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.
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