Align Miters with Clamp Blocks

Aligning miters on a picture frame A band clamp does a great job of applying even pressure when gluing up boxes and other square projects. But if the project has mitered corners like a picture frame (Photo), then a band clamp has problems.

The main problem is that there’s no way to keep the mitered corners aligned. Plus, the band may not pull tightly around those sharp corners, producing uneven clamping pressure. Even worse, it may crush the fragile outside corners of each miter.

For those reasons, I came up with these simple corner blocks that work with a band clamp to hold mitered corners at 90°. The jaws of the blocks form a 90° opening to “hug” the frame. Their rounded outside edges let the band slide easily, and the hole in each prevents glue squeeze-out from sticking to the blocks.

To make the clamp blocks, first cut a series of blanks to size from ¾″ stock to match the Full-Size Pattern that’s shown at right. Then, apply the pattern to each blank, and drill the hole where shown. Next, use a band saw to cut the jaws and rounded outside edge on each block. Finally, sand the edges smooth to complete the clamp blocks.

Good woodworking,

Wyatt Myers
Online Editor, Workbench

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Printer-Friendly Version Align Miters with Clamp Blocks A band clamp does a great job of applying even pressure when gluing up boxes and other square projects. But if the project has mitered corners like a picture frame (Photo), then a band clamp has problems. The main problem is that there’s no way to keep the mitered corners aligned. Plus, the band may not pull tightly around those sharp corners, producing uneven clamping pressure. Even worse, it may crush the fragile outside corners of each miter. For those reasons, I came up with these simple corner blocks that work with a band clamp to hold mitered corners at 90°. The jaws of the blocks form a 90° opening to “hug” the frame. Their rounded outside edges let the band slide easily, and the hole in each prevents glue squeeze-out from sticking to the blocks. To make the clamp blocks, first cut a series of blanks to size from ¾″ stock to match the Full-Size Pattern that’s shown at right. Then, apply the pattern to each blank, and drill the hole where shown. Next, use a band saw to cut the jaws and rounded outside edge on each block. Finally, sand the edges smooth to complete the clamp blocks. Good woodworking, Wyatt Myers Online Editor, Workbench View a free online preview of Workbench magazine More Tips & Techniques Index of Tips by E-mail More Tips & Techniques WoodNET, Woodworking on the Web Subscriber Links What's This? Update/Unsubscribe
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