It actually didn't take long to run out of room for clamps on my original (stolen idea) clamp stand, particularly after a couple of large scores during some major retailers' clamp disgorgement exercises in the early aughts. Coincidentally, during that same time period Norm added a rolling clamp stand to his list of projects (Episode 1407, Work Table & Clamp Stand). When it aired I was in no position to act on it, since we were living in the condo at the time, however the seeds of discontent germinated and when I was able to get some organization into the shop in the new house I set about replicating Norm's creation.
There's really nothing remarkable about the stand, although I think it's a quite nice design—enough footprint to give it reasonable stability yet not take up too much precious shop space, and angled uprights which really plant the clamps in place yet they are still easily removable. I also used full swivel casters, to easily access the next clamp you need which is always on the other side. Here are a couple of shots of the stand in my outdoor work area next to my blue dust collector.
|
| (as always, click on the thumbnail for a larger view) |
|
Any clamp stand, particularly with this many clamps (and there are more to be accommodated) will be heavy and the center of gravity, despite being well within the foot print of the casters, is still quite high, so it's important to use care when moving it around. I liken it to what I taught the kids about driving in the snow—don't do anything fast. Don't try to start fast, don't try to slow down fast, don't try to turn fast—any of those will lead to unintended consequences, nearly all of which are also undesirable.
I counseled in one of the woodworking forums on the subject of casters to use the largest practicable—I consider 5" to be the minimum diameter (and mine are). I said, “the bigger the wheel the easier it is to roll over detritus on your floor.” That garnered this response: “you know it's going to be a good day when you not only get suggestions on where to get some good casters, but you also get to see "detritus" used in a sentence!” from one of the other posters. I guess I'll have to learn to tone it down.
By the way, I can't really characterize this one as stolen like my original was. Clearly, The New Yankee Workshop is geared toward DIYers building similar projects—they even sell the plans. So, although I may have aced them out of some plan revenue, clearly the project is public domainish, don't you think? That's my story…
Last updated: 27 January 2009
Main Page