used to fix parts on base surfaces and can be permanent, removable or folding (retractable, rotary). Permanent stops, which are most often ordinary plates or bars, are welded or screwed to the base. Removable or folding stops are installed when their constant presence in the part is structurally unacceptable.

Squares are used to install parts at a certain (90°, 60°, 30°, 45°) angle to each other. Squares are easy to use, the edges of which are made rotating and allow you to set any necessary angle between them.

Prisms are used to fix in a certain position cylindrical products. Can be successfully used as a prism simplest design, welded from corners. Templates are designed for installing elements of a welded structure in a given position in relation to other previously installed parts.

Fastening devices. With the help of fastening welding fixtures, the parts, after being installed in the desired position, are firmly fixed in order to prevent their accidental shift or deformation after cooling. Fastening devices include clamps, clips, clamps, ties, and spacers.

Clamp- a universal tool used for almost any work with metal. For a welder, it is the first most important device, and if it is possible to do without it, then only at the cost of extreme inconvenience and to the detriment of productivity. Clamps for welding can have a variety of shapes and sizes, with a constant throat size and adjustable. Especially convenient are quick-release clamps, in which the clamping occurs using a cam mechanism. In general, it is advisable for a welder to have a set of a wide variety of clamps, since to assemble one structure, several of them may be needed - of different sizes and configurations.

Welding Clamps differ from clamps in ease of use and greater adaptability to welding work. The parts are fixed by squeezing their handles. The required dimensions of the pharynx are set using a screw in the clamp handle, moving the pin to another hole, or in another way.

Clamps According to the operating principle, they are divided into screw, wedge, eccentric, spring, and lever. Of all the clamping devices, screw clamps are the most common. The simplest type of homemade screw clamp is a regular bolt with a nut, threaded into the holes of two plates, with the help of which the parts placed between them are clamped.

In wedge clamps, parts are clamped using wedges, lugs, shims and a hammer.

Clamps are a piece of sheet metal with a wedge-shaped groove.

The spring clamp presses the part due to the presence of elastic deformation. It is made from a strip of sheet material or wire made of spring steel.

In eccentric clamps, the part is clamped using a cam (1) mounted on a lever (2) when the eccentric (3) is turned by a handle (4). These devices are convenient in that the clamping is performed in one movement, but their disadvantages include the relatively small working stroke of the cam, which is why they are used much less frequently than screw clamps.

Ties are used to bring the edges of welded dimensional parts together to a specified distance. Their length and method of attachment to the structure can be very different, depending on the task facing them.

Spacers They allow you to align the edges of assembled parts, give parts the desired shape, and correct local defects.

Many of the above welding fixtures are easy to make yourself, giving them the sizes and shapes that correspond to the most frequently performed work.

Installation and securing devices

The most convenient to use are welding devices that perform the complex function of installing a part in the desired position and securing it. In this case, you do not need to worry about aligning the parts correctly; you just need to insert them into the fixture and tighten the screws or eccentrics. The picture below shows three similar devices for assembling elements at an angle of 90°, allowing you to quickly and easily align and fasten parts to be welded in one or two planes. To ensure that the structure is removed from the fixture after welding, one of the clamps on the fixture for volumetric assembly (top right) is rotatable.

A simple device for fixing parts at right angles is easy to make with your own hands. To do this, you will need two pieces of angle, a piece of strip, two clamps, a square and a welding machine.

The corners and strip cut to the required length (the dimensions can be seen in the photo, the scale is inch) are fixed with clamps using a square.

After fixing and checking the correct position of the corners, the corners are attached to the strip at four points. If you immediately make a long seam or the dots are too large, the structure will fail.

Next, the clamps and square are removed so as not to be damaged during subsequent welding, and the corners are welded with a more reliable seam, alternating short seams on different sides so that the structure does not move. Then the clamps are pressed and welded at several points. Although the clamps do not need to be welded.

Pipe welding equipment

Welding pipe ends is a frequently performed operation, both in production and at home. Many devices have been developed for welding pipes to facilitate this work and ensure its proper quality. Centralizers (as these devices are called) ensure the alignment of the welded pipes and the alignment of their end edges. By design, they can be external or internal; the former are used much more often.

The photo below shows a link centralizer used for welding large diameter pipes. It consists of several links, hingedly connected to each other and forming a closed loop. The ends of the pipes to be welded, placed inside the device, rest on stops that center them relative to each other.

