Easy Low Profile Side Clamps For The Milling Machine

[@artisanmakes]

Almost forgot to add the link to the e-drawing. It is quite simple but should be good enough for you to get started. imgur.com/a/dIIQWqd EDIT: Revised drawing with slightly reduced angles to help prevent the moving jaw from sticking.

[@mysterysniper910]

link is not working But thats great and simple thanks for sharing cant wait to make my self.

[@dsimental6]

Thanks mate, now I have something to work on rather than sitting on the Couch. Cheers my friend.👍🍻

[@rjordans]

@@mysterysniper910 the link works fine here

[@dieselwelds8645]

Maybe next time you use a file and hacksaw to cut steel, instead try using a cut off tool 😜 or steel cutting wire 🤣

[@tonywilson4713]

great version of this type of clamp and thanks for the drawing. TheMetalRaymond did a similar thing, but bigger, chunkier and didn't bother with the dovetail. kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4OVoWyZmsxkmNk The other thing he did which might interest you before you harden the front edge is the step the front so it has a much lower front face. You could easily do the same with you clamp if it were a bit thicker or you could bolt a jaw onto it. That way you'd be able to completely face a slab of material like the one you demoed.

[@ferrumignis]

Beautifully simple design, I really like it. In the absence of hard teeth to bite into the workpiece you could probably use a piece of emery paper between the clamp and workpiece to get some extra bite.

[@jdshanahan4215]

Awesome idea. I nevet thought of that.

[@Hendreh1]

I had once these clamps . Be aware they hold much less than a vise or regular clamps

[@howardosborne8647]

@@Hendreh1 The effectiveness of the clamping force is dependent on how steep or shallow the wedging angle is. There are 2 piece bed jaw systems working on this principle that hold the workpiece very firmly

[@Hendreh1]

@@howardosborne8647 as I said , I have really used These clamps. And the angle was not an issue . But the Holding force of the t-nut in the table . It Moves sideways.

[@howardosborne8647]

@@Hendreh1 The simple solution there is to make a longer Tee nut which has a larger surface footprint.

[@InheritanceMachining]

Nice work, man! You've got me thinking of some projects I would need these for just as an excuse to make a set

[@JacobPaul123]

Side project- 1

[@artisanmakes]

Go ahead, i'd love to see you improve upon these

[@InheritanceMachining]

@@artisanmakes Not much I would change honestly. Maybe a unified t-nut so it all stays together. But thats just me being picky 😁

[@branchandfoundry560]

@@InheritanceMachining Looking forward to it...this is gonna be good!

[@youwillneverguess]

Side projects for the side projects??

[@Austinificationify]

I really appreciate the lengths you’re willing to go to maximize what you can do on a modest sized mill.

[@howder1951]

Great project and simple to make, I can see having a set of these will get me down to ground zero when the vice isn't the greatest choice. Cheers and thanks!

[@michaelbrocato7535]

Wow....easy to make , reliable method of clamping, and cheap.... all 3 points a home diy machinist is looking for thanks for sharing!!!!!

[@revgro]

Nice video. If you take a few millimeters off the bottom of the moving jaw (making it shorter than the fixed piece), it will probably be useful in more situations/configurations.

[@artisanmakes]

I am sure that would be an excellent idea

[@howardosborne8647]

I like the design and simplicity of these clamps. I reckon these would also be useful on the shaper table to hold stock for light finishing cuts.

[@sparkiekosten5902]

The ole k.i.s.s. method for the win! I always feel you need to clamp something down, not across but that is a solid idea. The best part is if you need to clamp low objects you could use some thin stock in between the clamp and the part to be machined to give the cutter clearance? Just thinking out loud on that one. Keep up the good work!

[@artisanmakes]

Yeah I'm sure there are many ways of going about using them

[@Lmarc1982]

Congratulations for your work. I have just one suggestion for the moving part of the clamp. As you you tighten the screw, the T bolt will be both moved forward and upwards. This tiny forward movement could damage your milling bed from underneath. In order to prevent that, just mill an ellipse into the moving part, instead of a exact hole for the allen screw. I believe that this will allow a kind of "tilt" of the screw and this will prevent the milling bed from getting damaged. I am not quite sure if this is the best solution for that, but it is the one that I thought now.

[@stumcconnel]

Nicely done, I think I might make some of these for my CNC! To get around the height issue, you could put another piece of material under the work piece to raise it up slightly. You would need something approximately the same size though, which might not always be practical.

[@tomherd4179]

I was thinking of the same thing. Perhaps the riser piece could be longer on one axis and clamped at the ends sticking past the actual work piece?

