You can never have too many C-clamps if you like woodwork, metal work and other crafts. Do you need more clamps and have access to a 3D printer? Just print some more!
Many designers in the 3D printing community are happy to share their designs. The Thingiverse user “johann517” has shared his nicely designed C-clamp (or “G-clamp”, as he prefers to call it), and you can just download the files from Thingiverse.com here and print as many clamps as you need.
I chose to print mine of polyester (also known as PET or PETG), which is a very strong and tough material. I would have loved to print it of recycled PET, but I just ordered a filament made from recycled soda bottles but I have not received it yet.
The design prints without support. There is a total of three components: the clamp frame, the screw, and the clamp protector. The clamp is also posted in two different varieties: short and long (my photo shows the “long” variety scaled up and down).
You can change the size of the clamp, but remember that your scaling has to be uniform. If you scale it more in one direction than another, the screw and hole can become oval and the clamp won’t work. You can change the strength of the clamp and the amount of material needed by changing the percentage of infill. The strongest clamp is of course a solid one (100 % infill), but less infill will take less material and print faster.
For obvious reasons, you can’t use these clamps for welding, but I don’t have to tell you that. While the clamps work perfectly to hold together things that aren’t hot, remember that they are made of plastics and will break if you tighten them too hard. The good news is that you can easily print a new one if it breaks. 🙂
