new toys to play with :)

Hello all,

As a budding ukulele builder/repair guy in the begining of my journey I am collecting various tools, clamps, jigs, wood scraps for repair, etc. I just made a few spool clamps and wanted to share photos. I used a hole saw drill bit to cut out a bunch of pieces of maple (I might do something a little softer in the next batch maple is a pain to saw through). It works out great because you get a nice round piece of wood with a 1/4" hole in the center. I then got some cork with a glue back, stuck it on, cut it to shape and cut a hole in the center. I ran a piece of threaded rod through it, added some washers, a hex nut on one side, a wing nut on the other and viola spool clamp. I haven't glued anything down with them yet but I've dry run a top on a repair I'm working on and WOW it works so much better than any of the other clamps I have! I am able to get a better alignment on the top and I can do it much faster. I love these things. I need a bunch more but I thought I'd show a picture of one I've made so far. It is a little rough from the drill bit but I figure the side of the spool aren't touching any of the work so they don't need to be perfect. Let me know what you think and any suggestions for the next batch.

I have found wing nuts to be slow and a royal pain in the ass. Just as suggestion, get rid of the wing nuts, by some T-nuts and install them into another dowel the same diameter and thickness as what you are showing. The T-nut should be installed on top of the spool so they are self tightening. The advantage is you can open and close the spool with one hand by spinning the t-nut spool on your leg while holding the glued piece down with the other hand. I find this arrangement much faster and easier than wing nuts.

Cut another circle out of a 2 X 4 and then drill the hole through the center a little bit bigger than the threaded rod. On one end cut a notch across the diameter of the circle. Then when you drop the notched end over the threaded rod it will engage the wing nut and you can turn it faster. I think a lot of people do it this way.

Wow, cool idea thank you! I honestly thought the wing nuts were easy but the T-nut sounds even easier. I think a softer wood might be in order for the T-nut batch, this maple is hard and I think I almost burned out my drill trying to cut it! Back to Home Depot. With all the tips and tricks I'm picking up here these things will almost build and repair themselves

Hey Doug great tip also for the first batch. I'll try it out.