Woodworking with very few clamps (maybe only 5).

How many clamps does it take to hold your woodwork? Turns out... not many.
Get my Five Essential Clamps (Links Below)

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Amazon affiliate links for my Five Essential Clamps:

(I recommend you just buy it locally.)

(This one isn’t cheap, but it’s very good. I’ve also had good luck with cheaper ones, even Harbor Freight versions.)

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Table Of Contents

00:00 Intro
00:27 ` History: Long Island Dominys
01:31 ` Opening Cut Scene

01:43 Merits Of Old School Techniques
02:07 ` Dove Tail Joint
02:57 ` Draw-Bored Mortise & Tenon
04:34 ` Rabbet Joint
05:32 ` Battens Screwed On Work Bench With Wedges
06:16 ` Sprung Joint

07:02 ` ` Misc Commentary

See the description for links on where you can purchase these clamps. Buying them at the links will support Rex! :)

08:00 42" Long Pipe Clamp
09:17 2 Medium Sized Bar Clamps [a.k.a. F-Clamps]
10:29 Adjustable Twin Screw Clamp
11:55 Spring Clamps

13:08 Conclusion
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More Workholding:

Make a big leg vise:

Learn about woodworking vises:

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Build your own Early American Cupboard

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Become a member of this channel!

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Wood Work for Humans Tool List (affiliate):
*Cutting*
(Winner of the affordable dovetail-saw shootout.)
(Needs tune-up to work well.)
(Works out of the box)
(My favorite affordable new chisels.)
(I use these to make the DIY specialty planes, but I also like them for general work.)

*Sharpening*

*Marking and Measuring*
(For marking and the built-in awl).
(Excellent, inexpensive marking knife.)

*Drilling*

*Work-Holding*

Follow me on Instagram: @rexkrueger

[SteveRamsey]

Hey Rex, thanks for the shout-out. Your comments about downsizing rang true with me. I used to be so impressed by large shops filled with tools, imaging all I could do with them. But now my shop has half the stuff it did a decade ago and I marvel at people who do more with less.

[WaterNWineCreations]

I grew up in my dad’s cabinet shop… he was a craftsman for sure. Once a man was wanting him to build something for him and dad wasn’t jumping on the job… the man made the mistake of walking in dad’s shop and making the comment… “well! Anyone could build the stuff you do if they had the tools you do.” Dad politely told him where he could go and purchase the tools. Your comment about knowing how to use the tools reminded me of that.

[James_T_Kirk_]

Rex you sentiment reminds me of something my pops told me when I was younger and I used to talk about all the guns I wanted to buy when I got older. He told me “a wise man once said beware the man with only one rifle because he probably knows how to use it”. The end of your video made me think of that.

[jakob]

I'm just getting into the thought of doing woodworking and I'm really enjoying your videos. I like how you keep it real, no fluff, and keep it to the point. Happy I found your channel, Rex.

[hali]

Steve Steve is my first woodworking love. His humor and fun and open minded approach to woodworking is still the best 😍

[Lamefoureyes]

Rex, you're a gift to the community.

[innovtive]

I think you described my situation perfectly when you discussed power tools. I have been preparing to prepare to do some fine woodworking for YEARS now. All I seem to do is buy, set up, improve, adjust, repair, refine, modify and otherwise tinker with my power tools, with no time left for actually using them to their full potential. My shop, although it is a fair size, never seems to be big enough. I think it's time for me to take a long and careful look at what I really NEED as opposed to what I think I want! Thank you Rex, I'm really enjoying your videos.

[golyagolya]

A mostly overlooked cheap alternative to bigger clamps (especially when glueing together boards) is the ratchet tie down strap. It has incredible power that can be easily directed with some well-placed pieces of wood.

[TekedixXx]

Alright Rex, that opener was probably the funniest one yet. And the follow up after the intro was a great touch.

