parallel clamp storage

[LCHIEN]

Believe it or not I Have 16 K-clamps and Cabinet Masters - all very heavy and stout. I had stored most of them upon the wall but still didn't use them when I might have because they were locked and the locking handles were incoveniently behind the bars towards the wall. You can also see the place where I had them clamps was severely underdesigned, sagging despite being shored up and swayed dangerously every time I touched them.(see the first of the attached pictures)

So I designed a better clamp rack for them where the could hang under gravity rather than being clamped and thus easier to take down, also stronger and denser so I could get all of them in one place (I had at least four more squirreled away in other places.

These were spaced so I could get an over and under rack, the lower rack had to have slots for the bars from the above rack so I made them both the same. Nestled partly into the studs for better space use and less leverage on the fasteners which are now 3/8"x 2.5" lag screws compared to #10 x 3" screws before.

So you can see the new racks on the DP table and then installed and loaded. Problem solved! Just took an afternoon. (And a few previous days of random thoughts).

[gad5264]

Loring, a very nice adaptation to make good use of the open studs.

[LCHIEN]

Construction note:
The slots posed a problem. 2-3/8" deep in 2x4
I debated whether to make dado cuts with a 8" dado blade (as 6" would be too small and it would be nearly at the limit of 8" dado) but finally decided to drill a 7/16" hole at the end of each slot and cut it with the bandsaw and miter guide.
That worked for all but the middle slot... you see it was a 26" long 2x4 and I only have a 12" bandsaw. I could cut 12" from either end if I flipped the piece over and put my layout lines on the reverse side. But I could not reach the center slot. So I did cut the middle slot using the BT3000!

[JR]

That design is almost exactly what I use for my clamps. I therefore declare it to be a brilliant design, brilliantly executed!

FWIW I built mine using almost exactly the same process. Even weirder, my pegboard is immediately to the right of the clamp rack. Maybe we're twins separated at birth?

JR

[krogers]

I need something just like that. Loring can you tell us what the spacing is between the slots? And are there any problems with sagging? With only an 1 1/4 of pine left is that enough support? Thanks.

[Pappy]

Great design, Loring. Offsetting them on the bottom row was a brilliant inspiration!

Hmmmmmmm..........

Similar design would work for the excess of Quick Grips I have, thanks to a recent auction score.

[cgallery]

I don't really have any good clamps, but plan on getting some when a real need arrises.

BUT, I do have a question. Aren't those clamps heavy, and don't they put a lot of stress on what is left of the 2x4?

[THyman]

Construction note:
The slots posed a problem. 2-3/8" deep in 2x4
I debated whether to make dado cuts with a 8" dado blade (as 6" would be too small and it would be nearly at the limit of 8" dado) but finally decided to drill a 7/16" hole at the end of each slot and cut it with the bandsaw and miter guide.
That worked for all but the middle slot... you see it was a 26" long 2x4 and I only have a 12" bandsaw. I could cut 12" from either end if I flipped the piece over and put my layout lines on the reverse side. But I could not reach the center slot. So I did cut the middle slot using the BT3000!

Loring,
Thanks for explaining how the slots were cut. I think I'm going to have to do something like this as well. Thanks for the idea!

[LCHIEN]

Spacing detail - this is the key to the design.
I made it to fit the K-Clamps and Jorgy's, both, in any slot.
The Jorgy's are a little bigger, 1.9" overall width and the K-bodys are 1.5"
That's if you want to put them side by side, no vertical stacking.
The bars are a hair over 3/8" so I cut the slots to be 7/16ths which was just right - they are pretty close that you Actually have to line-up the top and bottom racks when you install (I did that with a spirit level and a ruler between slots).
Now you have a bar/slot width plus the clamp width spacing... 2.250" if you want to accomodate a mix or 1.875" if you just have Besseys.
So 1.125" (half of 2.250) is what I spaced the slots since stacking them would split the width. If you are lazy you can build the top bar with half the number of slots at the 2.250" spacing. (I'd use 1" or 15/16" if I was doing one for just Bessey K-bodies).

The end of the slot was 2-3/8" from the front of the rack. The recess in the back of the rack for the Studs was 1.5". I counterbored the mounting holes approx 3/4" deep.

The over-under spacing you have to allow for the handle hanging down from the top to clear the frame of the ones below.

No, it does not seem flimsy at all, quite solid, the thickness of the 2x4 gives it a lot of meat, even the one end hangnig with 6 Jorgy clamps seems quite solid, especially compared to what I had before. I think for that size, 1/4" x 3 lag screws would have been plenty good, the 5/16" is overkill.

The numbers above are all off the top of my head... if you build one I recommend you take a 6" scrap of 2x4 and mark the spacing you choose and cut a couple of spaced slots for practice and fit before doing the whole thing.

[SARGE..g-47]

Excellent idea with the dadoes on those open studs. My clamps are on a sheet rocked wall but I "have" to hang them vertical with close to 30 cabinet clamps.. 8 bar clamps (60" & 72",, used them recently) and about 40 other assorted bar Jorgies and Quick clamps from 12" to 36". Flat on the wall is about the only sensible way.

If I had open studs... I would follow your lead. I just recently buiilt new racks to accomodate over-flow. I basically tie into the studs behind the sheet rock with horizonal braces before attaching the actual clamp holders. Write that wall off.. but if they were stored any other way, it would take up much more than could be alloted of floor space.

Again.... nice job...

[atgcpaul]

Thanks for posting those, Loring. They look great. Your post along with
kirkroy's post of shop organization got me inspired this morning and I whipped
up 2 clamp racks--one for my F-style clamps and one for my bar clamps.

Someone post more organizational projects to keep this momentum going!

Paul

[drumpriest]

Looks good Loring, very similar to what I did recently with mine. They hang up out of the way and are easily accessed. I just drilled a bunch of holes and cut out the slots on the band saw for mine.