# Shop made clamp rack.



## woodtickgreg (Mar 14, 2021)

Recently I acquired a bunch of pipe clamps, add that to what I already have and storage became an issue. Space is becoming a premium in my shop as well so I had to come up with something compact. I want easy to get the clamps out and also not have them fall off the rack onto me. I'm going to try and get all my clamps in one area, we'll see how that goes. I'm just using scrap 3/4" maple ywood because I have a ton of it that I salvage for free from a previous employer. But you could also use any 3/4" wood for this.

I started by gathering up the scrap plywood.



I cut a bunch of 10" squares, always cut more than you think you'll need so you can add to your rack later as needed. You can make the square larger or smaller as needed.



Next I set my miter gage up to cut the squares in half. This the yields 2 pieces of stock.



Using the flip stop on the miter gage means only setting it up once, no more measuring after the set up. Just production style batch cutting.



Now I have all the squares split In half. Yielding a 10" x 10" bracket. 



Next I clipped the corners off. Again using the stop on the miter gage.



Save the cut offs, you'll use them later.



Next I used some med CA glue and accelerator to glue the clips onto the top of the bracket.



Using CA .are this a fast process. Ask me how many times I glued my fingers to the stock, lol.



Next I took them to the disc sander and rounded the ends over.



More coming soon. To be continued,

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | Great Post 1


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 14, 2021)

Gave the brackets a quick sand with 150 grit, mostly just to break the edges a bit.



I figured out the width I needed for the pipe clamps and cut the back pieces. Then marked it and pre drilled some holes for the screws. A little TB II and screw and it'll be plenty strong. 



Here you can see what I was going after, I can get 5 clamps in one holder.



A front view.



Here I'm trying out the spacing for the holders that will be screwed to a piece of plywood before mounting to the wall.



To be continued.........

Reactions: Like 1 | Great Post 1 | Way Cool 1


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## Tony (Mar 14, 2021)




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## woodtickgreg (Mar 14, 2021)

As I'm clamping the brackets down to be attached with screws I check them to make sure they are square before driving the screws.



I have some rockler aluminum bar clamps that are a little wider so I measured them to make a couple of hangers just for them. I just add 1 5/8" to the measurement and then cut a board to that dimension to screw the brackets to.



This is the clamp area that is going to get a makeover.





Now I highly recommend you skip this next step. Knock the whole assembly off the bench and chip the corners of the plywood so you have to get the CA glue out and fix it before you can hang it.

Then I used some 2 1/2" deck screws to mount the assembly to the studs. And then I filled it with all my long clamps.



I think I have 26 clamps or so in this space.



This pile of clamps needs to go back on the wall yet so I'll be making some more racks to hang this stuff. I have enough brackets left to make 3 more before I need to cut more.



The door opens far enough for me to get materials in and projects out.



When materials go in they go into this area to be processed or broken down.



I'll probably make some kind of door stop so the door doesn't hit the first bracket.



So for zero cost. All out of salvaged plywood and glue and screws I already had on hand.

Reactions: Like 1 | Great Post 1 | Way Cool 2 | Useful 1


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## 2feathers Creative Making (Mar 14, 2021)

And I thought I was busy... oh well. I reckon I slacked off today.


There.



There is a second picture in case you needed a close up of slacking off.
Nice clamp racks. Will no doubt use that type design if I ever get my shop built.

Reactions: Like 1 | Funny 1


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## Nature Man (Mar 14, 2021)

Ingenious use of scrap wood! Thanks for the detailed tutorial! Chuck

Reactions: Thank You! 1 | +Karma 1


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## William Tanner (Mar 14, 2021)

Cool project. Need to think about doing that here.

Reactions: Like 1


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 16, 2021)

Well I made one more assembly and got my smaller Jorgensen clamps and quick grips a new better home. And I also just screwed a board to the wall for my "C" clamps and spring clamps. Now all of my clamps are in one area and I didn't have to use up any floor space with a rolling clamp rack.


This was the last section added. I can add more if need be later. 



Everything is screwed to the wall with deck screws so I can always reconfigure things if I ever need to at any time.



This was an easy and very satisfying project. I'm very pleased with how it came out.

Reactions: Like 2


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 16, 2021)

These are the only clamps I didn't hang as I rarely ever use them. I don't like the clutches on them.

Reactions: Useful 1


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## Gdurfey (Mar 16, 2021)

Couple of things: the lathe is empty; and why the tips? clamps don't just magically slide off do they

Reactions: Funny 1


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## 2feathers Creative Making (Mar 16, 2021)

Gdurfey said:


> Couple of things: the lathe is empty; and why the tips? clamps don't just magically slide off do they


What? Dont you ever have shop gremlins? Clamps will skate, slide, or even jump depending on the time of year and type of gremlin. Those grandchild like gremlins are the worst. The wife will get mad at you if the gremlin cries over something it did.

Reactions: Agree 1 | Funny 1 | +Karma 1


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## ebill (Mar 18, 2021)

- great idea for gathering up all those different clamps. 

- I too have a few of those 'bad' pipe clamps leaning in a corner. I never did like them for one reason or another and they never get used. 

- ebill


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## woodtickgreg (Mar 18, 2021)

ebill said:


> - great idea for gathering up all those different clamps.
> 
> - I too have a few of those 'bad' pipe clamps leaning in a corner. I never did like them for one reason or another and they never get used.
> 
> - ebill


New pipe clamps today are far better than they used to be.


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