This home-made mini-clamp made of a steel square and a round bar is useful in the assembly process of a variety of furniture, as well as various wood products or metal blanks. The design of the parallel clamp consists of a screw clamp and flat jaws. It can be used to securely fix parts.
If desired, the sponges can be made wooden, but steel ones are more durable and will last much longer. A feature of this home-made clamp is that the metal sponge-brackets move strictly parallel to each other. The clamping force is adjusted using threaded screws.
The main stages of work
First of all, cut off two identical pieces from the steel square (the size of the sponges can be any - at your discretion). Then we clamp them together in a vice and align the clamping plane. First, a grinder, and then manually a file for metal.
At the next stage we place and drill holes. Please note that there must be two through holes in the lower lip of the parallel clamp, and one through hole in the upper one and the blind one.
Next, cut two identical segments from a round steel bar and cut the thread. After that, we screw the screws into the holes in the clamping jaws. To make it more convenient to clamp the clamp, metal handles can be made on the ends of the screws.
To do this, we process a steel plate of a suitable diameter on a lathe, then cut it in half and wind the resulting handles onto the screws. It is advisable to harden the sponges so that they are more durable. We heat them with a gas burner and lower them into oil.
