I won a full set of Bow Clamps, use them a lot.

Tom

 

Thanks for the review. I saw the email today and was debating about how many to buy. Do you have a favorite size or recommendation for certain types of work? Do the 4' still work well if you're using them on a 3' shelf or something?

 

For the things I do, I use the 3' ones most. I have 2 pairs of the 3' ones and 1 pair of the 2' and 4'. I've never had a problem using the 4' ones on shorter material but I've never tried using them on things shorter than 3'. I could see it being clumsy and awkward trying to use longer cauls on material considerably shorter than the caul.

One trick to make installation and removal easier, if I have access and can put a clamp in the middle, that is where I put the first clamp to hold the caul and then one on each end. At removal, remove the end ones first and the middle last. The middle clamp isn't needed but makes things easier especially on the longer ones.

I only ever use one caul on the one edge that I'm gluing but if you aren't careful, that can be a problem if what you are gluing isn't big enough to resist the tension of the caul. You could glue an arc into whatever you are clamping and may need to use a caul on both sides.

 

As long as the cull is longer than the piece being clamped it will work just fine.

Tom

 

Have any of you ever used these when doing large panel veneer work? I've used shop made cauls for solid stock glue-ups on edge grain before with success.

I have a few 24" x 96" veneer panels to make, I could makeup a temp veneer press to accomodate them with the veneer press clamps from lee valley. Wondering if cauls would work without needing an excessive quantity of them and what kind of spacing I'd need between them. I know I could do a vacuum bag, I've done it in the past but would rather do these with hide glue and manual pressure methods.

 

Need used the culls on large panels.

My torsion box bench splits in half. Pictured is how I did a couple of large veneer panels. I got lucky the sizes worked.

Tom

 

I have a stack of maple scraps I cut some bows in to act as culls.