Panel Clamps?

[David Shoemaker]

I’m looking for some panel clamps. Has anyone used the panel clamps sold by Peach Tree that attach to user provided wood bars? Looking for a review and/or other recommendations.

[Paul F Franklin]

If you're talking about the fulton 4 way clamps that use the notched blocks that attach to a wooden bar...

I have similar clamps except they don't use the black notched blocks. Instead, the arms on the clamps drop into angled notches I machined into the wood bars themselves. I use them with red oak bars, about 1 x 3 x 3 feet long and they work very well. Like any panel clamp, your stock boards need to be machined to equal thickness or the panel won't come out flush, but assuming you do that, the panels come out nice and flush and flat. They exert plenty of pressure for normal glue-ups. They take some fussing to get set up for any given glue-up, but as long as you do a dry run to get everything positioned correctly, it's fast and easy to do the actual glue up. I use packing tape on the wood so glue doesn't stick, but waxing them would probably work just as well. The downside of these compared to the fancier metal versions with the wall hanging bar is you need a flat surface of appropriate size to do the glue up.

[David Shoemaker]

Thanks, Paul! That’s really helpful.

[Brad Schmid]

I used those for several years. As Paul said they're a little "fussey" to set up and adjust but they can get the job done. I eventually got tired of them and switched to a vertical Plano system (with 6 clamps) because horizontal workspace is at a premium in my shop...