[@mattweeks7142]

I actually love how clean your machine is and how nice you keep it. My machines are always covered in coolant and swarf. Great work 👌

[@bulletproofpepper2]

I like it and a sliver of sandpaper between the part and the clamp could be added for extra holding. Thanks for sharing!

[@fredbloggs4829]

Great design and I may well make up some myself. For the moveable jaw, if you milled it with an L shape so that only the bottom 5 - 10 mm is holding the work, this pushes the clamp back and allows access to mill the top of the work.

[@bryanwanek46]

Have always had to use hold down dogs but often they get in the way and anytime you unclamp and reclamp to continue a pass you chance introducing errors. I love these and plan to build some of varying thicknesses. Thanks for a great video!

[@Smallathe]

Wonderful design. I thought of a floating vice (e.g. this old tony)... yours is much simpler and a very elegant design.

[@Mr986Willis]

What an elegant solution! I've been pondering how to make a clamp to do this job I will be making my own set very soon!

[@arbjful]

What an Excellent design, simple and effective, the way it should be…

[@HM-Projects]

Simple and effective design. Love it.

[@JETHO321]

That's absolutely ingenious!

[@jeffanderson4979]

Nice. I never think of using my fly cutters that way. Smart

[@bhein67]

Thanks. That is a really simple but very useful tool. Cheers from Canada

[@patrickd9551]

I'm pretty sure you also need double T-slot nuts for this project ;) Basically a double length nut with two threads. It will serve many purposes: - clamp alignment - keeps the clamps together in storage - better force distribution and above everything else: It will just make some additional content for us to consume 😁😁😁

[@coolm98]

that would actually work against the mechanics of the clamp as the two bolts slightly move together while clamping...

[@zounds010]

Interesting idea. I'm guessing it would work without the dovetails too...

[@artisanmakes]

I made a prototype without them, and you might see them in the video where I use them. They worked fine, but I seemed to get slightly better clamping with the dovetails, and they were a little easier to set up ands store. That's how I saw it, but you can always do it without them if want. Cheers

[@branchandfoundry560]

I'd guess even a simple keyway would be fine. Anything to keep the halves located in the presence of lateral force would serve the purpose, no?

[@artisanmakes]

Im sure you could approach this many different ways and get similar results

[@TalRohan]

Thatsa fantastic mechanism, simple but elegant and sensible....very cool.

[@JohnDoe-ls2ww]

Idk about anyone else but I really enjoy watching / hearing that fly cutter

[@nielscremer599]

Beautiful design! Hats off to you.

[@rfisher79]

I like the Eccentric Cam Lock style but I can see myself making a set of these in S7 and run them Thru the Ovens.

[@bigblue1402]

Thanks for a very adaptable idea. Simply brilliant

[@jibeji]

This is brillant ! I am watching your videos for a long time and really appreciate all you achieve with hobby tools. And by the way, english is not my mother language, I love your accent !!!

[@allengentz7572]

Hi , Thank you for sharing this helpful item, will be a great asset, thanks for supplying the plan. Top videos and top knowledge passed on.

[@travistucker7317]

Great idea and execution. True engineering.

[@artisanmakes]

Thank you very much!

[@dustinandtarynwolfe5540]

Man your parts have come a really long ways. Nice work brother. Those dovetail clamps look really nice.

[@cinobro6393]

Great design! I’ve been looking for something exactly like this. Any chance you’ll be making any more?

[@artisanmakes]

I probably will once I get more material, everything seems to be on backorder at the suppliers these days :)

[@BasementEngineer]

@@artisanmakes Make friends at a local scrap yard! Tell them you're a hobby machinist and take along some items you have made. Offcuts from screw-machine shops and fabricators go a long way to reducing costs. Tool steel you can get from annealed automotive springs. For complex items such as machined-from-solid crank shafts I purchase a piece of stressproof aka 1144 machinery steel. Your low rise clamps are very nice and useful indeed. To resist wear and tear, case hardening or pack hardening would be a useful.

[@girliedog]

What a clever design.

[@marceloiannini8199]

Very good design! So far, I like your the most, than I like Harold Hall's. I'll be needing them really soon.

[@burningdieselproduction5498]

Nice video Artisan! If it would help you, there are hardened grip inserts on the market for brand name vise jaws. You could machine pockets for these and add them in your design if need arise. Have fun

[@dineshvyas]

This is absolutely wonderful.

[@michaelguzzi1]

Thanks for sharing this with us!

[@hootinouts]

Instead of hardening the clamping jaw, you could incorporate hardened serrated gripper inserts. McMaster Carr and CarrLane carry these. I was a tool and die designer years ago and designed many a fix and fixture with these type gripper inserts.

[@MrJoeGarner]

Excellent clamps my friend!

[@terrycannon570]

Awesome. Thanks for the video and the drawing

[@rickpalechuk4411]

Great idea!

