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welding platen - what kind of clamps?

ADrummond

Hot Rolled
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
Location
Portland, OR
I picked up a 5' square platen recently, and after wrecking a shop crane (a rental, fortunately) moving it, I need to figure out how I'm going to use it. It came with four gooseneck (?) type clamps, that look as though they're supposed to be hammered into the square holes or maybe held in with wedges. I'm looking to make something more repeatable, that I can leave set up between parts. Maybe pipe clamps, held vertically in the holes with square plugs (imagine a stepped square washer, with the reduced diameter a snug fit in the square hole). I'd weld the pipe to the top plug, and put a pin through the pipe below the bottom plug. These would be the kind of clamp referred to as a sliding-head clamp, rather than the more common type with the "fixed" jaw moving along the pipe. See p. 2408 of the McMaster-Carr catalog for an example, though I'd like a deeper throat than what they offer (2.5", IIRC). They do have 7" throat clamps, but not in a sliding-head version - I'd have to make the end that goes through the platen adjustable, which is certainly possible, especially given the limited range I'll require - it just won't be as convenient.

What else do folks use on these tables? I've seen Acorn's website, and don't recall seeing anything intended to hold work down - but that part of the site is down right now, so I can't go back to be sure.

Any ideas?

thanks,
Andrew
 
A lot of the inserted tools are designed to bend around so the square holes hold many different tools - like the square hardy hole on a blacksmith's anvil.

Your idea of a pipe clamp on a square peg is good but the big dog clamps that are driven in will hold surprisingly well. I have also seen trammel type clamps that have teeth which catch on the bottom of the table. They slide up or down for the coarse adjustment then the screw clamp does the rest.
 
There are two companies that make these, and both make a complete line of clamps, pins, and dogs for them, which are usually pretty simple, and easy to copy.
Besides the Acorn website
http://www.acorniron.com/products/
which doesnt seem to be down right now, and shows dogs, arrows, posts, 4 kinds of clamps, bending pins, and even a vise that drops in, you should check out the Weldsale site-
http://www.weldsale.com/index.html
you can download their catalog as a pdf.
Between the two of them, there are a good dozen ideas to copy.
 
Ries, thanks for the Weldsale link. I didn't know there were others still making platens. They offer something very similar to what I was going to make - at about 8 times the price, though. I see the Acorn catalog is working now - not much in the way of hold-down clamps, aside from the one forged steel clamp. I actually have one of those - made by Armstrong, I think. I bought it at one of Reliable's parking lot sales for $2 - but can't really justify buying more. I think I'll go with the pipe clamp idea, and look around to see if I can find a deeper throat model with a sliding head.

thanks,
Andrew
 
That's interesting, Wilbilt. First I noticed the Acorns are made in India, then I see these from China. I can't believe it's really that cost-effective to ship something so heavy/dense halfway around the world. I guess it must be, though, or we wouldn't have these platens, or most manhole covers these days. Can you fill a container with something this heavy? Are the Acorns the full 5" thick everywhere, or are they ribbed underneath like the Strikers? Mine's 5" thick throughout, and I felt every bit of that moving it down the driveway and into the trailer this morning.

I just did a little math, and realized my platen weighs a bit over 3900 lbs, minus the 300 lb base. Given that Acorn states their 5x5 platen weighs 2000 lbs, it must be ribbed.

Also, I just got the Enco sale flyer, and now I'm thinking I might use vise-grips - the c-clamp versions are on sale for $13, which, when combined with free shipping, can't be beat. I haven't been able to find the ideal pipe clamp, and the vice-grip clamps have a throat of 3" or so, which means I'll be able to clamp on any part of the table - the holes are 2" in diameter, on 4.5" centers, giving a little overlap on the radius.

Andrew

[ 01-11-2006, 03:40 PM: Message edited by: ADrummond ]
 
ADrummond, my family was in the cast iron business, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from the early 1950's until 1985, buying into a foundry and steel business that had started in 1833.

My father bought into the business when the foundry building had a significant fire in the early 1950's. From about the 1890's until that point iron was cast on site, including medium heavy castings. Manhole frames and covers, among other things.

From that point until some times in the 1970's the castings were produced in the southern United States, I believe, and shipped to Philadelphia for the little machining needed and for sale.

Sometime in the 1970's--mid to late 1970's, I think--the iron works realized that they could have castings made in India and shipped to Philadelphia--a good port, of course--cheaper than they could have them made in southern US.

I was shocked, but it was plain math and plain economics. I added up better coming halfway around the world--as far as it could.

I watched, at the end of this a hundred and fifty year old businesses' life, a fork truck operator pull Indian castings out of a container in a rather primitive way. Unbelieveable, but still making money for a few years.

Then done.

By the way, on the subject of Acorn type tables, you should have seen all the big ones of these that were in the steel shop of that business. I have some pictures of them, I think.

I should've saved some of these for myself.

Northernsinger
 








 
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