Perfect Miters ...... Fast
Clamp Review #1

Reprinted from "Fine Woodworking" magazine , December 1996  Issue 121, page 108

 

     Clam Clamp for tight joints in trim                    
 

 

Trim carpenters who learned how to install mitered door and window casing one piece at a time should watch Jim Chestnut work. The Connecticut finish carpenter figured out some years back that he got much better results by gluing up his casing first and then installing the complete assembly. His system for trimming out doors and windows is fast, efficient and results in tight miters that stay together.
      The trick is a special miter clamp that gives a glued and biscuited miter joint a chance to set up. Although Chestnut had a collection of iron clamps made for the job, he thought they could be better designed. Chestnut, an inveterate tool tinkerer, set out to make an improved version and the result is his nickel-plated and stainless-steel Clam Clamp. It works.
      Each leg of the L-shaped clamp (see the photos at right) contains a row of four pins. When the clamp's handle is turned, the pins engage the outside edges of the casing and force the joint together. In no time, Chestnut has a casing that can be nailed to a door or window as a single unit. Miters can even be clamped in place.
      The sharp pins leave small holes on the edges of the trim that must be filled later. Pins can be backed out so that they don’t engage the work. So stain-grade trim can be clamped up with two pins on each leg instead of four.
      The clamps aren't cheap ($55 plus shipping), but anyone facing the prospect of trimming even a few rooms of doors and windows would find them a bargain.

   

They'll help produce a better job in less time. Contact Chestnut at Box 320094, Fairfield, CT 06825; (800) 966-4837.
                                                  ---Scott Gibson

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