[@dermotkelly2971]

Great work. Amazing stuff

[@donindusted]

Lovely work, if the piece clamping the work had a step to clear the cutting tool I think that would help as well, nicely done.

[@frogandspanner]

I am concerned by potential T-slot damage. The fixed jaw is clamped to the table, with a compressive force applied to the cast iron table - equal and opposite along the T-slot bolt. The moving jaw is pulled down to the T-slot nut, but there is no equal and opposite force applied in the axis of the bolt (there is a gap between the jaw and the table), so there will be a torque and tension in the T-slot. Overtighten the clamp and the T-slot might break.

[@leadgindairy3709]

such a cool design

[@artmckay6704]

I like yours better than most store bought ones! Very clever! :)

[@mftmachining]

Excellent job. Very good idea.

[@iancraig1951]

Well thought out young fellar--first class idea and explanation..--thanks a million E

[@4GibMe]

LOL, why better then the ones This Old Tony tried to make.

[@MrPauls-vr4mj]

That's a clever idea!

[@older-wiser-better]

I like it . Simple and works excellent.

[@lasdiralfreedom]

Side clamps underestimated but very important

[@Itsdirtnaptime]

I will say that these are a modified version of clamps I (eventually) learned to love. This is a great alternative. Only downside is the possibility of pulling the part down to the table. Aka if the part is warped and you pull it straight, when you loosen the clamps, the part will spring back to not flat.

[@JaakkoF]

Not a downside of the clamps, every holding method has the same problem. The problem can be solved by shimming the workpiece from the clamping location, so that it when it pulls down, it as a solid rest under it, thus no warping.

[@drjohn148]

Great Idea. I will definitely make a couple of them.

[@ParsMaker]

Simple and effective, nice work

[@gomlin3108]

You could make extra long T-Nuts with an additional threaded hole and run a stud and nut through it as well, clamping the nut and a 123 block onto the top of the table. This would greatly increase the resistance of the fixed block to keep it from moving.

[@artisanmakes]

Yes, I'm sure that would work very well

[@mwistrach7809]

Hey, that’s a great idea. Well done!

[@jimsvideos7201]

Nicely done, thank you for sharing the process.

[@neffk]

Nice work. Have you considered case hardening your clamp? From what I read, it will improve their wear characteristics dramatically.

[@artisanmakes]

Wait about two weeks and ill have a case hardening video up. Case hardening does work but it is a very involved and drawn out process. cheers

[@aceroadholder2185]

Nicely made. Making the clamp with a dove tail isn't really necessary. A square slot or no slot at all would suffice. The clamping jaw isn't seeing any side loading or twisting as it is screwed down. Slotting the clamp screw hole, as some have suggested, isn't much needed either. A good clearance hole in the moving clamping block would be ample. Once set, the clamping block is only moving a few thousants of an inch against the work as it is clamped down If you don't bother cutting mating tongues and slots, you could make two or three of these clamps in no time. As rarely as you need them, I wouldn't bother hardening them. That way you can always modify the jaws for a specific job or just cut into them if needed since replacements are so easy to make.

[@Axel_Andersen]

My thoughts exactly!

[@artisanmakes]

You don't have to add them.i made one without them and the clamping force was slightly better with them. Plus it helps align them so they are easier to set up and store. In my opinion they are worth adding

[@mattinkel7342]

really nice , definately make some for my mill, thankyou for the video

[@jeffanderson4979]

Ill make a pair based on your excellent design

[@muppdeluxe]

Very elegant!

[@gordonwatt]

Great idea and video. I've started making a set of these using your drawing as a starting point - just finished the dovetails (my first ever). I notice you have changed the drawing slightly so the moving jaw is the male part of the dovetail, but in the video you have them the other way round? Is there a preferred orientation for this kind of application or does it really not matter?

[@andrewbarney5503]

Love it. Simple. Thanks for sharing!

[@chainspending6343]

really smart idea

[@dannyarendall5233]

I think that’s a GREAT idea

[@tonyrath9158]

Nice work 👍

[@jamesmcintyre9985]

Nice idea. I wonder though - Couldn't a simpler 'tongue and groove' joint be made to work just as well?

[@larry3064]

Very nice work.

[@normchampine472]

Very nicely done indeed, it’s simple, it’s clever, and supremely strong of all things well done I think I’m going to have to make myself a couple sets of these they’re beautifully made. Only things are I’d harden them and chamfer those sharp edges a lil even just breaking that edge .010 - .015 would do I think 🤔, well we’ll see I suppose.

[@homemadetools]

Good work yet again, and thanks for including the drawings. We shared this video on our homemade tools forum this week 😎

[@SaleemAhmad-tv9re]

Very beautiful ❤

[@Sanny987]

Very clever solution.

