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Do these need to be circular? Why not square or oval? Aside from requiring a different name, would different shapes be less functional?

tb

don't matter . Round works cause you can use a hole saw . One stop chopping .

You can also buy a round 1" or 1 1/4" dowel and slice the pieces off, that is what I did
when I made them. I also used leather instead of cork for cushions, because I already had it
and it worked great.

Kevin

I was hoping I'd get a response that told me it wouldn't make a difference no matter how I shaped them and it seems John has given that response. I have plenty of scraps near 1.5"x1.5" that I can cut up into little squares without incurring the expense of a dowel rod. Now I just need to find some threaded rod. I have some fender washers so I suppose I'll only need to spend money on wing nuts and maybe some hex nuts. OK, this first part of my first build will go smoothly.
tb

the key is how thick you make them. If you have something at least 1 inch thick . And don't oversize the hole more than you need to get the bolt in.

Just curious if you have investigated the alterntives to spool clamps -- the most simple and my favorite are rubber bands (2 or 3 #64 tied together). We have not had a spool clamp in our shop for twenty or more years -- in my view they (spool clamps) seem simple enough until you try and use two dozen or so at the same time. Even the most primative mold can be set-up for rubber band clamping. $.02

Will 6" of clamping space between the blocks be sufficient?

TB,

here's the thread I started not so long ago
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1365

I'm short on time so I won't be re-reading that thread but, having no clamps yet (still building the mold and sorting out some material shipping issues), I can tell you two things:

1. if I were to build spool clamps (with limited tools, mind you), I'd do rectangular ones by sawing off slices of a 2"x2". Way easier to do with a jigsaw than sawing off slices of a round dowel. :)

2. I've since given up the idea of spool clamps and will be trying the rubber band method. Do a zillion dry runs and if I can get it to work, do it that way. If I can't get rubber bands to work, seriously question my building practice and try to figure out another way to do it.

As for your question, if you are building a guitar with 4"-5" body depth, I think you are quite safe with 6" clamping space. What are you looking to build?

Muddy,
Thanks for the link and the pointers. I'm about to build a 000 and if all goes well, a dread afterwards.
tb

I don't think you'll be making a guitar deeper than 6" so I think you are pretty safe if you decide to go that route.

Again, give some thought to what Ken is saying. Consider rubber bands before you buy or build couple of dozen spool clamps.