Masking Tape "Clamp"
Recently, I was building the
Craftsman-style clock that was featured in the November 1999 issue of
Workbench. The long edges on the front and sides of this clock are
mitered. So, the trick was trying to clamp up the clock without having the tips
of the miters slip out of alignment.
To prevent the pieces from sliding,
I “clamped” the clock together with masking tape. (The tape also lets
you adjust the fit of the miter joints.)
Start with the front and sides
of the clock face up on your workbench. After you’ve carefully aligned the
tips of the miters, tape the pieces together, leaving a space between each
piece of tape. The space will allow you to see whether the tips of the miters
are aligned during glue-up (Fig. 1a).
After flipping the pieces over
face down, put glue in the valley of the miters (Fig. 1). Then flip up one side
and use a small square to hold it in place (Fig.2). Now stand the second side
up and tape across the two sides (see photo at top). To adjust the fit of the
joint, loosen or tighten the tape.
Have a nice weekend,
Kevin
Shoesmith
Online Editor, Workbench
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