[@android4cg]

Really great idea! Thanks for sharing!

[@tomherd4179]

I like creativity !! Thanks.

[@navaho5430]

Nice simple clamp cheers.

[@ayubasghar1345]

very nice, but the second locking bolt should be a stud for more downword gripping movement !!

[@skorkmaz]

Impressive. Very good job.

[@EngineerRaisedInKingston]

What a fantastic project - might have to have a go myself ;)

[@jackdawg4579]

there ya go, sitting here suffering my usual insomnia in 2:30am youtube hell, and a video from Artisan Makes pops up, how good is that! I might have a go at a set of these - I also reckon you could possibly get away without the dovetails ?, the T nuts would stop any potential for sideways movement?.

[@artisanmakes]

I made a prototype without them, and you might see them in the video where I use them. They worked fine, but I seemed to get slightly better clamping with the dovetails, and they were a little easier to set up. That's how I saw it. Cheers

[@jakubkopec9313]

You can replace dovetail with a right angle groove.

[@BasementEngineer]

@@jakubkopec9313 Indeed. A simpler method still would be to drill and ream a hole with its centre line parallel to the sliding surfaces. A fitted pin may be held in place with a small screw. Still, a dove tail holds the bits together during storage.

[@artisanmakes]

Yeah im sure that you could do that

[@sky173]

Great video. I just might make a few of these today. :) Thanks for sharing.

[@emilcladoveanu1875]

Thank You man for your work

[@DersNoNem]

I think with the softer metal, it will hold up together better. If it's harder, it easier slip the workpiece.

[@artisanmakes]

Probably but in sure there are some set ups where one might benefit from having a hardened jaw. Cheers

[@mechaverseengineering]

Please make a video for maintaining the milling table surface 😊

[@Zen_Modeling]

Not sure if I’ll actually machine this gadget, but your video gave me numerous other machining 💡’s & taught me a few Valuable Techniques!!!! Ripper Good Mate💯 Thank U👏👏👏👏👏👏 ☯️ZenModeling

[@stevesfascinations1516]

I really enjoy all your videos. I watch and rewatch them all the time. I am relatively new to machining and am really impressed at the quality of your work, editing, and filming. I wonder if you could do an instructional video on how to do the dovetails in metal. I know how to do this in wood, but what cutter, what angle, feed/speed in metal? It is one of those black holes of information in my head. I guess if you were a machinist this would be easy. Already subscribed, but you get another thumbs up!

[@mrayco]

This is my very next project thank you

[@camillosteuss]

Those should have a slight dab of moly or graphite grease, on the sliding surfaces of the dovetails and the Tnuts should be well greased aswell as the whole mechanism has a lot of interference with itself, the part its holding and the table`s tslots via tnuts while being tightened... A great design, tho its one, like a two piece vise, that i would use with a separate tslot base affixed to the mill table, as not to mangle the table, given that it essentially relies on the strength of the Tslots for its max clamping capacity, and when shit shifts around, you tend to crank it down doubly as hard, and that is a surefire way to excavate a chunk of your table... And the only thing as bad as that is getting caught by a machine itself and being mangled unto death...

[@JonasRabbe]

Keeping them unhardened also means you can use them on finished surfaces on some materials and it won’t mar them. Of course you can add a softer face if that is a concern for other materials.

[@makerspace533]

Nice design. Leaving them soft might be a good idea. They would be less apt to leave marks on a workpiece.

[@artisanmakes]

A few others have asked this too, and I'd say that its probably up to you whether or not to harden them and it probably depends of what you're machining cheers

[@szki272]

Nice project. I would think that the dovetail isn't actually needed. Just the slot and tang would hold it in place. Not everyone is going to have dovetail cutters.

[@artisanmakes]

You don't have to add them.i made one without them and the clamping force was slightly better with them. Plus it helps align them so they are easier to set up and store. In my opinion they are worth adding but of course you can change up the design as much as you want to suit your set up.

[@guytech7310]

Make a low profile section into the clamping half that contacts the work piece and perhaps mill in some serations so the clamp can grip better. Consider you make the working piece side with a toe second that is about half the height of the dovetail. You need to make the toe section big enough such that the endmills you are using do not come in contact with the clamp. serations and case harding would help it grip parts better.

[@jays_metalworks9399]

Smart idea them 👍🏻

[@fernandodossantosfilho6139]

Good Idea

[@RixtronixLAB]

Nice video shot, thank you for sharing it , keep it up:)

[@philmenzies2477]

Very nice! Very impressed! I think I may make a pair of these. What is your opinion on giving the moving jaw some teeth for bite? Do you think thats warranted?

[@Rustinox]

That is indeed a good idea.