[royharkins]

Inspirational thanks mate, it’s just taken me about 2 mnths to make a birch ply vice using old car front shock absorbers, what the guy built in ten mins took me 1000times longer !! 2mnths in fact, ffs ! My point videos are so so bones so succinct “ I’m their” man thanks again
Roy 😊

[Wldgeist]

An important part of why in the past people didn't use as much clamps is the glue itself. Bone/hide glue "tightens" up while it dries. Additionally it dries super quickly to a state where no pressing is needed anymore and it needs only a couple of hours to really harden up for real use. Glueing up boards in the past was done vertically and the weight of a board was enough pressure for a hide glue up.

[beepo]

Pony clamps!!! I've been dying for someone on YouTube to drop that name. As a contractor Pony clamp's "cabinet claw" is essential. It's the one clamp that every kitchen installer needs to do a quality job with less than high end cabinets. Not so much a wood working tool but I havent installed a kitchen without them in 20 yrs. I prefer the older 90s version... but any awesome clamps. Lot of detail into ergonomics over aesthetics. It feels like the people who design them have worked in th field and have built them from real world knowledge.

[robingronw]

The draw bored mortice and tennon is such a good joint! A ratcheting strap is great for the really long stuff with shims to protect the work piece. Thanks Rex.

[jkmcdonnell]

sometimes its funny how downsizing makes things so much easier . my first acoustic guitar took around 150 hrs. now after 47 guitars I am down to 450 to 500 hrs.

[propertystuff]

LMAO that thumbnail! And the paper bag gag made me laugh too. Love your sense of humor, and thank you for the solid advise!

[paulhoulihan]

Rex - hope you are ok after your panic attack !! Paper bag scene - my favorite Rex comedy moment of all time !!!

[jandejongh]

Thanks so much Rex; very useful views and tips! Loved @13:19: "I'm an American; love it when things are huge." We love you nonetheless 🙂🙂

[mm]

I have enough clamps to clamp up most things I want to build, but that’s usually not the problem: most people aren’t missing the clamps required for their project, most people run out of clamps when they’re glueing up several pieces at the same time. And that’s not just a problem for commercial shops, it also applies to hobbyists who don’t have an endless supply of spare time.

[charlesrussell]

Good video Rex. These are my go-tos on clamps. (With one exception.)

My notes:

The cheapest clamps that you might have overlooked are simply twine/rope and a stick (see your turning saw video). This may have been a method the Dominys used. Since the clamp is basically just a rope and a sturdy key, there would have been no noticeable artifact remaining as the rope can be used for other projects and the key was probably a piece of wood. I used this clamping method all the time as a kid and still use it today when I need one more clamp (Including this February on a bar top made out of 2x12s). Just remember to slip some cardboard or angle iron over any corners to prevent the rope from digging into the wood. It is also a great clamp for wilderness work since you don't have to haul heavy iron castings in your tool backpack.

Pony-Jorgeson clamps are good. I recommend the F-clamps and their pipe clamps. That being said, I have had problems with their cast iron holdfasts and (avoid at all costs) the Jorgenson miter saws.

Finally I love my adjustable twin screws. I saved up my allowance as a kid to buy a pair, and yes! I have done the basement floor joist storage trick. I do use them for glue ups because you can fine tune the pressure across the work. Then again, I grew up with them. To me they are a musical instrument of clamps.

[tony.kmullinsstudio]

I've found the "need less, do more" to be true in almost everything I do. My photography started off with me purchasing anything I could get my hands on. I ended up with 7 studio lights, a bunch of stands, light modifiers, and backgrounds, as well as just about every software for editing photos one could buy. Now, I use 4 lights at most (and usually just 1 light on almost everything I do, and that's usually a speedlight), three modifiers exclusively (1 huge silver umbrella, a 34" foldable beauty dish, and strip boxes), one background (18% gray, which is easy to replace with any other background I want), and one editing program (Affinity Photo). Drawing and painting is the same. I even started making my own charcoal for drawing. The one thing I'd recommend for artists to either buy or build is a very good desk ( I use a Mayline Ranger 60" desk). Having a proper surface is so nice to work on. My painting, I only need about 7 colors, including white and black. Everything else can be mixed. The brushes, maybe 10 different brushes. Keeping things simple allows me to focus on the creation I'm trying to make and less on the equipment.

Just found your channel today. I enjoyed the video. Keep up the good work. Subbed.