Amazingly Easy 4 - Way Clamps

Ever wonder how you could get better panel glue-ups? Maybe you just want to make it easier with less clamps. Every shop that does panel glue-ups should have several of these clamps. And best of all, they are inexpensive to build, can be made to any length and cost less than parallel clamps and probably less than pipe clamps. You can use standard 2”x4: construction lumber making these very affordable.

For my build I used Maple rather than construction lumber. My thinking was that I want these clamps long term and I believe the Maple will have less probability of going #wonky on me. #Wonky is a very technical term but it speaks for itself. Anyway, I made mine for 48” glue-ups and a second set of cauls for 36” glue-ups. I will be making a set of 24” cauls for smaller panels too. At this point I have the hardware required. I would suppose just one clamp may be useful, but you really should make two. By making several different length cauls you can reuse the hardware simply by changing out the cauls.

4-way clamps are such a helpful tool in any woodshop. Everyone should have at least one set. 4-way clamp not only clamp your wood side-to-side, but they also act to help keep the panel glue line even, which reduces time spent fixing the glue-up afterward. Before woodworkers had a Biscuit or a Domino® joiner that kept the edges aligned, using cauls was the way to accomplish that. Remember, just because something isn’t the latest technology doesn’t mean it’s not effective. The 4-way clamp uses the idea of the cauls and adds the side-to-side action so that you are using the least number of clamps possible. Besides, a couple 2x4’s or your favorite hardwood, and the required hardware are all you need to get any length clamp you want.

The Build

In this build I use the Rockler 4-Way Equal Pressure Clamp for the hardware. At the time of this writing the price was $29.99 each. In addition, I picked up some 8 quarter Maple to make my cauls from. After letting the Maple sit in the shop for a few days, I milled it down to the desired blanks I wanted to start with. One blank was 54” x 9” x 8 qtr and the second piece was 42” x 9” x 8 qtr. I let these sit on edge over the weekend to let any new stresses release from the wood.

The next step was to finish milling the blanks down to finished size. I already had the blanks cut to length, allowing an additional 6” of caul for the hardware to attach to if extended all the way for the maximum glue-up of the clamp. Because I was working with Maple and Maple burns so easily, I cut the initial with of the caul 3/16s of an inch wider than I wanted. This allows me to run the caul back through the table to clean up the burn marks by only taking 3/32nds off each side. This worked well but still had a couple burn spots. I think the next set I make I will cut long and wide but will take the excess width off with the planer instead. Then cut to length.

Drilling the holes was next, but all the cauls need to be marked out. The instructions included with the hardware say to drill a 5/8s inch hole every 2”s down the middle of the caul. All the hole locations needed to be marked on each caul. My method was to divide by two and mark out the holes. I ended up with the left-over wood on each end of the hole locations not equal. After I figured out what I did wrong, I had to re-mark the caul. I didn’t make the same math mistake on the next set.

Now at the drill press I set the fence, so the centerline of the caul set in the middle of the bit. This is one of those situations where you can’t set a stop block you have to physically move and hold the piece to be drilled. Fortunately, my drill press has good lighting so hitting the mark was easy. I drilled the holes with a forstner bit, but with Maple being rather hard, getting all the holes drilled took about two hours. I finished off the holes by chamfering the holes to avoid splinters. Back at the table saw I ran each caul through to split it down the middle making a matched pair for the clamping hardware.

Back at the table I took one of the off-cuts and made the clamping pads for the hardware. Because they are small I recommend pre-drilling the screw holes. Once the pads were installed, I assembled each clamp.

Of course, I wanted to see how they worked so I did a mock glue-up and I was impressed. There were minor variations along the glue line but a good sanding with 120 grit would smooth things out quickly. My overall impression for the process and the hardware is a 9 out of 10 score. Why? Because of the time it took to drill all the holes. But that was partially my fault for going with hardwood.

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Tips

1.       Do the following for limited or onetime:

• Use best pick of construction lumber. You want them as straight and true as possible.

• Only drill the number holes you need.

2.       If you use hardwood:

• Make sure your blade and drill bit are clean and sharp.

• Put a finish on the wood to minimize excess glue sticking to the clamp.

  • You could also wrap the bottom and side with tape that glue won’t stick to.