CLAMP

STORAGE

© 2009 August Home Publishing Co.

 Shop
Project
Clamp Storage
Have some scrap plywood and an empty bit of wall space? That’s all
you need to get your clamps organized.
T here’s an old saying that a wood-
worker can never have too many
clamps. I know that over the
years I’ve collected quite a few. In fact,
finding space to put my ever-growing
collection was becoming an issue.
What I needed was a better way to
store and organize my clamps. And
the new “system” had to be easy to
build and add on to. That way, as I
got more clamps I could make a new
rack for them quickly.
{ A storage box keeps glue and acces-
sories organized. Mounting it near
the clamps makes it handy.
1 www.Woodsmith.com
SIMPLE DESIGN. What I came up with
is a rack that can be made from four
small pieces of plywood and fits just
about anywhere. A series of these
racks can be customized to hold all
types of bar and pipe clamps. And as
you can see in the photos below, I
even made a couple of extra racks to
hold gluing supplies and C-clamps.
One thing all the racks have in
common is that they are designed
to screw to the wall. So you can fit
{ C-clamps are held on this simple
rack. It can be custom built to fit
different sizes of clamps.
© 2009 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
clamp storage wherever you have an
open bit of wall space.
ROLL-AROUND CADDY. If you’re short of
wall space, don’t worry. The racks
can also be attached to a handy roll-
around caddy, as you can see on
page 4. Even if you have plenty of
wall space, you may want to con-
sider building the caddy. It holds
all of your clamps in one place and
makes it easy to roll them to wher-
ever your project may be.
{ Pistol-grip clamps can be cinched
down on a rack, ready to grab and
be put to work.
 a. Countersunk
screw hole

Racks 1 BACK Counter-

1"
B sunk screw
The heart of this clamp storage sys- 4" hole B

tem is an L-shaped rack braced at 12!/2"

2"
each end by a triangular support.
12!/2"
Each rack is the same size. The only
difference is the slots that are custom-
ized for different types of clamps. 3!/4"
b. VIEW
TOP
BAR CLAMPS
All of the pieces are made from
3⁄ " plywood (although hardwood A A %/16"-dia.
4 C TOP hole
would work as well). In fact, I built SUPPORT 3!/4" NOTE: 4"
my racks from pieces of scrap ply- BAR All pieces are 2#/8"
wood that were too small for projects #/4" plywood
CLAMP SUPPORT 3!/4"
but too big to throw out. RACK C 1#/4" 1" 1"
To keep things simple, I made each
rack 121/2" long. That way they fit in
small bits of wall space as well as on c. I-BEAM CLAMPS d. #/4" PIPE CLAMPS
the optional roll-around caddy. But A
A 1!/8"-dia.
they can be made any length you like !/2"-dia. hole hole
TOP
to accomodate your clamps. TOP
VIEW
4" VIEW 4" 1!/4" 1&/8" 1&/8"
CUT PIECES. The first step was to cut 2#/8" 2!/2"
a top (A), back (B), and two sup-
ports (C) to size for each rack, like 1#/4" 3" 1#/4" 3"
you see in Fig. 1 at right. (I made the
supports by ripping a long 31/4"-wide
blank, then making alternating 45°
cuts on the end.) CUT SLOTS. After the slots are laid Materials
Before assembling the racks, out, you can start cutting them. I Bar & Pipe Clamp Rack
I took the time to drill a couple of found the best way to do this was to A Top (1) #/4 ply. - 4 x 12!/2
countersunk holes in each back piece drill a hole at the top of each slot first, B Back (1) #/4 ply. - 3!/4 x 12!/2
(Fig. 1a). These are used to screw the like you see in Fig. 2. C Supports (2) #/4 ply. - 3!/4 x 3!/4
completed rack to a wall. After the holes are drilled, the C-Clamp Rack & Storage Box
SLOT LAYOUT. The next step is to lay waste can be removed on the table D C-Clamp Back (1) #/4 ply. - 3!/4 x 12!/2
out the slots for the clamps in each saw. As Fig. 3 shows, I attached an E Dowels (2) #/4 dia. x 5!/2
top piece. The detail drawings in Fig. auxiliary fence to my miter gauge to F Box Front (1) #/4 ply. - 4!/2 x 12!/2
1 show racks for the most common support the workpiece and prevent G Box Back (1) #/4 ply. - 4!/2 x 12!/2
types of clamps. Small bar clamps sit the waste piece from kicking back. H Box Sides (2) #/4 ply. - 4 x 4!/2
fairly close together (Fig. 1b). I-beam assembly. Once the slots are cut, I Box Bottom (1) #/4 ply. - 4!/2 x 12
clamps need more room between the rack can be glued up. The top is Clamp Caddy
slots (Fig. 1c). And Fig. 1d shows clamped to the top edge of the back; J Sides (2) #/4 ply. - 14 x 48
the spacing for pipe clamps. Note: then the supports are added. K Bottom (1) #/4 ply. - 14 x 25!/2
Racks for pistol-grip clamps don’t With my long clamps taken care L Divider (1) #/4 ply. - 25!/2 x 47!/2
need slots. Refer to the lower right of, I turned my attention to my C- M Base (1) #/4 ply. - 22 x 28
photo on the previous page. clamps and accessories.

