Guy Gadois Posted August 21, 2017 Share Posted August 21, 2017 I needed some clamps able to clamp irregular shapes so I made these. This type of clamp requires both right and left hand threads. The most difficult part of the project was tapping and dieing (is this a word?) the left hand threads. I have seen other small clamps being made on youtube but they get around using left hand threads by using nuts or copying the machinists clamp. Cheers, Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted August 22, 2017 Share Posted August 22, 2017 Guy, I don't have any Jorgenson type clamps at home with me... what is the function of the round brass on the sides of the clamp? Do they go all the way through and "hold" the internal thread for the screw handles? I was just wondering about taping a machine fixture from the bottom, and thought I would flip it over to tap it, and so, I would use LH tap & die for the bottom, even though I am right handed? I have a bunch of zona (plastic jaws, bar clamps) and mini Irwin Quick Grips, and smaller Jorgensons... I use the Jorgenson to hold my pen blanks on our drill press. Did you use threaded inserts for your hardware? I will look at a Jorgenson clamp with new eyes... Tamra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guy Gadois Posted August 22, 2017 Author Share Posted August 22, 2017 Tamra, The round brass items you are referring to are called "barrel nuts". They swivel in the jaws allowing lateral movement. I made each one from 1/4" brass rod, drilled through and tapped for 5-40 threads: one side being left hand and the other right hand. They are the same depth as the jaws. Each 1/8" brass rod screw requires both left hand threads and right hand threads. I had a problem holding the screws after threading one half of the rod so no damage was done to the existing threads. So I held the rods at the middle with vise-grips and then threaded the other half. This left an unthreaded area that was too wide in the middle so I cut this out and silver-soldered the rod back together. There could be other ways of doing this but that is what I did Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WeekendMiniaturist Posted August 25, 2017 Share Posted August 25, 2017 You made barrel nuts? I would have to buy some as I have no idea what a barrel nut looks like and huband isn't conducive to me doing surgery on the Jorgenson clamps... I have not managed to even be a weekend miniaturist. Well, at least I have a metal lathe, and I can make some barrel nuts in theory. Thanks Guy for the instruction and inspiration. I have been going through a pile of woodworking magazines that we got at an auction ($2.50 for a bunch) of Shop Notes, Woodsmith and Fine Woodworking, perhaps I will come across some more DIY instruction for this kind of clamp. I know you are making them to use for your miniature projects, and those wooden jaws definitely have some advantages, so yes, I will add to my mental list, in addition to the violin clamps that were illustrated in The Scale Cabinetmaker. What I really want is to make some 1/12th scale Jorgenson(s)... I don't know why, I just think they would be fun to make, and I cannot recall seeing any over the years in 1/12th scale. I look forward to seeing your next project glued up in the clamps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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