Penn State wood hand screw parallel clamps

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Have you used these clamps? How did you like them? Would you buy them again?:confused:

[Keith Outten]

Ron,

If you mean the old style wooden hand screw clamps I have several of them. They are indispensible, a very old clamp but as useful today as any ever made. They have tremendous gripping power and will handle angles as well as parallel surfaces. The manufactured clamps are treated with some type of oil so that they are resistant to glue.

You can buy kits to build these yourselves in various sizes. You need two threaded rods one of them right hand and the other left handed threads. You can make them with both right handed threads but they are harder to open and close since you can't rotate them by cranking them, you have to screw each rod in and out individually.

I have made a couple of these using my Beale wood threader and they work very nice for small delicate jobs like boxes.

[John Miliunas]

Pardon my ignorance on this, but you say you've made the clamps using your Beale threader. Two questions come to mind: 1) Are the clamps useable for "typical" jobs or, due to the wooden threads, you need to restrict use for lighter duty?
2) I'm pretty sure the answer to #1 is to use for lighter duty, but this question will probably show my ignorance. Does the Beale actually come with dies for both, left & right threads? Don't recall seeing that in any ads, but if so, pretty cool!:cool:

[Keith Outten]

John.

Beale has had both right and left hand threads and taps for many years. I absolutely love their system, the quality is the best. I bought my first wood threader in 1987and still use it today so mine is the old type not like the improved ones Beale sells now.

I do use lots of wooden threads in my shop and in my projects. The first haywagon I built had threaded axles and nuts made from maple. I have made a lot of temporary clamps and custom jigs a fixtures for special projects using threaded dowels, nuts and threaded blocks.

I hope to find time to engrave a few walnut bolts soon, I always make them to ANSI standards so they are actual size and they look surprisingly real. Now I can put the real marking on the bolt heads which should make them even more realistic.

Very cool stuff!

[John Miliunas]

Keith, I know it probably wasn't your intent, but I think you sold me on it! That really is neat. I've always *thought* it'd be pretty cool, but never spoke to anyone actively using the system. I'm thinking that may be my next toy.....errrrrrrrr.....accessory purchase! Thanks for the info.:cool: