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View Full Version : SYP for Hand Screw Clamp Jaws?



Stew Denton
06-29-2017, 12:53 AM
Hi All,

I recently took apart a pallet for the four stringers, which are 31" X 2 & 1/4" X 3 & 7/8".

The stringers are rough cut, pretty heavy, straight, with some being clear, others having some knots.

I will have to wait out drying time, etc., but it looks like it could be good for jaws for hand screw clamps, depending on how the grain runs. I do have some kits to make hand screw clamps.

The question is: how suitable is SYP for hand screw clamp jaws?

Any advise will be appreciated.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

george wilson
06-29-2017, 6:00 AM
No,No,No,No,NAH!!!! Use hard maple or even oak, or beech,if you can get it.Pine,even the SYP,no, unless you only put very moderate pressure jobs on those clamps. At some point they'll split anyway. Jorgensons are hard maple. I think they went under.

Somer of you may have heard mention of the famous Pottery Factory in this area. When I first came here,they had big metal warehouses with dirt floors and chickens running loose. But,you could get some real good buys back then.

There is a big,19th. C. looking smiling mouth sign(those always looked scary to me when I was a kid!) Old people would arrive in a bus load,go over there,and get themselves measured up for false teeth. Near closing time,they'd come back and the teeth would be ready!:)

Over the years,the "factory" became more and more of an almost retail outfit (still dirty but at least concrete floors. They opened a hardware store,so I went in. There was a shelf with UNUSUALLY CHEAP Jorgensen clamps. I think someone put the wholesale-to-retailer prices on them! I bought nearly all of them. Next time I went there,their clamp prices had jumped MUCH HIGHER!

Rick Malakoff
06-29-2017, 9:23 AM
Maybe you guys can help me, I recently picked up 2 hand screw clamps with some damage to the clamping ends. I'd like to take them apart and repair them with some but I can't figure how to get them apart.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Rick

Jim Koepke
06-29-2017, 11:15 AM
Maybe you guys can help me, I recently picked up 2 hand screw clamps with some damage to the clamping ends. I'd like to take them apart and repair them with some but I can't figure how to get them apart.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Rick

Hi Rick, Can you post pictures? This might help as there are a few different types of these clamps.

Also you might have better luck if you start off with a new post. A lot of folks may not have any thoughts on SYP for Clamp Jaws.

The handles are pinned to the bolts on my hand screw clamps. The nuts in the wood are just friction fit.

jtk

george wilson
06-29-2017, 11:29 AM
You might just have a merry time getting them back together again!!

Jim Koepke
06-29-2017, 11:35 AM
Maybe it would be easier to render repairs without taking them apart.

jtk

george wilson
06-29-2017, 3:20 PM
If you can saw accurately by hand or with a bandsaw,you could do a good job of inletting new wood at the tips of the jaws. I've considered gluing on 1/8" leather jaw pads. But,I don't use mine very often except for the rare piece of furniture my wife wants. I DID make a very large dining table. I was determined NOT to spend $900.00 on some junky,ill designed piece of nonsense.

Rick Malakoff
06-29-2017, 6:28 PM
Jim and George,

Thanks for the response, I have pulled them out and decided that their not in such bad shape one is 12'' the other is 14''. My current thinking is to cut down the 14''er to 12'' and that will get rid of the damaged section and as George said "I don't use them that much" and thats the truth. Good luck with the nee362897.
But still would like the to know how they come apart and go back together, must be some sort of Chinese puzzle/trick.

Rick

Jim Koepke
06-29-2017, 9:01 PM
But still would like the to know how they come apart and go back together, must be some sort of Chinese puzzle/trick.

In your picture you can see the pins that go through the ferrule and the handle. Those pins and then the handles have to be removed for the threaded rods to come all the way off.

Count the turns of the rods if there is any difference between the two jaws. Also keep the nuts and screws sorted as well as there positions as the threads are different. It might be best to label each nut cylinder and put a corresponding label on the jaws.

If you can do it all without taking them apart you may be better off in the long run.

jtk

Rick Malakoff
06-29-2017, 9:32 PM
Thanks for convincing not to fool with them I'll just trim the 14''er if and when I need to.

Peter Christensen
06-29-2017, 11:10 PM
I would not cut the 14" shorter. Take a small hand plane and plane the broken area flat. Glue a piece back on that is bigger. Trim the side and working face off with a saw and then the hand plane. Saw to length, rub a little linseed oil on it and your good for another few decades.

Rick Malakoff
06-29-2017, 11:49 PM
Peter, that was my first thought, then I thought taking them apart and installing a dutchman and do a refurbish that would be pretty trick.
But in the end I just don't need another project.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Rick

Stew Denton
06-30-2017, 12:05 AM
George,

Thanks for the reply......now I know that it was DEFINITELY a bad idea. The problem around here is finding suitable lumber for the project, but a guy at work told me about a specialty lumber outfit, and I am going to contact them. They are nice enough pieces of SYP, however, that I can always find another project for them. I treated the end grain with wax a few days ago, however, so it will be a while before I will think them dry enough to use, so no rush.

Thanks and regards,

Stew

Pat Barry
06-30-2017, 8:02 AM
I would not cut the 14" shorter. Take a small hand plane and plane the broken area flat. Glue a piece back on that is bigger. Trim the side and working face off with a saw and then the hand plane. Saw to length, rub a little linseed oil on it and your good for another few decades.
I would either do this, or nothing. I would hate to cut them off at all because the extra throat depth is very handy to have and the little defect won't hurt anything

Rick Malakoff
07-01-2017, 9:27 PM
Pat and Peter,
Thanks for your advice and I'm going to leave them alone.
Rick