Using Clamps Vertically or Horizontally? – Question of the Week
This week’s question comes from Doug. “Hi Marc, Just watched the latest pod cast – good stuff as always. As I watched you glue up the doors, it occurred to me that I, we, you seem to turn the clamps with the “thin” side doing the work. Is there any reason we can’t turn the clamps on the side and use the bigger footprint? Inquiring minds want to know.”
And this was my response: “Hey Doug. No reason you can’t do that. I just find that the clamps are much easier to use in the vertical position. If you lay them horizontally, you will have trouble turning the handle. Many times, I will use one or two clamps vertically to secure the piece and keep it raised in the air a few inches. Then I will add a few clamps horizontally to take advantage of the extra surface area. Keep in mind though that when the clamp is on its side, there isn’t much vertical clamping surface. So for thicker boards, this would lead to excessive pressure at the top of the joint. But for thinner material, it should work perfectly.”
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I think your comment about short vertical surface assumes that the piece is still sitting on the rail. From the picture, I would think that clamp would have ~1″ of vertical surface if it was laid to the side of the piece.
True, but that only helps you at the ends of a board. So for any kind of panel glueup more than 12″ or so in length, you will need to clamp in the middle of the board. You can still orient the clamps horizontally, but you should alternate them so one clamps from the top, the other from the bottom, and repeat until you get to the end.
Which video are you talking about? I was trying to find it, but I always get distracted by so much other good stuff up here, that I spent a lot of time not finding the video :-) I’m curious because I can’t visualize what you are talking about.
Well I have the same question for you Hans. What video you talking about? No video was mentioned above, so now I’m confused. :) Most of the videos I’ve done so far will show the clamping method that is being inquired about, with the parallel clamps in the position you see in the picture. He is asking about laying the down flat, and that’s the subject of the discussion. I’m not sure if that clears anything up for your but unfortunately I don’t have a video example to illustrate what we’re talking about.