Collaborate Disseminate
It doesn’t take much chasing things around the bench with a soldering iron to appreciate the value of good work holding. And don’t get us started on those cheap “helping …read more Continue reading Harbor Freight and LEGO PCB Vise is Cheap and Effective
What are the options you have for securing your workpiece to the drill press table? [Rex Krueger] shows us that there’s plenty, and you ought to know about them. He …read more Continue reading Drill Press Piece Fastening 101
Maybe it’s the humidity, maybe it’s the cold weather. Something is making [Laura Kampf]’s nice fabric-backed sandpaper curl up into scrolls the second it comes out of the package. So …read more Continue reading Anti-Curl Sandpaper Storage Is Impressive
Sometimes you need a small clamp, and sometimes it’s nice to use tools you’ve made yourself. [Neil] from [Pask Makes] delivers on both counts, with incredibly cute little clamps that …read more Continue reading Making Teeny Clamps With Hand Tools
We love this design’s simplicity, but its mundane appearance is deceptive because a lot is going on here. [Bas van Hassel]’s clamp looks like a bench cookie or maybe a compressed hockey puck, but one pie piece-shaped quadrant extends on …read more
Dual-filament printers may seem like a gimmick to the uninitiated, but they open up some powerful options for advanced designs. [Darren Tarbard] shows this off with a nifty spring clamp that is 3D printed in a single operation.
The clamp is similar to one you’d find at any hardware store. …read more
Fixturing and work holding can be huge problems for hackers. Let’s face it – that $5, alligator clip-festooned “Helping Hand” is good for only the smallest of workpieces, and the problem only gets worse as the size scales up. One can jury rig fixtures for things like microscopes and lights, …read more
Continue reading 3D Printed Parts Let You Hold Work The Way You Want
[Kevin] owns a benchtop CNC mill that has proven itself to be a capable tool, but after becoming familiar with some of its shortcomings, he has made a few modifications. In order to more efficiently hold and access workpieces on his custom fixturing table, he designed and made his own toe clamps and they look beautiful.
The usual way to secure a piece of stock to a fixturing table is to use top-down clamps, which hold the workpiece from the top and screw down into the table. However, this method limits how much of the stock can be accessed by …read more
Continue reading Scratch Built Toe Clamps Keep Your Work In Place
[Kevin] owns a benchtop CNC mill that has proven itself to be a capable tool, but after becoming familiar with some of its shortcomings, he has made a few modifications. In order to more efficiently hold and access workpieces on his custom fixturing table, he designed and made his own toe clamps and they look beautiful.
The usual way to secure a piece of stock to a fixturing table is to use top-down clamps, which hold the workpiece from the top and screw down into the table. However, this method limits how much of the stock can be accessed by …read more
Continue reading Scratch Built Toe Clamps Keep Your Work In Place
You see a lot of pneumatic actuators in industrial automation, and for good reason. They’re simple, powerful, reliable, and above all, cheap. Online sources and fluid-power suppliers carry a bewildering range of actuators, so why would anyone bother to make their own pneumatic cylinders? Because while the commercial stuff is cheap, it’s not PVC and plywood cheap.
Granted, that’s not the only reason [Izzy Swan] gives for his DIY single-acting cylinder. For him it’s more about having the flexibility to make exactly what he needs in terms of size and shape. And given how ridiculously easy these cylinders are, you …read more
Continue reading Shop-Made Pneumatic Cylinders From PVC And Plywood