Darryl Keil Last Activity 2024-10-10 3:42 PM
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Dave Shaw

Posts: 37

Joined: 2005-11-06
Location: Arizona

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Subject : Dealing with marks left by Collins clamps
Posted : 2007-11-10 2:08 PM
Post #34183
This is mostly for Don Stephan since he is the only one I know of who uses these really neat Collins miter clamps. So Don, if my memory serves, you use one of these clamps every 6" or so to clamp miter joints in your display stands. I'm making some backgammon board boxes of solid wood with miter joints which, knowing fellow woodworkers, will be subjected to close scrutiny. The box itself is about 3" tall and I plan to use 2 or 3 clamps per joint plus the ever present blue tape. I don't want the little marks to be visible and am wondering how you deal with them. I haven't quite gotten to the "hiding" the divots part yet. Hopefully a drop of water and a hot iron will take care of it, however, to be forwarned is to be ready with alternate solutions (or whatever that saying is). How do you do it??

Dave


 
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Don Stephan

Posts: 825

Joined: 2003-07-18
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

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Subject : RE: Dealing with marks left by Collins clamps
Posted : 2007-11-11 9:45 AM
Post #34184 - In reply to #34183
Afraid I'm going to have to duck the question.

My only use to date was to assemble MDF and plywood stands that were later veneered. I.e. the holes were covered by veneer in a later step.

I'd suggest using some double stick tape and 1/4" thick scraps held back perhaps 1/4" from the ends of the pieces. The divots left by the Collins clamps will be in the scraps that will then be removed. By holding the scraps back 1/4" from the ends you'll be able to see the joint during assembly. Another attachment method would be some hot melt glue. I've had the glue pull the hardwood apart before, so I pare away the temporary scrap with a chisel now.

The last time I used a hot iron on moistened wood (white pine) the steamed areas looked very different under dye stain and finish, so I'd suggest testing with the intended finish schedule if going that route.

The Collins clamps are great tools and make splined miters much faster and easier. Good luck!


 
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Dave Shaw

Posts: 37

Joined: 2005-11-06
Location: Arizona

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Subject : RE: Dealing with marks left by Collins clamps
Posted : 2007-11-11 10:21 AM
Post #34185 - In reply to #34184
Thanks Don. I'll try to adhere some 1/8" MDF to the wood boxes with double sided tape and see how that works for me. It sure makes sense to me. This is my first use of the Collins clamps which I bought after reading one of your posts. These clamps work great!

Thanks,

Dave


 
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Dave Shaw

Posts: 37

Joined: 2005-11-06
Location: Arizona

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Subject : RE: Dealing with marks left by Collins clamps
Posted : 2007-12-16 11:10 AM
Post #34218 - In reply to #34184
Hi Don,

I tried double sided tape, both 3-M and ACE Hardware double sided carpet tape. Both worked fine for about 5 minutes - after that I nearly had to hit the deck. The tape gave up and the pieces of scrap MDF came flying off and shot all around the shop. Quite a surprise. Those little camps really have some energy stored in them SNAP-----Zing! Oddly enough they all gave up at about the same time. Sounded like a hugh popcorn popper.

I may try some hot melt to hold the clamp pads down but I'm concerned that the residual glue will interfere with the Uni-bond. Has this been a problem for you and how do you get all of the hot melt off?

Thanks,

Dave


 
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Don Stephan

Posts: 825

Joined: 2003-07-18
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

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Subject : RE: Dealing with marks left by Collins clamps
Posted : 2007-12-16 4:43 PM
Post #34219 - In reply to #34218
Not sure how the hot melt glue residue would be covered by Unibond. If I were using the Collins clamps for hardwood backgammon board, I would be clamping the mitered solid wood frame and the glue blocks would be on the outside faces of the frame. Were you planning to veneer the hardwood frames after glueup? If so, just let the Collins clamps divot the frames and then fill the divots and sand flush before veneering.

If your concern is hot melt glue residue affecting finishing, I don't think the glue penetrates the wood at all. A scraper or hand plane should get off all the residue.

Don


 
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Kevin Jenness

Posts: 13

Joined: 2007-12-04

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Subject : RE: Dealing with marks left by Collins clamps
Posted : 2008-01-17 5:54 PM
Post #34273 - In reply to #34219
The clamp marks will not steam out- you will have to remove some material to get rid of them. One way around the problem is to make some custom cauls; Cut some thin sheet stock 1/4" shorter than your box sides and add some 45 degree ears at their ends so that the clamping pressure is in line with the joint centers, then clamp them, if there is access, or double stick tape them to your parts and clamp on the ears.


 
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Don Stephan

Posts: 825

Joined: 2003-07-18
Location: Cincinnati, Ohio

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Subject : RE: Dealing with marks left by Collins clamps
Posted : 2008-01-18 9:00 AM
Post #34276 - In reply to #34273
Thanks for the tip, Kevin. A spring clamp should hold the cauls in place until Collins clamps placed on the ends. I plan to make some serving trays next month and your suggestion will save my having to experiment! Thanks.


 
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Dave Shaw

Posts: 37

Joined: 2005-11-06
Location: Arizona

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Subject : RE: Dealing with marks left by Collins clamps
Posted : 2008-01-18 11:18 AM
Post #34277 - In reply to #34273
Kevin, thanks for the great tip. I'm a little bored today so I think I'll go to the shop and make up some cauls and try this out. I will opt for clamping the cauls to the box sides and not use the double sided tape. It will make getting the cauls off later much easier. As you may have read above, I didn't have a lot of luck using the tape method. I think I will add some adhesive backed sand paper to the cauls to make sure they don't move. Probably not necessary but then I'm a belt and suspenders kind of guy.

Thanks to both you and Don.

Dave


 
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Dave Shaw

Posts: 37

Joined: 2005-11-06
Location: Arizona

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Subject : RE: Dealing with marks left by Collins clamps
Posted : 2008-01-18 5:23 PM
Post #34278 - In reply to #34277
This worked great. The clamps didn't slip at all so I'm very pleased. If you are interested in how I did the clamp pads see the photos attached.
Attached file : Clamp block reduced.JPG (14KB - 180 downloads)
Attached file : Clamp block bottom reduced.JPG (16KB - 173 downloads)
Attached file : Collins clamps in use reduced.JPG (44KB - 157 downloads)



 
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Robert Samagalsky

Posts: 1

Joined: 2023-12-15
Location: Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada

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Subject : RE: Dealing with marks left by Collins clamps
Posted : 2023-12-17 5:51 AM
Post #38048 - In reply to #34278
I’m new to this forum and I have always struggled with minimizing Collins clamp marks. Thanks very much for this tip Dave!
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