where can i get clamps like this?

[Faaluke]

Thanks for this, have been after some for a while, but they are not that common down under. So ends up being pricey to buy some from overseas, will be making some of these this weekend I think, nice tutorial! Only place local I found was NZ$45 for 8 of them. $5 should cover the parts I don't already have

 

[split999]

Top tip.

When you have tacked either side of the grip you will find that the plate is tight between the two panels. This is probably due to expansion caused by the heat created. Wait until cool before trying to remove the plate because they do become tight just after tacking. If you try to slide out the plate when hot, it may distort the panels outwards as you pull out the plate.

 

[kenmac]

Just been looking at this and I've been thinking (dangerous for me ) but can you weld to a magnet? if so couldn't you weld two magnets to a slider to shorten or widen the gap between the two pieces to be welded then you don't have to worry about retrieving anything afterwards.

 

[Paul.]

You cant weld to a magnet, but you can buy welders magnets, although if you weld too close to them they can affect the stability of the arc,

 

[kenmac]

You cant weld to a magnet, but you can buy welders magnets, although if you weld too close to them they can affect the stability of the arc,

Oh Bol****s there goes my Dragons Den moment then

 

[Wozzaaah]

Even the backing plate of a speaker magnet won't take a weld, I can vouch for that personally.

 

[droopsnoot]

Nice idea on making them, I never thought of that, though I did see them at a show and bought them before I had a specific use for them. As I haven't got any of the bits lying around it probably would have cost me almost as much as the £11-odd the pack of five cost, before I add in the time to make them.

 

[philsmin]

I made a set of these years ago for welding body panels together, saw them in the frost catalogue and instantly thought 'how much!'

Having said that never used them much, got some of those big magnetic clamps for a birthday one year so they became redundant....

 

[cracker666]

Near enough made mine in a few hours.
made about 20x

 

[ford34/2]

clamps

made a few for me and my son, 40 X 40 X 45 long, have proved to be a handy addition for little or no cost.
Stan

 

[cracker666]

For me it was a fantastic excuse to use a bandsaw which I market.
Got loads of bandsaw blades, just need knackered ones.

 

[Mick Aumer]

For me it was a fantastic excuse to use a bandsaw which I market.
Got loads of bandsaw blades, just need knackered ones.

I made some of these a year back and I used tensile steel strapping. Punched hole with whitney punch.
Important to flatten punched hole or it won't pull through.

 

[DAPPH]

Hey they look pretty useful!

I did a bit of looking around on the NET to find some for sale here in Oz...not luck yet....

However.....they look like a great little DIY project to make syour own... (I'm wired such that I really enjoy making *anything* I can)

I found this image of one that shows how easy they would be to make if you couldn't easily source them.
View attachment 2558

Initial thoughts:
1. Buy a screw + washer + wing nut (approx 30mm long and 5mm diam)
2. Cut off 30mm of some of my spare 40x40 RHS (2.5mm thickness)
3. Drill one face and cut a slot in the opposite face
4. Cut a piece of 1.2mm sheet 30x50mm and tack weld to screw as in picture.
5. Drill a 8-10mm hole in the sheet metal (where the square hole is in the "proper ones") and use a cut-off piece of rod to suit.....

Think I'd go for a square bar peg form , tack welded into a round hole at the lowest point & put rubber sleeving on either side .& put glued on rubber or foam pads on the bottom on the square body either side of the slit. If you want them to be pulled out of a tack welded down situation don't spot weld the bars just use the rubber tube to hold them in place .

Reasoning being .... You may need to protect the surface profiles in contact with the clamp , so why not build it into the initial design.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

....... & put rubber sleeving on either side .& put glued on rubber or foam pads on the bottom on the square body either side of the slit.

Reasoning being .... You may need to protect the surface profiles in contact with the clamp , so why not build it into the initial design.

Wouldn't the heat of the weld [even a tack] melt the protective 'padding'?? [Unless I've misunderstood your intent [which is quite likely....]

 

[DAPPH]

I guessed you'd only use very small tack welds with a mig/tig in between sets of clamps so there wouldn't be much heat involved by the area of the clamps .

 

[jinjahbiscuit]

.......and probably melt the rubber and foam

 

[Ratrod61]

Harbor freight 8 for 6.99

 

[Reman]

I'm thinking that if you needed something more substantial on the back of that, you could use some threaded rod instead of the screw, then slot/cross drill the rods end and hold the thin piece in with a removable pin........ Did that make any sense?

 

[skotl]

The Thread That Would Not Die