Sheet metal clamps

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Tim...Ok

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 27, 2010
Messages
1,185
Location
Inola,OK
Anybody got any detailed pics of the sheet metal clamps everybody seems to use for aligning panels on the top chops..I plan on needing some fairly soon

thanks,
Tim
 
yep Don, harbor freight still has them.. dirt cheep.. I think a pack of 8 is like $2.99 i made some of my own before I spotted them at HF.. and at that price making them isnt worth the time
 
Haha, we did the same thing. Dan spent a lot of time making some, had to get wing nuts and all, then we found bags of them cheap at HF. Glad to see they still carry them.

The only downside to any of these clamps is that they do leave about a 1/16-1/8 inch gap between the two panels you are welding up. In some cases we liked a tighter fit, so we didn't use them. But it you don't mind a little more gap they work great.

Don
 
I've trimmed out whee the clamps will go to get a tighter fit for most of it. Generally that's been good enough for my work. But I tend to measure with my finger, mark it with spit, and cut with a hammer. :p
 
I don't care for those butt clamps. Don't like the distance they leave between the pieces & it makes it hard to weld funky old thin sheet metal... IMO! Although using them I became an expert in welding up burn through holes!!! :eek::eek::eek:

BoB
 
I don't much care for the gap that these clamps have but, I do have a grinder and I'm not gonna pay eastwood what they want. Can someone give me the Harbor Freight part number, I can't find them on their web site.......ruggs
 
I made my own too, they work great. I chopped my truck by myself, just cutting a little and clamping as I went. I used 18 gauge sheet metal for the spacer which leaves a nice tight gap and I have specific dimensions and so on if you want them. The only thing I noticed is if you over tighten them they will suck the two pieces up just enough to "crown" the joint leaving the joint as a high spot.
 

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Hey, post it..... sure some guys will use it...

Any of this info is useful to a lot of guys.... never can get too much info you know....lol
 
They're not listed on the HF website anymore. I think they've been discontinued. That's why I made my own too. I used sheetmetal off an old microwave oven - 22ga. The gap is miniscule.
1" square tube
some all-thread
microwave sheetmetal
wingnut and an 8 penny nail

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