making Toggle Clamps

8/10/2019 making Toggle Clamps

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Our simple, inexpensive toggle clamps hold your

work in a tight grip. Make several at once & applythem liberally to improve your shop-made jigs.
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Recently I felt I could use some of

those metal toggle clamps, but unlikeme, theyre not cheap. So I came upwith this unique design for a clampthat is functional and is also a funlittle project. I made these out ofbeech, but they can be made fromany hardwood.

Getting startedI started by gluing up stock for thebase parts enough to make about adozen clamps. I machined it tofinished height and width, then

marked off each base and the holesfor the bolts.

After drilling all the holes for the

bolts, I set up the dado blade to cutthe channel down the middle. This isdone by first cutting one pass, thenturning the part around and making asecond cut. Doing it this way ensuresthat the channel is at deadcenter (Fig. 1).

I cut the individual base parts with


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a crosscut jig (Fig. 2) and drilledholes for the mounting screws (Fig.3). This is done with a fence and twostops on the drill press, so it goesvery quickly.

To cut the downward angle, I

marked it on one of the parts with apencil, lined it up to the slot in the

crosscut jig and stuck a chunk ofwood to the jig with double-sidedtape. Then I just ran all the partsthough (Fig. 4). The corners arerounded with a sanding disk (Fig.5).

Next I machined material for all theother parts and cut them to finishedsizes, all except the

press part (see below). All of therounded ends are simply done withtwo passes over a roundover bit (Fig.6).

Making the handle & press For the

handle, the bolt holes are againdrilled with a fence and twostops (Fig. 7). These holes only needto go in about 1/2" since the materialin the center will be removed. BeforeI remove the center material, I cleanout the corners with a 1/2" hole. Thematerial is then cut out with thebandsaw, leaving just a little bit ofwaste on the sides.

This is cleaned up using a straightcutter on the router table with a fenand a stop. The part is guided alongthe fence to the stop, and the spacebetween the cutter and the fence wgive me my finished thickness (Fig.

8). Then the upper part of the handis cut out on the bandsaw and cleanup with a simple jig on the router. Ialso rounded over the upper part wa 1/4" roundover bit.

The part that will become the presis made two at a time so it is easierhandle while machining. Each part iseparated after most of the machiniis done, so it
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from the blade, and your stocksecure, is highly recommended.

Optional metal handleSince this clamp is made of wood, does have one weakness the linkthe bottom of the handle (Fig. 10)For light-duty use, its not a problebut if a lot of pressure were to beapplied, this link might fail. For thireason, the lower part of the handlwould either have to be reinforcedwith steel, or the entire handle coube made from a piece of 1/8" flatstock as I have done. This is a gooalternative if high pressure clampinis planned.

Drill the holes using a drill pressvise with the same spacing as the

wooden part(Fig. 11). When workwith steel, I slow the machine dowto the slowest speed and use oil ascutting fluid. Before bending the paclamp scrap pieces of hardwood ovthe lower 4" to prevent the metalfrom bending at the holes (Fig. 12Finish the bending process in the vand once again make sure the holeare outside of the jaws (Fig. 13).

I dont like to have a threaded ro

running inside a wooden hole, so Ibuy bolts that are slightly longer thneeded and simply extend the threwith a die (Fig. 14). This way thethread starts exactly where the bo

exits the wood. The excess length then cut off with a hacksaw and thcut end chamfered on a grindingwheel.

should be twice the length, plusenough material to allow for the sawcut that will separate the two parts.The holes are then drilled, the endsare rounded over and then theopening is cut out on the table saw

with a dado blade.This process is similar to cutting the

channel in the base part by rotatingit and making two cuts I can get itdead center. I use a block to push thepart through while holding it againstthe fence. The push block is pulledback once the part has gone throughthe

blade, and for safety I always try tokeep a few fingers over the top of thefence to ensure my hand cannotaccidentally go into the blade (Fig.9). The parts are then separated onthe crosscut jig, trimmed to finished

length, and the ends rounded over onthe router just like the other parts.

Editors Note: While it is theauthors prerogative to make the cutdescribed above, we cannot, in goodfaith, suggest that others attempt it.The use of a tenoning jig or othershop-built device that will keep yourfingers safely away


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AssemblyBefore I assemble the parts, I like tobreak all the corners with sandpaperto give the finished clamp a nice,clean look.

Press the T-nut in place with thejaws of a vise. Slip the press over thearm (with the T-nut pointing down)

and push the dowel into the hole.Center the dowel and secure it withthe small retaining screw.

Put the arm into the base and

secure it with the shorter bolt.Tighten the bolt up so the nut meetsthe wood, but the bolt can still turn inthe hole. Attach the handle byinserting the bolts and washersthrough the press and base, andtighten up the nuts. The last thingyoull need to do is glue the stopblock to the press. Just line up thehandle so it is straight up and downwith the press lined up and running

parallel inside it. Position the stopblock so it is in contact with the armand glue it into place (Fig. 15).

I glued small rubber pads to theends of the fl at-head machinescrews.

The clamp is now ready and can beused on a variety of jigs. The holddown screws can easily be driven witha long driver (Fig. 16).
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Wolf Moehrle is an award-winning craftsman and customfurniture designer from Neustadt, Ontario. He has taughtcabinet making at the same high school where he tookwoodshop. He is also a musician, and sometimes performs on

weekends.
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making Toggle Clamps

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