Parallel Jaw Machinist Clamps

A basic tool for most machinists is a parallel jaw clamp in several sizes.  One of our earlier class projects was to fabricate a parallel jaw clamp.

The basic plans for these clamps came from  pages 149-153 of The Machinist"s Bedside Reader [first in a series] by Guy Lautard ISBN 0-9690980-2-2
The Guy's home page URL is http://www.lautard.com/books.htm
You can order the series of three readers from Guy's webpage or  http://www.amazon.com/
These have also been on sale at several mail order mill supply outlets such as Enco and Harbor Freight [see handy links section for urls.]

The basic clamp as assigned:

Clamp was completely machined on a lathe including angle cutting of the jaws.  This was done using a faceplate and right angle plate.  Base stock was 1 inch X 1 inch CRS surfaced on all sided to 3/4 inch square.  Holes were drilled on the lathe using the faceplate.    7/16 X 20 threaded rod [Allthread® or Readythread®] grade 5 was sued for the screws.  Knobs were turned from 3/4 inch diameter CRS bar stock to 5/8 inch diameter, drilled and tapped for 7/16 X to threads, knurled and parted-off.  Knobs are "Loctited" on the threaded rods for retention.  

A some what fancier clamp with the corners rounded using a corner rounding end mill and acorn nuts to allow increased clamping force. These nuts are commercial items and were "Loctited" onto the shafts.

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last updated by GmcD on 19-Mar-11 18:30
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