Old tools

[Bruce Johnson]

Pipe clamps! Not for clamping pipes, but for using pipes to clamp with! They're each about 5 1/2 feet (168cm) long.
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I don't know much about these. I think they were just sold as clamp ends, you provided the pipe yourself. Dad repurposed the legs of an old swingset - you can see the boltholes. The adjustable side of the clamp threads onto the end of the pipe, the other clamp side moves freely when the trigger is pulled.

Not sure if Dad tapped the ends of the pipe himself, had somebody else do it, or they were already conveniently threaded exactly as needed.

It's more flexy than I'd expect an equivalent length of metal plumbing to be, but it seems to be capable of enough clamping pressure for woodworking purposes since Dad kept these around for so long. Makes sense - the legs had to be strong enough to endure a bunch of kids trying their darndest to launch into space.

Not sure how to clean this up. The clamp ends look well-weathered but all parts still move smoothly. As nasty as the pipe looks the rust doesn't seem to have gone deep. New paint is just gonna get scraped off, and I don't have the means to give it another coat of enamel.

Good find! To add to what the other guys have said.....Those are commonly referred to as Pony clamps. That's the actual product name: Jorgenson Pony Clamps. Jorgenson is the biggest old-time US manufacturer of clamps. They've been making and selling the Pony clamps for about 60 years? You can still buy them today in almost any hardware or tool store. They are painted bright orange. There are cheaper imports available now, of course, but the Jorgensons are better quality. Yours appear to be real Jorgensons.

Yes, they are sold as a kit of the two end sections without the pipe. They are made to fit on standard 3/4" Schedule 40 pipe. The head end, with the crank, is threaded 3/4" NPT (National Pipe Taper), which is the standard thread on 3/4" pipe. The tail end slides on the pipe, and doesn't need threads. You buy a piece of Black Iron or Galvanized pipe of the length you need, with threaded ends, at the hardware store. Thread one end into the head. You can saw the threads off the other end if you want.

Pony clamps are designed for gluing up boards side-to-side into a wider panel. They are shallow depth, but can exert a lot of clamping force. For us Luthiers, they are mainly used for gluing up body blanks from two or more boards. Particularly if you are using Titebond. Wood glues like Titebond require higher clamping force to bond correctly. The typical setup for gluing up a bass body blank is 3 or 4 Pony clamps with 24" pipes. They lay on their backs on the bench, and you set the boards in them.

 

[ardgedee]

Jorgenson Pony Clamps

That's the magic phrase I needed!

These clamps don't have even the slightest fleck of paint on them anywhere (unlike the pipes), not sure whether any paint has worn off or if the metal was coated in oil or wax back in the old days.* Obviously could benefit from clean-up and rustproofing, so I guess I get to pick a color.

*(Dad probably bought them as a home woodworker, which would date them to the 1960s, or less likely they might even be from as far back as the 1920s if he inherited them from his father, who owned a sawmill.)

 

[rudy4444]

One small detail.

Jorgensen Ponys were patented and featured a leaf (or multi-leaf) clutch mechanism that allowed the sliding end to move and lock in place along the pipe length. What are pictured are Craftsman pipe clamps which skirted the patent by using a toothed eccentric lock lever.
I had both and I think one of the happiest days of my life was when I replaced the old Craftsman set with real Ponys.

The toothed eccentric always slipped when you wanted it to lock in place or stubbornly refused to move when you wanted to slide the jaw. Notice the photo says: "Positive Hold / Instant release". I never could get mine to do either!

The Jorgensen Pony clamps work so well that I used a pair under the top of my workbench, activated by wooden levers from floor mounted foot levers. I used them for years until I decided I deserved a REAL bench!

 

[ardgedee]

One small detail.

Jorgensen Ponys were patented and featured a leaf (or multi-leaf) clutch mechanism that allowed the sliding end to move and lock in place along the pipe length. What are pictured are Craftsman pipe clamps which skirted the patent by using a toothed eccentric lock lever.
I had both and I think one of the happiest days of my life was when I replaced the old Craftsman set with real Ponys.

The toothed eccentric always slipped when you wanted it to lock in place or stubbornly refused to move when you wanted to slide the jaw.

The Jorgensen Pony clamps work so well that I used a pair under the top of my workbench, activated by wooden levers from floor mounted foot levers. I used them for years until I decided I deserved a REAL bench!

That's a pretty huge detail. And it makes sense, taking into account my dad's lifetime loyalty to Craftsman products. (well, at least up to some time in the 1990s when Sears decided they just couldn't burn their bridges fast enough.) So thanks... for, uh, the bad news, I guess.

I'll try freshening these up anyway. If they work, hey, free clamps. If they don't, I get some experience restoring old tools without having to worry about ruining them.

