Toggle Clamp Upgrade

A lot of the toggle clamps I use for woodworking jigs and fixtures come with a rather small clamping pad. Wood and workpieces cam often times flex the narrow rubber tip. Not a good thing when on you power tools. I set out to fix that with a larger more robust clamping pad. This is a quick and easy upgrade but if you would like more information, check out my build article.

Step 1: Make the New Foot

Insert a 1/4"-20 machine screw into the pre-molded rubber foot. Add a fender washer and nylon locking nut. Tighten the nut, locking the fender washer in place.

Step 2: Install the New Foot

Remove the existing foot by loosening the nut. Add a non-locking 1/4"-20 nut onto the new foot. That is for adjusting the height of the foot for different thickness wood to be clamped. Use the factory guide washers and install the new foot, securing it with a 1/4"-20 nut. Tighten with a pliers and/or wrench to snug it up on the toggle clamp.

Step 3: Enjoy Your New Toggle Clamp

I know this is a pretty quick modification but the larger rubber foot really does clamp it well. It helps distribute the clamping force and secures the work piece much nicer. The main reason I thought of this is I'm working on a mitered spine/tenon jig. I wanted the tenon portion of the jig to have a nice firm grip on the workpiece. Pretty simple really, but it's just not something you would think of immediately. There are some more details on my website about it and where you can get everything. Article here. Thanks for checking it out!