In a home workshop, clamp centralizers designed for welding pipes of smaller diameter will be more useful. For example, the centralizer-clamp model CM151 (in the figure below on the left) is intended for pipes with a diameter of 57-159 mm, and the centralizer-clamp model TsS3 (on the right) is for pipes with a diameter from 10 to 70 mm.

In fact, ensuring alignment of small diameter pipes is not such a difficult task. It is quite possible to do without purchasing a specialized tool by using a simple homemade device for welding pipes consisting of angles and clamps welded to them.

Or like this:

It is not necessary to weld the corners to the clamp (for example, if there is only one clamp), you can simply grind off the corner at the corners where the clamp stops.

Devices with magnets

Very convenient assembly and welding devices are magnetic welding devices that connect and hold parts in a certain position by the force of attraction of magnets built into them.

Magnetic squares. Devices of this type are very widespread. A large number of all kinds of magnetic angles are produced, differing in shape, the presence or absence of additional fasteners and the possibility or impossibility of changing the angle. With their help it is very convenient to connect at the desired angle sheet parts, frame structures, racks, etc.

Universal magnetic devices. In addition to squares, there are other magnetic devices that have much greater functionality and versatility. How convenient and easy it is to work with them can be understood by taking a closer look at a device called MagTab (Strong Hand Tools).

The device consists of two support planes (1) with built-in magnets. The angle between them can vary depending on the shape of the base they are to be attached to. It can be a cylindrical surface, a plane or an angle. In addition to the support ones, there are two more planes (2), to which parts that need to be welded to the base are attached. They are located at an angle of 90° to each other and have a degree of freedom in relation to the supporting surface, due to which the welded parts can be shifted relative to the base. It is known how much time and effort during welding sometimes requires installation and securing of an inconvenient and unstable part in in the right place. The use of a device like MagTab (Strong Hand Tools) allows you to quickly and easily weld any part to a base of different shapes. It is enough to install the device on the base and attach the welded element in the right place to one of its two fastening surfaces. The strength of the magnet ensures sufficient strength of fastening of the part and its immobility during welding.

There are even simpler options:

Magnetic assembly and welding devices are very convenient. They allow you to reduce the time for assembling structures several times and ensure their proper quality. Simple, easy to use and relatively inexpensive, they, along with clamps and clamps, deserve to be in the home workshop. Having obtained permanent magnets or made an electromagnet, you can make such devices with your own hands. It is only important to remember that under the influence of high temperatures (some magnets are exposed to not very high temperatures) permanent magnets are demagnetized.

Gas lenses

In argon arc welding, the speed of gas flow from the torch and the shape of the products being welded have a great influence on the quality of protection. Too high a gas flow rate has just as bad an effect on the quality of protection as too low one - due to air suction into the nozzle and turbulence of the gas flow.

To remove turbulence and make the argon flow laminar (linear), gas lenses are used - collet clamp housings of a special design (with a fine mesh inside), ensuring laminar gas flow. The gas lens is installed instead of a standard collet clamp. The burner nozzle also changes along with it, since the lens has increased dimensions.

The use of gas lenses is considered appropriate in cases where it is necessary to provide better gas protection due to the special properties of the material (for example, in the case of titanium) or the configuration of the products being welded. Their use also allows you to extend the electrode more than usual, which is sometimes necessary.

However, gas lenses also have disadvantages. In particular, their use requires greater gas consumption. The increased size of the nozzle somewhat impairs the view of the welding area.

Devices for secondary protection during argon arc welding

When welding titanium, it is necessary to protect not only the immediate zone of molten metal, but also the areas adjacent to it. This is due to the fact that titanium at temperatures above 400°C begins to actively react with gases contained in the air, as a result of which its fragility increases and strength decreases. To prevent this, the so-called secondary protection, the purpose of which is to exclude contact with air of those areas of the metal that may have a temperature above 400°C.

The main device for secondary protection is a metal casing (“boot”) attached to the torch nozzle and providing gas supply to the weld area. In order for the “boot” to fulfill its purpose efficiently, its shape must correspond to the configuration of the product being welded and the parameters of the torch. It is often made independently or ordered for a specific burner and job. To ensure a uniform supply of gas to the protected surface, the device can be filled with some kind of porous filler, in particular, aluminum shavings.

In the form of modifications of welding devices that provide secondary protection, flexible aprons are also used, which perform the same role as the “boot”, but unlike the latter, they have flexibility that allows them to bend around cylindrical structures. Such devices are sometimes made from copper foil of sufficient thickness.