Clamping Ideas

1

Hi folks. I have been offline for a while. I just rebuilt my machine which was a centered gantry plate and now it is a moving Gantry system with a large cutting surface. (1000x1000). I have not made a new wasteboard but I am going form a 12x12 wasteboard now to a huge 30"? or so board.

So, I can can only think of using embeded T-slots or the screw system with the t-nuts .

What has been the most successful, easy to use in all of your vast opinions before I cut mdf?

I want to know what my best overall solution is!

Thanks for the great responses I know Ill be receiving.

2

“Poor man T-slot system”:

Take two layers of 1/2" MDF, Ply or similar.
Fasten one layer and run full lenght Y-axis slots with say 10mm width, 6mm deep, spaced 100 or 150mm apart.
Once done, glue the second layer on top and rerun the same program/path, but this time only 6mm wide / full depth (of the top layer)

Or basically achiebe the same thing doing this:

3

I use the tape and glue method. put tape on both the wasteboard and material, then glue one or the other. Place the material and place a small weight on it for 5 mins. What I don’t like about it is sometimes the pieces can be difficult to get off. The trade-off is I never have to use ‘tabs’ to hold interior cutouts.

material
blue painter’s tape
super glue
blue painter’s tape
wasteboard

1 Like
4

Double sided duct tape. I’ve used it forever. Double sided cloth carpet tape too. No glue fumes. There’s a learning curve on how much to use, but you get the hang of it. This 2.5 x 20" fretboard is held in place by 3 strips 1/4" wide by the length of the board.

fretboard
fretboard2592×1944 1.57 MB

I have 1/4-20 inserts about every 6 inches too, but still prefer the tape over wooden clamps. Adjustability of the workpiece is easier with clamps though.

3 Likes
5

I appreciate the feedback guys! I’ve sucessfully used the superglue method. But I haven’t heard of double sided duct tape?

I guess I was asking more of different methods of peoples t-slot clamping methods. I will be making a lot of different items, and many times the glue method isn’t sufficient for me. Embarrassingly, because I had a very small wasteboard/gantry plate(and have been lazy), I have been using spring clips. It is time to move up from that archaic method.

My machine sits on a 40x40 piecve of MDf now and I have a 4x8 sheet handy just wondering if it is easier to cut and install t-slots, t-nuts form the bottom and or use movable clamps that way or other methods.

6

https://www.lowes.com/pd/shurtape-1-88-in-x-12-yard-s-blue-heavy-duty-duct-tape/3014450?cm_mmc=shp-_-c-_-prd-_-pnt-_-google-_-lia-_-222-_-tape-_-3014450-_-0&store_code=1655&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4pWxuYGZ5AIVTZyzCh230QdoEAQYASABEgLxKvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

7

Wesley made an updated video recently if you are interested:

-Tom