It's a start - first cam clamps

[Eric Knapp]

I'm trying to get my shop back in good condition and make progress towards making a guitar. I know it's a long process and I'm going to enjoy every step. I have lots of clamps that are big and heavy for furniture and cabinets. I know i need some lighter ones more focused on instrument making. I thought it would be a good thing to start working on my shop by making some cam clamps. Here are the first two.

They are maybe not as wonderful as my 50th will be but I'm happy I got this far. The maple was just something that was in the woodpile and the cherry cams came from a board that is already 1/4" thick. These first two have lots of flaws. The young pro in me is cringing a bit, but I guess I can't jump right back to the level I was 30 years ago. (Oh, wow, it was that long!)

I don't know if you all like seeing the baby steps of beginners. Let me know if this is not a part of the forum. It's fun to document things as I go. I tell my students one of the most effective ways to learn something is to keep a log and share it with folks with similar interests. My semester is about to end and it might get warm here in Wisconsin, USA. It snowed yesterday. I get a few weeks off and I hope to make some serious progress.

Thanks,

-Eric

[Chuck Tweedy]

That looks ver good to me.
The bars are aluminum?

[Eric Knapp]

That looks ver good to me.
The bars are aluminum?

Thanks and yes, the bars are aluminum. I wanted to make them as light as I could as an experiment. Once I'm jigged up I can make adjustments if that approach doesn't work. So far they seem very strong, but I don't have a Klemsia to compare them to.

-Eric

[Pat Foster]

They look good to me! The first pair of these I got was from a friend who had made them as his first project as an apprentice furniture maker. I still use them today, 40 years later. They have aluminum shafts. They work great and I like their lightness.

Pat