Bowclamp question for users

[Rob Wong]

Those of you who have used the Bowclamp cauls before, is it hard to tighten up the clamps to close all the way to the end of the cauls? I would like to get some but I'm worried about being able to crank down the clamps with my small hands. I'm figuring to get the desired pressure onto the cauls, they would need to be pretty rigid and hard to tighten.
Thanks,
Rob

[David Hawxhurst]

short answer no.
i don't find it all that hard to tighten down the f-style clamps to the ends down. the f-style fit in the ends of the bow clamps and make positioning them a little easier. i find with cabinet clamps that i usually run out of thread on the clamp before getting the bow clamps tightened all the way down. the f-style have longer screws so they work better.

[glenn bradley]

I use shop made versions of hard maple and have a bit more bow than the commercial ones. I do not find it difficult to fully clamp the cauls even with something like Bessey Uni-Klamps or Jorgy 3700 series "light duty" F-style clamps.

[paul cottingham]

I have the hand strength of a small child, and I can close an F style clamp on my bow clamps.

[Steve Baumgartner]

I've found that there is a bit of a learning curve to keeping one end from popping off while you tighten the other, but its a matter of coordination, not strength.

[Joe Mioux]

I use little jorgies with my cauls. I agree that there is a bit of learning curve. The jorgies can bottom out before you have the cauls fully engaged. I have used an extra clamp to get tightened down and then remove the jorgies and reset them for finally tightening. After the cauls are in place, they work great.

[Rick Lizek]

The real question is why would buy bow clamps and not make your own. Ben using curved cauls for over 40 years and the concept goes back even longer. Why would you ask if you haven't tried home made curved cauls. Your baby sister could use them if trained in the concept.

[Mike Cutler]

Rob

You shouldn't have any problems getting the cauls tightened properly.
Place the Bow Clamps on the material, position them about evenly on both sides. Place a clamp in each end and maintain the distance evenly. Tighten the clamps. You may just want to slide the clamps the first few inches on each side before tightening with the handle to give you more range out of the clamp.
The smaller F-Style claims fit the T-slots a little better than the larger ones.
I have 4 pairs of Bow Clamps. Yes, I can make them, it's not difficult to make a caul and I've made dozens of them through the years. The Bow clamps have a very consistent curve to them and the T-slot cut into them makes positioning the clamps very easy. They're nice. Whether for edge clamping, or keeping a large surface aligned.

[Chris Padilla]

I find using 3 clamps to tighten them down makes life a whole lot easier using the bowclamps. You'll have your two on the ends but adding a 3rd clamp several inches from one end makes getting that one down a lot easier. Of course, not all situations may allow the use of a 3rd clamp.

[Mike Henderson]

The secret to clamping cauls is to put the clamps on the cauls over the work. So the first clamp is positioned so you have a caul, the panel, and the other caul all between the jaws of the clamp. Then you go to the other side and apply your second clamp to the cauls on that side. If you want, you can then use a third clamp on the original side, outside the work, and remove the first clamp. I don't do that - I just use two clamps and put both of them over the work.

You do need to raise the cauls up so you can get your clamps under the cauls. I put two 2x4s down and put the bottom cauls on those before adding the panel and the top cauls. That gives me room to get the clamp jaw under the cauls.

Mike

[You can shop make cauls for about $2 per set, but the commercial cauls do have some extra features.]

[Chris Padilla]

Naturally bowed wood make good cauls, too. :)

[Alan Lightstone]

I've found that there is a bit of a learning curve to keeping one end from popping off while you tighten the other, but its a matter of coordination, not strength.
+1

Hasn't been an issue.

[Kent A Bathurst]

I use shop made versions of hard maple and have a bit more bow than the commercial ones. I do not find it difficult to fully clamp the cauls even with something like Bessey Uni-Klamps or Jorgy 3700 series "light duty" F-style clamps.


Bingo. Mine are 2" x 2" HM. Shop made. I use 6" C-clamps.........just reef on them suckers until they are flat across the surface.