Clamps

[Tarhead]

You can make your own Cam Clamps very easy and very cheap:
http://www.woodshoptips.com/tips/050304/index.htm
http://www.woodworkstuff.net/HoweClamp.html
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/steve.mask ... uthier.htm

[MuddyFox]

@John: what do you mean, "the pad toggles"?

@Tarhead: I agree these would be easy to make (tnx for the links btw) if I had a scrollsaw or a bandsaw. Having neither, the task becomes quite difficult so right now I'm looking for discounted items to start buying some clamps because at this point I have a grand total of zero. :)

[Tarhead]

@Tarhead: I agree these would be easy to make (tnx for the links btw) if I had a scrollsaw or a bandsaw. Having neither, the task becomes quite difficult so right now I'm looking for discounted items to start buying some clamps because at this point I have a grand total of zero. :)

Are handtools out of the question here? A coping saw, handplane, a few chisels, a hammer and a few hours and you will have a set of cam clamps. You need these tools (and skills) anyway for making a guitar. We get so focused on one way to do things and forget Guitars were made prior to the discovery of electricity.

Back to your original question:
Yes, those clamps are excellent for short reach clamping work....like applying a fretboard, headplate and endblocks. They apply loads of force to a very small area (~1.5" on either side of the clamp head max) so use a caul and plenty of clamps to even out the force.

[tippie53]

the little round end "Floats" and will conform to the radius on the back

[MuddyFox]

@John: gotcha. It's not clear from pictures on that site you posted.

@Tarhead: handtools are definitely not out of the question but as it turns out, I have none of those either. :) I'm just about to get started on this journey and have no shop at this point. Hence I'm trying to stretch my buck as far as it will go. When any saw becomes a necessity, I will buy it. If I can get by with those cheap clamps I found, I'd like to take advantage of that and buy them now and other stuff when needed. I will eventually no doubt end up with all kinds of saws and thingamajigs but for right now I'm just trying to make ends meet with this, so to speak.

I'll go ahead and get a dozen of these, then...

[kencierp]

There are a thousand different ways and a million different tools and clamps etc. that can be used to construct a nice guitar -- plus some of us will recommend stuff that we like and most will recommend stuff that we already have --- none of which is necessarily the best, or the the best for "your immediate needs." I strongly advise that you get one of the good books -- Kinkead's is widely thought to be the best out there today. From there you just stock your tools supply to meet the needs of that process. Guessing what you might or might not need does not seem productive to me. When I started out I used Alfred Sloane's book -- then David Russell Young's. Those gave me a basic path to follow and my own variations grew from there. $.02

[MuddyFox]

Good info, Ken!
As per your recommendation in one of our previous correspondences I do have Kinkead book on order from Amazon. I've also purchased Bill Cory's book because I believe one can never have too many books on any subject and my first kit is going to be a Martin. I'm also looking at some other books and will get some soon enough.

I don't see how these clamps could possibly go unused and not be a good buy especially at the price I can get them. If I don't get to use them on a guitar they will surely be used elsewhere so no big loss here, even if there may be better clamps for actual guitar building.

[johnnparchem]

... For much guitar work, you don't need any sort of traditional clamp. You can use rope or rubber strips (surgical tubing or cut-up inner tubes e.g.) to "clamp" top and back to the sides, binding, etc. Some people use a frame and rope to join the top and back plates. Large weights such as full paint cans, concrete blocks, and mom's old iron apply enough pressure for many jobs. You can be creative and figure out lots of ways to apply clamping pressure without spending a bunch of money.

Picture from my first guitar project, I think I did all those things.

[David L]

When I decided to try to build a guitar, I was overwhelmed at the list of tools that I would probably need. As Ken mentioned, I just bought the tools that I needed to do the particular part of the process that I was on. Realizing that that the whole building process was going to take several months (for me) I was able to spread the cost over a period of time. As for clamps, I built my entire guitar with nothing more than a gobar deck and half a dozen bar clamps. Would some (deep throated) cam clamps come in handy? (leave it alone Tony) I'm quite sure they would. Am I planning on buying some anytime soon? Well, you see, they got this set of back and sides I've been looking at and this really cool fingerboard blank and then there's that bear claw sitka, oh yeah did I mention that set of Waverlys, ooh ooh how about those really awesome abalone inlaid titanium bridge pins, and what about...

David L

[MuddyFox]

Thanks all for chiming in...

@Tony: I don't know why your shop doesn't allow for one but I do know why my "shop" doesn't. It's a simple matter of space. I considered building one under a workbench but I need storage space (drawers) there.

@Johnn, Dog: That's pretty much what I plan on going with. Whole lotta rubber and miscellaneous heavy items.

@David: It's good to get a glimpse into the future :) as that's exactly what I am right now, overwhelmed and with zero experience. I am however already snooping around woods dealers worldwide for some interesting wood once I get one guitar under my belt. And being very much pressed for time, I plan to build for at least half a year, and if it takes a year and a half so be it. I'm in no hurry.

Having investigated many building options, I just don't have a good gut feeling about a gobar deck as a first building experience. I do understand it's been around for xxx years but for my first build and with saving space and money in mind, I decided to go with some sort of caul system and a few clamps and glue braces one at a time (either Ken's card thing or Bill Cory's wood caul). Do the kerfing with clothespins and close the box with some form of rubber bands and I too may just get by with very minimum of investment in clamps and spend money elsewhere (like on good router and drill bits).
Do a lot of dry runs, see what seems to work well enough and go with that.

On a side note, now that I mention it... about clothespins and kerfing. I see many pictures of clothespins having additional rubber bands wrapped around them. Is it really that often that a regular clothespin doesn't provide enough clamping force that it needs to be supplemented with a rubber band? How can one tell if it is needed or not? The way I see it, a hundred clothespins placed one right next to the other really should be sufficient...?