My FIL dropped off a box of these Pony clamps that have been meticulously modified with a machined aluminum block and two machined and mandrel-bent mild-steel rods. Each rod has a c-ring groove machined into it so that the position of the rod can be moved from one hole to another, but it would appear that this was not done on a frequent basis, but in special circumstances as the c-ring is difficult to remove. The block is cut at a 45º angle on both ends and appears to be some type of right-angle clamp?
The clamp side attachment is also highly-machined. The aluminum blocks that mount to the clamp have been machined to fit the inside contours of the clamp with a threaded hole that mechanically attaches the block the clamp with a 1/4-20 machine screw. There is a slight bullnose radius machined on the nose of the clamps at the point that the jaws meet. Again, there is a c-ring groove machined into the end of the mild-steel rod.
We tried various ideas for clamping, including wood and steel. Angle-iron came the closest as it just about created a perfect 90º angle, but the angle would be very hard to weld, or even tack-weld with the position the clamp was in, and it seems like a LOT of trouble to make this clamp for something as common as tack-welding right angles.
These clamps must have taken someone a significant amount of time to fabricate. I assume their use was critical to some process or required custom creation due to a more mainstream product that must have been VERY expensive to buy off-the-shelf. Has anyone ever seen a clamp design like this? Any idea why someone would create a box of 16 of these? I am considering taking them apart and salvaging the Pony clamps but would love to give them a better home if they can be used in this state.
The clamp side attachment is also highly-machined. The aluminum blocks that mount to the clamp have been machined to fit the inside contours of the clamp with a threaded hole that mechanically attaches the block the clamp with a 1/4-20 machine screw. There is a slight bullnose radius machined on the nose of the clamps at the point that the jaws meet. Again, there is a c-ring groove machined into the end of the mild-steel rod.
We tried various ideas for clamping, including wood and steel. Angle-iron came the closest as it just about created a perfect 90º angle, but the angle would be very hard to weld, or even tack-weld with the position the clamp was in, and it seems like a LOT of trouble to make this clamp for something as common as tack-welding right angles.
These clamps must have taken someone a significant amount of time to fabricate. I assume their use was critical to some process or required custom creation due to a more mainstream product that must have been VERY expensive to buy off-the-shelf. Has anyone ever seen a clamp design like this? Any idea why someone would create a box of 16 of these? I am considering taking them apart and salvaging the Pony clamps but would love to give them a better home if they can be used in this state.