 

[Gilmourisgod]

I bought a bunch of the Jorgenson clamps when I first got into woodworking, screwed onto black iron 3/4" OD pipe. The ones they sell at Harbor Freight aren't the same quality, but they work fine too. the black iron pipe has gotten expensive, at least in my neck of the woods.

 

[farace]

Looks like I have the toothed eccentric version. They don’t say Craftsman on them that I have seen, but I’ve got a few generations of Craftsman buyers in my family, myself included. A couple of years ago I started paying attention to just how much Craftsman I have around me, both purchased and inherited, and it’s truly absurd.

 

[james condino]

Did someone say "old tools"?

Guilty. I buy old tools and machinery like many folks buy basses....

Note: Some may notice the irony of the PBR can. I don't drink; it is for scale only. Please don't drink and turn. Also, that hipster custom made curved tool rest snapped in half about five minutes after I took this photo.

 

[Matt Liebenau]

Did someone say "old tools"?

Guilty. I buy old tools and machinery like many folks buy basses....

Note: Some may notice the irony of the PBR can. I don't drink; it is for scale only. Please don't drink and turn. Also, that hipster custom made curved tool rest snapped in half about five minutes after I took this photo.

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I’m sure you’ve posted that first picture elsewhere on here but that big ol’ aluminum upright is sooooooo cool!

 

[Bruce Johnson]

Good catch, spotting that those are the Craftsman version of Pony clamps, not genuine Jorgensons. I don't think I have any of the Craftsmans here in my shop, but I've seen and used them in other guys' shops. And yeah, that lever cam thing on the tailpiece doesn't work very well. I don't remember what color the Craftsmans were, maybe red?

I don't use Pony clamps often. I have about 6 Jorgensons and a couple of the cheap imports, Harbor Freight? The imports work acceptably, but they aren't as smooth and tight.

 

[farace]

I don't remember what color the Craftsmans were, maybe red?

Mine are grey, but I can’t vouch that the color is original, or that Craftsman might have had different colors in different years or even different suppliers.

 

[Max Bogosity]

You may not want to clean up the pipes too much. I remember reading somebody complaining that he sanded the pipes of his pipe clamps and then they wouldn't clamp anymore. The clamp heads rely on friction with the pipe surface to stay put.

 

[rudy4444]

Since we're on the topic of pipe clamps I'll also mention that ABOVE ALL do not permit your work to contact the pipe (either galvanized or black) directly where the glue joint will be. Some glues are OK, but aliphatic glues like Titebond will react with the pipe and form a lovely jet black stain at the joint, particularly in light colored woods. It's always best to use black pipe, but some folks have galvanized laying around and want to utilize it.

It's solved by checking where your joints will be and adding a piece of painter's tape to the pipe wherever glue will drip on it. It also makes cleaning up your clamps much easier.

Also, alternate your clamps top and bottom. It's best to position your clamps on the bench, clamp your work, and add clamps in between from the top.

Pipe clamps also work best if you position your work in line with the screw. The blocks that make up the clamp body fit loosely on the pipe (by design) and if you don't position your work in line with the screw the clamping face will skew or angle slightly. That can cause unequal clamping force to the edge of the work which can transfer to unequal pressure across the glue joint. It's really about using common sense with these clamps, and they can be excellent aids in assembly of all types of woodworking projects.

 

[Bruce Johnson]

You may not want to clean up the pipes too much. I remember reading somebody complaining that he sanded the pipes of his pipe clamps and then they wouldn't clamp anymore. The clamp heads rely on friction with the pipe surface to stay put.

Yes, that's true. And if you get new pipes for your Ponys, you are better off with black iron pipes, rather than galvanized. The galvanizing also makes the pipe more slippery, and the tail can slip.

 

[ardgedee]

You may not want to clean up the pipes too much. I remember reading somebody complaining that he sanded the pipes of his pipe clamps and then they wouldn't clamp anymore. The clamp heads rely on friction with the pipe surface to stay put.

Yes, that's true. And if you get new pipes for your Ponys, you are better off with black iron pipes, rather than galvanized. The galvanizing also makes the pipe more slippery, and the tail can slip.

Agreed. I'm leaving the pipes alone, only plan to work on the clamps.

The pipes are weathered enough to not be worth a lot of effort, and the paint is as likely as not providing some structural support

 

[J Wilson]

Whoops . . . . I thought I read Old FOOLS . . . .

 

[ardgedee]

I don't remember what color the Craftsmans were, maybe red?

I don't think red became a Craftsman brand color until the 80s or 90s. Before then their products tended to be chromed, machined metal, black or whatever color the OEM used.

Though I might use red anyway. Visibility is good.