Clamps, an old trick revisited

[Modeler12]

This is nothing new, but worth repeating.
 

If you have clothes pins (the admiral may direct you to her supply), modify them to suite your needs.

You can sand the ends to taper or make them so you can grab small pieces. Both plastic and wood work well, but I prefer the old fashioned wooden type.

 

Then you can take them apart and reverse the spring to have a different type. You can then refine that by tapering the long faces so they can help with flat surfaces. In this case I also filed the indentation (where the spring fits) a bit deeper and sanded the clamping faces so they would meet.

 

 

Any other ideas about using these old, but handy gizmoes?

Edited January 14, 2014 by Modeler12

[Modeler12]

BTW I also tried this with a couple of the tiny 'clothes-pins' that you can buy at some handy craft places.

But the result was marginal. When I reversed a couple they were not all that useful.

Note there is not much space to sand the groove for the spring.

 

However, the idea is not all that bad and maybe some thoughtful individual will be able to use those little springs to do the same or make some improvements.

 

One thing about this forum: it makes me think as well as do and try!!

[Modeler12]

Here is another way to use clothes pins.

Drill a couple holes in the side, insert a round toothpick and, voila, a clamp for holding planks against the bulkhead.

 

To give the jaws a bit more bite, glue a couple pieces of sandpaper to the jaw faces.

[Q A's Revenge]

Nice one Jay!

[Modeler12]

OK, one more and then it is your turn.

 

I use a lot of round toothpicks to apply adhesive. For hard to reach places I have used a clothes pin to hold the toothpick. However, sometimes it has a tendency to slip sideways between the jaws.

So, I drilled a small hole in the end of the jaws and now the disposable toothpicks are more steady than my shaking hand.

[Richard Griffith]

Great post by Jay the Modeler12~! 

When I tried these last year, I had to glue some sandpaper to the inside of the jaws to increase their holding power on the bulkheads.  The best glue for this is urethane.

Another variation is to install short lengths of nails instead of toothpicks. 

For the reverse clothes pins, you can glue small pieces of wood to the tips to act like extended (deep) clamps.

When clamping thicker parts together, I cut off the round part at the front end which laves a gap when closed but applies the right pressure when in use.

 

Have fun~!                 Duff

[Modeler12]

For the reverse clothes pins, you can glue small pieces of wood to the tips to act like extended (deep) clamps.

When clamping thicker parts together, I cut off the round part at the front end which laves a gap when closed but applies the right pressure when in use.

 

Have fun~!                 Duff

Kind of like this, Duff?

But be sure to use some strong glue, like epoxy, because the peel (or cleavage) strength here is important.

(I am not saying epoxy is all that great for peel strength, but it is better than white glue).

 

BTW  that is one of my CA glue containers from Micheals'.

[HIPEXEC]

Thanks for the memories!

[Richard Griffith]

Hi Jay Modeler12, that is one idea but here is a picture of what I tried to say, plus a couple of other modifications.  These might be useful to you and to others. 

 

The third pix has tiny half round dowels glued to the inside ends of a reversed cloths pin. 

 

The center pix has two pieces of music wire inserted in the ends of the pin, and two guides glued to one half of the clothes pins so they keep the 2 halves in alignment.   These were needed for clamping in a very small spaces. 

 

The first pix shows a pin with a nail inserted transverse and sand paper glued to the inside faces-handy for holding planks to bulkheads.  The other pin is cut so the opening is extra wide. 

 

Keep modeling!

 

Duff