Woodworking is not an inexpensive endeavor. As such, anything to reduce costs while still maintaining quality is a welcome addition to any workshop. The mighty pipe clamp is often underrated and dismissed, yet it&#;s a cost-effective tool, especially when considering its versatility. The main reason many woodworkers dismiss pipe clamps is their tendency to bow when put under tension. I think that if your joinery needs that much force to be brought together, then maybe there is another problem. But that&#;s a topic for another blog post.
For light to medium duty, pipe clamps are supertastic.
Recently, I needed to clamp two pieces of 5×5 Baltic birch together, meaning I needed a clamp that had a 10-ft. capacity. No problem; a piece of 10-ft. pipe, plus a connector and a second short piece of pipe to make up for the space the clamp heads take, and I&#;m in business. A few months prior I had to glue some solid-wood edging onto a rectangular, veneered tabletop. The short dimension was 42 in., the long was 99 in.&#;again no problem for the pipe clamp.
So we&#;ve established that pipe clamps are a great solution when clamping very large things, but they can do so much more. Below are a few tips, tricks, and reasons why you should have a few pipe clamps in your arsenal.
Use connectors to make super-long clamps.Buy 10-ft. lengths of pipe and have them cut and threaded at the store. In my area, a 10-ft. piece of galvanized pipe is about $20. My local hardware store will cut and thread the ends for free. This makes short clamps very inexpensive.
A 1 1/8-in. drill bit is a friend to your pipe clamps. Drill a series of holes in a piece of scrap and cut it in half. This makes for a great glue-up station.
Homasote is a great clamping pad, drill a 1 1/8-in. hole and attach it with some hot melt glue and you have a great non-marring clamp. Homasote is a building product, typically sold in the drywall section, used to reduce noise in a house. Its squishy, fibrous nature makes for a clamping pad of the right density.
Link to zhiang
I like galvanized pipe vs black pipe. It costs a couple more bucks but it won&#;t leave a stain where the wood, pipe, and glue come together.
Wax your pipes to keep glue from sticking and help the movable end of the clamp work smoothly.
I like the old-style ends that have a lever. They work great and I find them easy to adjust. I don&#;t think they are made any more, but I haven&#;t had trouble finding them on eBay and local classifieds. I have bought a few of this newer style, and they work great but are a little harder to adjust. When shopping used, I keep the price between $5 and $10 per set. I think that is a great deal for the older versions. Combine that with $5 worth of pipe and you have yourself a pretty darn nice clamp.
I consider pipe clamps as just one of a few different types of clamps needed in a wood shop. Buy a few and try them out. If you&#;re already a fan of the mighty pipe clamp, hopefully I was able to share a tip or two you hadn&#;t heard before. Thank you for reading.
I needed to do a temporary repair of a pinhole leak on a nominal 1" copper pipe used in a home heating boiler system. I was able to get this installed, but it was not easy. It was difficult to get the closing bolts aligned so I could close the clamp, but I manged to do it. I also cleaned the pipe and put grease on the rubber sleeve. So far, the drip has stopped. As a number of reviews indicate, if you are not careful, you can end up with a clamp that is too big and will not close tightly on the pipe. Look carefully at the chart on the webpage. Nominal 1" OD copper pipe has an actual OD of 1-1/8" (28.575mm). I needed the #27 LD20 clamp, which is 27mm nominal and usable for a range of 26-29mm OD.
Overall, the quality of this clamp is so-so. My boiler operates at no more than 30 psi. Not sure if this would work for pressures at 50psi or more. I would never use this as a permanent repair or underground or somewhere where it is hard to access. If you have to tear into a wall, you should not reseal the wall until the repair is permanent.
For more information, please visit Pipe fixing clamps.