Shop Made Angle Clamps

A square is an invaluable tool to make sure your marks and cuts are really square. But often this is not enough. You have to make sure your workpiece stays square during assembly. To solve this problem I built my own angle clamps. They are actually very easy to make.

Step 1: Cut the Squares

First I'm cutting squares. I'm using 27mm (1") ply wood for this. I made mine 23x23cm, but you can make them any size, depending on your needs. The only really important thing is to make sure they are really square.

Step 2: Holes for the Clamps

We need a way to fasten the angle clamps to the workpiece. Therefore I'm drilling two holes with a 38mm diameter into each clamp. This makes it possible to use ordinary clamps to fasten to the workpiece.

Step 3: Sanding

This if of course optional. But if you plan to use the angle clamps often, sanding off the rough edges makes the handling much more comfortable.

Step 4: Ready to Use

That's it! It took me less than an hour to make this angle clamps. They turned out to be a real time saver. Each angle clamp acts as an extra hand which makes sure things stay square until they are glued up or screwed together.

Sometimes I even use them as part of the final workpiece and fix them with some screws. And of course make some new ones immediately.