# Welding Clamps



## 09kevin

I wanted to make some welding clamps for my welding table so I copied this design by Lazze





I need to make a ball turner for my lathe instead of machining spheres on the mill.



 

 

 

Next I machined the side plates, one half is threaded and the other half is counter bored fore the 5/16-18 bolt.



 

 

Next was to drill the 1/2 rod so I can insert and weld the 2 spherical ends on. I should have threaded the rod and ends incase I want to add longer or shorter rods in the future .  This is my first time TIG welding so if you have any constructive criticism about the weld let me know.



 

 

 



I still need to finish machining a few more parts and will update when finished.

Kevin


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## kd4gij

looks good, very nice work.


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## Franko

Terriffic, Kevein. I bet you also made a barrel of swarf.


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## 09kevin

Thanks guys.  I did make lots of chips


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## David VanNorman

Nice work you do body work.


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## 09kevin

David VanNorman said:


> Nice work you do body work.



I would like to make some scale car and motorcycle models in the future but haven't tried any sheet metal work yet. There are some really good instructional metal forming videos online, they make it look so easy but I know it's not!

Kevin


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## brino

Your first tig welds?...... should be proud!

My first ones were horrible, and if I don't do it for a few weeks I lose everything I learned from last time.
-brino


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## 09kevin

I did try welding some scrap aluminum the first day I bought the welder and it looked terrible!   I spent a few hours watching online video's before I tried welding the rods and the results were much better. I posted the picture of the best looking weld I made, I wasn't very proud of some of the others   

Kevin


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## Getaway

Very nice work.  Thanks for sharing.


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## 09kevin

I finally finished the welding clamps. It was a fun project but turned out to be more work than I thought it would be     Now I can clean up the mess!


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## Franko

Awesome, Kevin.


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## 09kevin

Thank you Franko.


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## FOMOGO

Nice work on the clamps. I'm thinking that if you attached "T" handles at the center points of your swivels it might be a little faster during setup operations. Mike


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## Tony Wells

First class job there, Kevin. Wish I had a setup like that.


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## 09kevin

Thanks Tony!  That's a good idea Mike, I might do that later.

Kevin


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## rwm

So cool...I may steal that idea
R


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## Franko

Now you just need a very big Fresnel lens and it can be a giant soldering helper.


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## sanddan

I did a set of these also but used 1" ball bearings and steel for the plates. Yours is much nicer looking than my version, especially the side plates, very nice. The steel plates don't grip the ball as well as I'd like, maybe time for new aluminum ones.


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## Andre

How did you machine the spheres? They look too smooth to be 3d contoured, did you use a corner rounding endmill?


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## rwm

I am considering building something like this using Aluminum or SS balls from McMaster. Which material would be better? What about brass? (I could cast those) What size should I go for? There is a HUGE price jump from 3/4 to 1". Would 3/4 give sufficient holding power?  (I am doubtful)
Kevin- how rigid are these when locked up?
R


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## 09kevin

Andre said:


> How did you machine the spheres? They look too smooth to be 3d contoured, did you use a corner rounding endmill?



Andre, I used a 3d tool path with a .01 step over. After machining on the mill I put them in the lathe and used some scotch bright to polish a little bit.


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## 09kevin

rwm said:


> I am considering building something like this using Aluminum or SS balls from McMaster. Which material would be better? What about brass? (I could cast those) What size should I go for? There is a HUGE price jump from 3/4 to 1". Would 3/4 give sufficient holding power?  (I am doubtful)
> Kevin- how rigid are these when locked up?
> R



RWM,
The reason I decided to use aluminum was to reduce the cost of the project, I knew I could machine them myself and I found out like you did it would be fairly expensive to buy them. I used a 3d tool path to machine the spheres but if you have a lathe with a ball turner you can machine them yourself.

I used 1 inch diameter and also 3d cut a partial 1 inch sphere into the aluminum side plates to add more surface area for clamping.  The clamps seem to hold fairly well and take quite a bit of force to make them slip.


I would use 1 inch diameter not only for the surface area for clamping but if you use 3/4 you might need to use smaller diameter rod to fit in between the clamping plates, I used a 1/2 diameter rod.

If I were to use the clamps allot steel would be the preferred material but I don't weld very often so I think aluminum will work fine.

Kevin


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## sanddan

McMaster-Carr has a package of 10, 1" balls for $6. That's what I used when I made mine. My version can be made with a drill press, belt sander and a welder, It uses a line contact between the ball and the side plates which being steel on steel doesn't hold as well as the aluminum version. Adding the semi-hemisphere contact area would be an improvement but I don't have CNC capability.

http://www.mcmaster.com/#96455k62/=zumdu0


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## 09kevin

Nice job on the clamps sanddan! I must have misread the price on the 1.0 balls or I didn't see them on McMaster-Car, I thought they were $6 each! Wish I would have know, it would have saved me allot of work. You can add the 1.o semi-hemisphere into the side clamps by using a 1.0 ballnose endmill to plunge into the clamp. Not everyone has a 1.0 ballnose laying around though.

Kevin


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## Swarfmaster

Wwow!  Thatsa lotta machinin'!  I can only  guess is that you own a NC machine.  'Cause thata lotta crankin' and twistin'.  Nice work!.


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## rwm

Hey guys. I know this is an old thread but has anyone tried to make one of these like a giant Noga holder? Seems like the single locking point would be a great advantage and not too hard to make.
Robert


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## arvidj

Just curious, how long center of ball to center of ball?


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## TOOLMASTER

rwm said:


> Hey guys. I know this is an old thread but has anyone tried to make one of these like a giant Noga holder? Seems like the single locking point would be a great advantage and not too hard to make.
> Robert


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## TOOLMASTER

ends

mc master


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## 09kevin

arvidj said:


> Just curious, how long center of ball to center of ball?



arvidj

The center distance is 8 inches. I should have threaded the rods so I could use short or long rods as needed.

Kevin


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## rwm

TOOLMASTER said:


> View attachment 128693


That looks commercial. Did you make it? If so we need plans!
R


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## TOOLMASTER

cheap on ebay...i have a bunch in my studio but use them for tig welding if i need more hands


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## rwm

TOOLMASTER said:


> cheap on ebay...i have a bunch in my studio but use them for tig welding if i need more hands


Great idea, cheap too as you say. Looks like the longest is 11".  I may get two.
Robert


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