2 3 Tall aux.
fence
a. FRONT VIEW
Drill press
fence
Tall
FIRST: Lay out aux.
slots on top piece A fence
A
Slots
cut in
two
passes
2#/8" Raise
saw
blade
A to height
SECOND: Drill of hole
holes

2 www.Woodsmith.com © 2009 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.

 C-Clamp Rack 4 NOTE: Drill dowel
holes at a 5° angle a. CROSS
SECTION
To keep 4" C-clamps in order, I 12!/2"
4#/4" Counter-
made this small rack. It’s nothing sunk screw
more than a pair of short 3/4" dowels 2" #/4"dia. hole
attached to a plywood back. 1"
If you take a look at Fig. 4a, you
can see that the holes for the dow- 5!/2" 1%/8" 2"
3!/4"
els are drilled at a slight angle. This E
Dowel D
hole at
keeps the clamps from sliding off the DOWEL 5° angle
(#/4" dia.) D
{ C-clamps hang neatly front. For larger or smaller C-clamps, C-CLAMP BACK
on a rack made with just change the spacing between the
a plywood back and a dowels. The completed rack is then
couple of dowels. screwed to the wall.
5 4!/2"
12!/2"
a. SECTION
SIDE
Storage Box 4!/2" VIEW
G
Once you start a glue-up, you can’t H
4" !/2"
BOX
really stop to hunt for some BACK
accessory you forgot. That’s 11" Counter- G
4!/2"
why I like this simple storage I
sunk
screw hole
box. It gives me one conve- BOX BOTTOM
H
nient place to keep bottles F
of glue, clamp pads, band BOX FRONT
clamps, brushes, and other odds
4"
{ A storage box will hold and ends that seem to “wander off” NOTE: All box H
pieces are #/4"
gluing accessories and just as I’m ready to start a glue-up. plywood BOX
SIDE
keep them close at hand Like the racks, the box is made
during assemblies. from 3/4" plywood. And keeping with
the modular design of the storage can see in Fig. 5a, this allows the Assembly of the storage box is
system, the box is the same length mounting screws to be up higher pretty straightforward. I just spread
as the racks. If you look at Fig. 5, so they can be reached easily with a glue on all four edges of the bottom
you can see one thing that’s a little screwdriver. (It’s a good idea to drill piece, then sandwiched it between
unusual about the box — the back the holes for these screws before the sides before adding the front
is 1/2" taller than the front. As you the box is glued up.) and back pieces.

