Hi,
Still a beginner I’ve broken quite a few bits by now. Twice I ran the machine into the plastic clamps. Anyhow, it’s always a concern for me.
Since eventually I want to carve into 2" x 4" work pieces I did not want to have to deal with that particular issue/fear. Especially, since the v-bits are very sturdy and I do not want to cause damage to motors, bending the rails or anything like that.
So my son and I made these home-grown clamps that are completely out of the way, and securely hold the work piece in place. I am sure someone could make them look a lot better, but I hate spending money on stuff I have laying around in the garage anyhow, so it’s all old stuff we used.
If someone wants dimensions I am happy to list it in more detail. The shorts list is: Small block of lumber, made an L-bracket out of a hurricane tie, old nut’s and bolts that we re-threaded, and the piece on the end of the bolts came from an old bent out of shape clamp. A little bit of welding (which I am not very good at, LOL), grinding and paint. Took us about a couple of hours to make them.
The back piece is just a strip of lumber with holes to secure onto the work area. So, for me this was the solution to something I always feared, and I did not have to spend any money either.
Later …
