Lapstrake Clamps  
By Larry Pullon - Little Rock, Arkansas - USA

When I started building a Ducktrap Wherry last winter I realized right away I did not have the proper clampage to do the job. Like so many of you I have a bunch of “C” clamps and lots and lots of spring clamps, but except for very largest spring clamps none are suitable for clamping laps. So, on a fine brisk morning I decided to remedy the problem.

I studied what I could find on clamp making and determined they are really not something that should take an engineering degree to figure out. So I came up with this simple but effective design that will no doubt become the world standard lapstrake clamp. You can build them for under 50 cents each – if you build about 80 or so. Here is the design – free.

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12" Lapclamp

To build the clamps I bought two 2”x10” yellow pine boards, 100, 5/16’x4” lagbolts, 100, 5/16” washers, and 100, 5/16” wing nuts. I happened to have 50ft of ¼” nylon cord on hand. Material cost was about $40 which made my clamps cost about 50 cents each. Labor is always free for home stuff!

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I ripped nine 7/8”x 1 ½” wide boards out of a 2x10 then ripped the remaining piece to 7/16”x 1 ½” wide.

Setting up a clamp assembly line, I ripped nine 7/8”x 1 ½” wide boards out of a 2x10 then ripped the remaining piece to 7/16”x 1 ½” wide. There was a sliver of wood left… Next I set the chop saw and proceeded to cut all but the last two boards into one foot long blocks – I think I got 170 blocks. Then I set the saw up to cut 340 1 ½” x 1 ½” blocks to serve as the clamp’s pads. With that done, I next beveled one edge on each block – you can skip this, it is just for visual effect – but then you want to look good when you are boat building!

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I next beveled one edge on each block – you can skip this, it is just for visual effect – but then you want to look good when you are boat building!

Moving to the drill press I set up a jig to drill holes in the blocks for the clamping bolt. It could have been anything – but I drill the holes 3 ½” from the end. Once holes were drilled into all the one foot long blocks I set up a clamp assembly line on a sawhorse table. I put a heavy drop of Titebond II glue on each end of the blocks and glued on a 1 ½”x 7/16” block on each end. I could have held it together by tightening the clamp – but I chose to use the nail gun to hold everything in place until the glue dried. Besides nail guns are cool!

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Wham! The nail shot out the side of the block right into the tip of my left index finger!

About the fifth or sixth block - wham! The nail shot out the side of the block right into the tip of my left index finger! Ouch! Razza, frazza, dip wad, shifting sand!!! (cuss, cuss, cuss).

Once I stopped the bleeding I figured the odds of that happening again were very remote and went back to work. Holding the clamping block between my left index finger and thumb, I moved quickly, firing two 1”x 16 gauge nails at a potent 95 psi. into each block. That should hold the sucker until the glue dries! Arr, arrr, arr!

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I figured the odds of that happening again were very remote and went back to work.

And three clamps later – blam! Another nail shot out sideways – right into my left thumb! Ewwwww! Awwwww! Son of a !@#$! (major cussing this time!) There might have even been a tear running down my cheek - but you don’t know that for sure since you were not there!

Fortunately the inside of my thumbnail stopped the nail from blasting completely through my thumb – that would have been gross! While I was capturing the “Kodak Moment” for your pleasure I recalculated the odds that a nail would blow out the side of a board again. I came up with 1:1 or 100%. I was right - it happened 12 more times while I made the rest of the clamps – I held the blocks differently though, so no more nails fired into my poor fingers!

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I installed bolts, nuts, and washers, and then it was off to the belt sander to remove any wood burs or splinters and round the corners – just to make them look nicer.

After nailing all the clamp pads to hold them while the glue set, I installed bolts, nuts, and washers, and then it was off to the belt sander to remove any wood burs or splinters and round the corners – just to make them look nicer. Once the sanding was done, I went back to the drill press to drill holes for the cord. The cord is there to simply keep the clamp halves aligned when not in use. They make it so you can pick up a clamp and use it right away without jiggling around with the halves.

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And just like that – in easy day I had made 85 nice clamps that will serve me years to come.

And just like that – in easy day I had made 85 nice clamps that will serve me years to come. They would have cost a fortune from supply houses! I saved so much $$ I could even afford to build a plywood box on wheels to keep them out of the way!

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I saved so much $$ I could even afford to build a plywood box on wheels to keep them out of the way!

Articles by Larry Pullon

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