ALTERNATIVE MOUNTING OPTIONS

These small racks don’t take Dry wall

L-hook anchor
much wall space. Even so,
the weight of the clamps will
play a big part in where and
how you mount the racks.
Pegboard will be suitable #8 x 1!/2"
Fh wood-
for a short rack with small screw #8 x 1!/4"
Fh woodscrew
clamps. But it may not be
strong enough to hold a rack a. CROSS
SECTION a. CROSS
SECTION a. CROSS
SECTION
filled with long pipe clamps. Peg
board
If you’re fastening the racks
to drywall, try to find one stud #8 x 1!/2" #8 x 1!/4"
to screw into. The other end Fh wood- Fh wood-
screw screw
of the rack can be attached L- hook
with a drywall anchor.
Solid wood or plywood (like
on the caddy on page 4) will Pegboard. L-screws in the Drywall. Hollow wall hangers Caddy. To fasten racks to the
provide the strongest mount- edge of the top allow you to will hold a rack, but drive at caddy, drill pilot and shank
ing surface for heavy racks. hang a rack on pegboard. least one screw into a stud. holes and use woodscrews.

No.
3 ??? www.Woodsmith.com Woodsmith 
© 2009 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.
 NOTE: Cut #/4" radius
Optional Clamp Caddy 6 on top corners of sides
a. !/4"
TOP
VIEW
While the clamp racks are designed
to be small enough to fit just about NOTE: Caddy sized
to hold two racks or
any available wall space, you might 25!/2" boxes side-by-side #/4" L
want to consider building this roll-
around caddy to hold them. It pro- 14" K J

vides plenty of room to fasten clamp #/4"

J
racks and storage boxes. SIDE 2"
Two clamp racks will fit between
#8 x 1!/4"
the sides. As shown in the photos Fh wood-
screw
b.
below, more racks can be fastened L
47!/2" #/4"
to the outside faces. And best of all, !/4" FRONT
L VIEW
the caddy is mounted on locking
DIVIDER 24"
swivel casters, so it’s easy to roll it J
to wherever you need it. 48" #/4" K
The caddy can be made from a sin-
gle sheet of plywood (with enough
left over to make a few racks). The
pieces fit together with a series of
J
c. NOTE: Cut radius
before assembly
dadoes and rabbets.
SIDE
Construction. There are only five
pieces in the caddy. So the place to NOTE: All pieces
start is by cutting the sides (J), bot- cut from M
#/4" plywood #/4"
2"
tom (K), divider (L) and base (M) to radius
size, as shown in Fig. 6.
Next, dadoes are cut in the sides K #/8"
and bottom to fit the divider (Fig. BOTTOM
6a). Then as Fig. 6b shows, the side d. Locking
pieces also receive a rabbet that #10 x %/8" swivel
25!/2" Ph screw caster
accepts the bottom panel. 14"
Before assembling the caddy, I M !/2"
28" 22"
rounded the corners of the base to BASE !/2"
make it “ankle friendly” (Fig. 6c). #8 x 1!/4"
NOTE: Assemble sides,
The top corners of the sides receive divider and bottom, then Fh wood-
glue and screw to base screw
the same treatment.
Assembly. To assemble the caddy,
first glue the divider to the bottom
and then add the sides. A few screws
along the dadoes and rabbets help
reinforce the joints. Then the caddy assembly is centered
There are just a few things left. One on the base, glued, and screwed
is to screw a locking swivel caster to down. Finally, you can attach the
each corner of the base (Fig. 6d). racks and fill them with clamps. W

cutting diagram
#/4" - 48" x 96"Plywood

J
L

{ Take it for a Spin. The four casters on this caddy make it

K M mobile, so you can wheel it over to an assembly and have
your clamps (and accessories) right at hand. Plus, the cast-
ers allow you to spin the caddy around easily, which means
quick access to the clamps on all four sides.

No.
4 ??? www.Woodsmith.com Woodsmith 
© 2009 August Home Publishing Co. All Rights Reserved.