Monday, March 15, 2010

The Importance of Woodworking Clamps

          Sometimes we take for granted the very things we cannot live without. Only, on the rare occasion where one of these things is not present do we realize its overwhelming importance to us. Some of these things are crucial to life support like air, gravity, water, food and even, it could be fairly argued, love. Others, while not fatal to us (if missing) are, nonetheless, crucial necessities to life as we know it. An example of this would be ball bearings which are used in cars, trucks, airplanes, ships, motors and machines. Another, to the woodworker, would be clamps, the subject of this present discussion and tool review.




          I want to point out that woodworking, as we know it, would simply cease to exist without clamps to hold wooden parts together while we are gluing or otherwise fastening them together. It’s not that there is anything in what I have said so far that is news to anyone. It’s simply a matter of being conscious of the value of things that bless us every day of our lives.


          I once sold off the entire contents of a woodworking shop. I advertised each tool individually. The ads were hardly out when I received a flood of calls from woodworkers looking for clamps. I sold all the clamps I had the first day. It was then that I realized how much every woodworker needs clamps.


Bob Gillespie
Woodworker

For similar articles and tool reviews see:
http://www.perfectwoodworking.com/






©2010 Robert M. Gillespie, Jr.

9 comments:

  1. I’ve found myself here several times before while searching various things. I appreciate the detailed articles you write, and in some cases this is the ONLY place I can even find them. ball bearing

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  2. Hah, clamps, clamps, clapms ... I'm not a professional woodworker but as I've built some things, some small and some bigger ones, I can honestly say I could live without clamps :)
    I know woodworkers always lack of clamps, I feel the same, but when it cames to gluing and making table tops and you don't have enough you start thinking. I mean, you discover new ways to clamp things without propper tools, like using sliding dovetail joints, or a rope :) And then when the whole efficiency of you work relies on the joints you've made you can honestly say you've done a great job that will last forever, because if it doesn't fall apart with no pressure that means it will never. But that are just my thougths, and that doesn't mean I don't like clamps, I love them :)
    Best regards
    Szymon

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