Pipe clamp

For clamps used to hold pipes and hoses together, see hose clamp.

A short pipe clamp

A pipe clamp is a type of clamp often employed in woodworking, piping or cabinet shops. When referring to woodwork or cabinet shops, pipe clamps are usually composed of commercially manufactured clamp heads or "jaws" and a length of common threaded pipe. The capacity of the clamp is determined by the length of the pipe used. When referring to piping, pipe clamps are used to connect the pipe to the pipe hanger assembly.

Description

In woodwork, a pipe clamp uses clamp heads produced commercially by numerous manufacturers. They are available in various diameter sizes, commonly ½”or ¾”, suited to the same diameter piping. The pipe is usually threaded on both ends. One head is fixed on the pipe by spinning it onto standard pipe threads. This head includes the screw mechanism for tightening the clamp. The other, movable, head slides onto the other end of the pipe. This head has a mechanism, often a series of movable “clutches” which allow it to slide along the pipe when setting up the clamping operation but which lock onto the pipe when clamping pressure is applied.

Pipe clamps serve a similar purpose to bar clamps but are generally less expensive to purchase and have a versatility derived from the ability to use a variety of lengths of pipe to suit ones needs. The same clamp heads might be switched over from a two-foot length of pipe to a twelve-foot length as the project at hand dictates. Having threads at both ends of the pipe also allows the use of pipe couplings, joining two lengths of pipe to extend the length of the clamp.

In piping, a pipe clamp is a bottled attachment that clamps around the pipe. The clamps can be manufactured with black or galvanized finishes.

Uses

Pipe clamps being used to glue up a wooden lamination

A common use of pipe clamps in woodworking is for edge gluing; several boards being joined edge to edge to produce a wider surface such as a table top or cabinet components. In this case several pipe clamps will be set up on the workbench so that clamping pressure can be applied evenly along the length of the boards being joined.Pipe clamps can be used to assemble the four sides of boxes or cabinets.

A pipe clamp can also be used to connect a pipe to the remainder of a pipe hanger assembly. Pipe clamps are recommended for suspension for cold pipe lines that may or may not be insulated.^[1]

As with most other forms of clamps, a wide variety of uses might be found.

Woodworking

Overviews

Forms

Woods

Soft	Cedar (Calocedrus, Cedrus) Cypress Douglas fir Fir Juniper Larch Pine Spruce Yew

Hard	Ash Alder Aspen Balsa Beech Birch Cherry Chestnut Cocobolo Ebony Elm Hazel Lignum vitae Linden (lime, basswood) Mahogany Maple Oak Padauk Plum Poplar Teak Totara Walnut Willow

Tools

Abrasives Axe Adze Chisel Clamp Drawknife Drill Float Mallet Milling machine Mitre box Moulding plane Plane Rasp Router Sandpaper Spokeshave Timber-framing Vise Winding sticks Wood scribe Workbench

Saws	Backsaw Bandsaw Bow Bucksaw Chainsaw Circular Compass Coping Crosscut Frame Fretsaw Jigsaw Keyhole Miter Rip Scroll Veneer Whipsaw

Geometry

Joints	Birdsmouth Bridle Butt Butterfly Coping Crown of thorns Dados Dovetail Finger Groove Halved Hammer-headed tenon Knee Lap Mason's mitre Miter Mortise and tenon Rabbet/Rebate Scarf Splice Tongue and groove

Profiles	Bead Bevel Chamfer Molding Ogee Ogive

Treatments

Organizations

Conversion

Techniques

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References

↑ , Pipe Clamps, Piping Technology and Products (retrieved 17 October 2012)

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