Purchase—a three-dimensional concept using two-dimensional in-line clamps—requires imaginative mini-engineering. This boatwright needed to hold a new transom against the curved outline of mitered plank ends. There’s no off-the-shelf clamp that will accomplish this task, but scrap-wood dogs screwed into the transom and hull allow a variety of clamps to span the transom edge and apply the required pressure.
Clamps that work alone or in concert with others to set up, stabilize, and secure your work are indispensable tools to many boat projects. They’re not just occasional conveniences but essential, crucial, precision tools that improve your work and keep you safe.
Whenever you use power tools, sharp hand tools, or finicky glues, stabilizing your work is necessary. The uncertainty in reshaping or cutting a wobbly block of wood drains your resources, distracts your attention, increases your fatigue, and subtly changes the body architecture you bring to the point or edge of contact. The focus is safety; don’t dilute it. Clamp your work solidly.