Spool Clamps Keep Thin Stock Tight on Curved Edges

If you need to clamp a thin piece of stock onto the top edge of a curved box, your regular clamps will be too bulky to arrange in a tight formation around the curves. By making a dozen or so of these spool clamps favored by musical-instrument makers, you can apply even pressure to any curved edge.

Round over the end of a 1 ¹⁄₄ "-diameter closet-pole dowel, then cut it about 1³⁄₄ " long. Glue a piece of cork on the flat end and drill a ³⁄₈ " hole through the center. Run a carriage bolt long enough to fit the depth of the project you're clamping through two of the pieces as shown below and use a wing nut to clamp it tight.

—Don Mostrom, Des Moines, Iowa