Friday, November 19, 2010

Simple hold down

Zinom posted on the HSM forum about a simple hold down clamp he made:

Hey all, I often need to drill a hole in some thin stock that doesn't require a lot of precision so I don't like to spend much time on the set up.

*disclaimer* I use a small screwless vise almost exclusively so this may not be too useful to those with vises without vee grooves.

Threaded rod, scrap strap and a couple of set screws that fit in the vee groove to prevent the clamp from pulling upward.

Not a complex thing but for me it speeds up some operations and I hadn't seen anything similar in all the web surfing I've done.








This looked like a pretty handy thing to have. I think for a vise with V slot across it you could also use a rod for the bottom piece, and you wouldn't have to bother with the set screws. Also, a brass tip on the end of the thumbscrew would keep you from messing up the top of the vise.