This device is used to hold a door while the installer mortises the door’s edge for hinges. A quick flip of the door in this jig and I drilled for ball catches. Thought I’d throw this handy device on toolboxblog.com today since it’s served as a tool in my arsenal for more than a decade and still in use today.

This particular jig was nailed together to fit up to a 1-3/4″ door but narrows at the top to grip the standard 1-3/8″ door. Pulling the uprights apart allows the door to slide between posts without marring the finish, something that matters when operating on the ultra-cheap Home Depot hollow-core 6-panel doors which are now built almost entirely out of soft paper. The doors I installed yesterday were garbage… which makes putting a few hours into them seem a waste of labor. For $50 more, a solid wood 6-panel would have been a smarter use of funds.

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Description: The Jorgensen 3/4″ Pipe Clamp is a versatile and strong clamp fixture that utilizes 3/4″ black pipe with a threaded end. Once properly attached to a length of black pipe the Pony clamp fixture’s 5/8″ screw with “Acme” threads provides incredibly strong clamping power, easily applied.

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Experience: I once bought (3) 10′ lengths of black pipe, cut them in half to create (6) dedicated Pony clamps which I have used for years. I also have a few sets attached to 6′ and 8′ lengths. These ‘fixtures’ can be moved from different length pipe as needed but call me lazy, or well-supplied, I have never taken apart those 6 clamps that are 5′ long and I use them all the time, handling many projects.

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Comments: These 3/4″ pipe clamps are heavy duty. The clamping force generated is superior and crushing! They hold their position until released. In the photos for this article, I am clamping up some 2″ walnut stock that I am using to make a variation of a sleigh bed. I’ve been saving these pieces of walnut for 15 years and have finally committed to a design. I am calling this bed “The Ark” – loosely based on an Egyptian canoe (though I haven’t even looked at anything Egyptian for ideas yet). The bed will be made from solid walnut and Honduran Mahogany. I’ll soon have to use these clamps to glue up some mahogany wider than the 7 1/4″ boards I have, but that’s ok because these clamps are strong, ready and waiting.

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Links:

• Jorgensen 50 Pony 3/4-Inch Pipe Clamp Fixture @ Amazon

• 3/4″ Pipe Clamps at Adjustable Clamp Company.

Notes: These clamps require a rather clean section of black pipe . The process of gluing up boards creates alot of dripping glue. Even the tenacious Gorilla glue is easily scraped off black pipe with a chisel before your next glue-up.

I picked up this Stanley No. 400 Miter Vise at the long since gone Sausalito Flea Market. For a while I had two of these in my collection but slimmed down when I moved East keeping the nicer of the two.

Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Experience:

I didn’t go out looking for this vise because I needed to make picture frames. It’s one of the tools I’m not sure how I ended up with but it’s a good one that has found a long time home in my shop. I pulled it off a very dusty shelf for this picture but I have recently used this vise to assemble a frame.

Picture frames aren’t all this vise is good for, nor miter joints the only seam one can clamp with it. Two sides of a frame like cabinet doors and box sides up to 4+” thick can be clamped perpendicular to one another.

Links:
4″ Miter Vise for sale through Amazon.com
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CRL 4″ capacity Miter Vise at Amazon.com

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Wow, I didn’t know this vise was so popular until I looked it up today. I’ve owned a Zyliss vise for 20 years. When I picked it up at a tag sale I thought it might be for waxing skiis but I put it to use in my wood shop and haven’t replaced it yet. This is a well build Swiss tool.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

Features:

• Aluminum jaws
• Tube clamping jaws
• Additional plastic jaws
• Auxilliary clamping jaw for bulky workpieces
• Plastic jaw for delicate parts
• Chuck for round pieces
• Turntable and Drilling Machine holder

Experience:
I’ve used this Zyliss Profi-King Vise in each shop I’ve had for the past 20 years. It was easy to install on many different benches over the years. It is currently mounted on a block of oak that I bolted to an assembly table. One of the best features is the handle which can tighten the jaws and then move freely out of the way. It’s aluminum so it’s a fairly blade safe metal vise that, free from burrs, is safe against your work. I keep a few blocks of wood for between material and vise, the blocks of wood protect my work and provide a larger clamping surface.

I use this Zyliss to hold my work, be it a small piece under the dremel tool or a large panel for edge forming. The Zyliss Profi-King is a strong vise with a large threads for easy adjustments. Did I say I like the Aluminum already?

I’m glad to see several Zyliss Profi-King vises on ebay but I don’t foresee a reason to replace mine for a long time to come.