Clamping System

Has anyone made clamps to secure the material down?

I have made wood versions of the metal clamps you see on milling machines. Basically it is a long bar of half inch thick wood with a slot milled in it. I have varying lengths. I use them with bolts and washers that screw into the bed inserts.

Mine aren’t this fancy. https://www.ebay.com/c/1776000878

I stick fulcrum blocks underneath of different sizes to accomodate different thicknesses. My clamps have a pretty good chance of getting cut once in a while as I really try to minimize waste.

My other machine has an aluminum extrusion bed, so I use wooden cam clamps there. They are held in place with 1/4-20 bolts and wingnuts with washers. The other machine has more slots than the x carve has inserts, so these clamps can be a bit shorter in length.

If you search the project section for words like clamp and hold down you will find a few examples you can carve yourself.

I made Phillip Lunsford’s bump stops. I use them for hold downs too. They have an edge if you flip them over.

I got too aggressive with tightening them down and they started to split, so I made acrylic ones.

Have had zero issues and I use them on most jobs.

2 Likes

Awesome thank you

Thank you. They look great. Acrylic is a great idea