Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

Recently a friend sent me a link to a New York Times article on the Martin factory. It had a series of photos and 1 of them showed a dovetail being clamped. There are not many folks doing dovetails anymore, but I continue to do what I have always done. A good sturdy clamp for the dovetail has always been an issue. The usual bar clamps have a way of sliding and doing nasty stuff if they contact the instrument. Cam clamps come loose occasionally. So here is a screw clamp that is cheap and easy to make. It is sturdy and free standing. Made from laminated quality plywood. The screw is the standard one we use in our benders. I don't know what order posted photos will come up in, but it should be obvious which are the 2 of my shop made clamp. Works for ukes or guitars. Enjoy your building.-Bob

Nice.
I wish I had one of those for my Archtop build.

RodC

Rod- Pretty easy to make. All you need to have is the press screw. Thay are not expensive in the U.S. anyway, The rest is just a little plywood and a couple of hours time. Today I was using a little brother to make a bigger brother. Could have used my vacuum bag, but got lazy and just used clamps.Enjoy your building.-Bob

Bob G. wrote: ↑

Thu Dec 17, 2020 3:13 pm

DSC_0088.jpegRod- Pretty easy to make. All you need to have is the press screw. Thay are not expensive in the U.S. anyway, The rest is just a little plywood and a couple of hours time. Today I was using a little brother to make a bigger brother. Could have used my vacuum bag, but got lazy and just used clamps.Enjoy your building.-Bob

I most likely will make one, it's just a little late for my archtop build.
I have a uke or two on the project list, so one of these will come in very handy there I think.

RodC

Nice one Bob, thanks for the demonstration. Are all of your jigs laminated with figured koa? It makes the Martin model look pretty plain!

Mark, No, most of my jigs are miserable looking things made out of cobbled up parts. My usual technique is make it as fast as I can, just so it works. Only occasionally do I make them nice. I put those clamps again on the end of a short video I made as a follow up to a Zoom session with a couple of builder friends. The main part is on a new power carving tool, but there is a little on the end about the clamps. I don't know if links here will show up active. If you are interested, you may have to copy and paste it.
http://www.pegasusguitars.com/zoom-info-121820.html

Yep, my jigs are usually quick and ugly too - but hopefully effective. Thanks for the video link. I like seeing and hearing the people contributing to the forum.